"Set along the train tracks in Encinitas, this local favorite is the only West Coast outpost of the Fried Rice Collective (four branches dot the Washington, D.C., area). The Korean-Chinese fusion restaurant features menu favorites like Korean garden noodles, galbi beef skewers, spicy ribeye and rice cakes, and pork and kimchi dumplings along with other Asian dishes like spicy cumin lamb stir fry and XO shrimp lo mein. Don’t skip on the Full Monty with all the banchan sides and rice with furikake butter. Chiko’s veggie and gluten-free menus are also robust." - Helen I. Hwang
Chiko
