SAN DIEGO – They are the envy of all restaurateurs.
Every community has them — hidden gems and popular places, those establishments that end their days with high sales and strong profits.
For them, it is a dream come true. But attracting queues of customers regularly has less to do with luck than it does with a host of factors that are often in the control of operators.
“The crowds we get aren’t something we necessarily asked for,” said Shane Hardin, who co-owns the wildly popular Hodad’s burger joint in Ocean Beach, which often has long lines of people waiting.
There is rarely a dull moment at Hodad’s in Ocean Beach. (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr./Special for Times of San Diego)His grandparents founded the neighborhood eatery in 1969. His late father, Mike Hardin, re-established it 23 years later in its current digs at 5010 Newport Ave.
The combination of an established reputation, a prime location near the beach, and national publicity by CNN and the Food Network’s Guy Fieri have all helped fuel a devoted following over the years that seems invincible.
“Our burgers aren’t supposed to be life-changing, but how we make our food hasn’t changed, and we have the best staff possible,” said Hardin. “So if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Such consistency is the magic charm for many successful businesses. That belief is firmly upheld by Edwin Real, a former partner of Hob Nob Hill in Bankers Hill and founder-administrator of the Facebook group, Eating and Drinking in San Diego, which has nearly 18,000 members.
“When a restaurant is consistent in food quality, service, and cleanliness, customers are not afraid to pass the word on about you,” said Real. “And if there is good value in place, meaning you give customers what they pay for, all of those factors can overpower concerns about location and parking.”
He pointed to Cowboy Star in the East Village as a stellar example because it offers “both value and consistency.”
The steak-centric restaurant, he also noted, attracts a hearty patronage from within the neighborhood on weekdays, while 80 percent of its weekend business comes from people outside of the area who are willing to drive in from other sections of the county. It’s a telling indicator that a restaurant is doing well.
Establishments that engage with their communities tend to maintain robust customer traffic, such as Mavericks Beach Club in Pacific Beach. Since opening eight years ago, the bustling two-level bar and restaurant has become involved with Discover PB, Pacific BeachFest, and various charity events.
The patronage is robust from midday to evening at Mavericks Beach Club. (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr./Special for Times of San Diego)“It’s all about building good partnerships,” co-owner Eric Lingenfelder said while preparing for the spring break rush. “Our tourist business is nice. So is having a good foothold in the community.”
Sarah Mattinson agrees. She is the San Diego chapter president of the California Restaurant Association, who applauds restaurants that are active in their surrounding communities. Cowboy Star, she says, is involved with local charities, and the owners have advocated for reduced-parking fees in downtown San Diego.
She praises the Cohn Restaurant Group as well for its charitable spirit, which includes food donations made to first responders during holidays and raising money for hospitality programs. She added that the group’s C-Level restaurant on Harbor Island is a steady crowd-pleaser because of its view, consistency, and upstanding reputation.
Mattinson also feels that restaurants flaunting numerous Yelp reviews, positive or negative, tend to generate more traffic.
“Many people don’t actually read the reviews, but they look at the number of reviews a place has received — because it’s quicker. It shows them whether or not a lot of people go there.”
In addition, she points to restaurants that are popular simply because they fill certain culinary niches, such as An’s Dry Cleaning in North Park, a gelato shop that garners long lines, mostly in the summer, thanks in part to being named two years in a row (2024 and 2025) as “Best Ice Cream Shop in America” by USA Today.
Summer will draw throngs of customers to this gelateria in North Park. (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr./Special for Times of San Diego)Or in the cases of Bali Hai Restaurant in Shelter Island and The Grass Skirt in Pacific Beach, which Mattinson says command robust business because of their focus on tiki-inspired food and drinks.
Real’s top picks in the niche category include The Friendly in North Park, which serves pizza and only one type of burger (the “dirty flat top”), and Pop Pie Co., known for its savory and sweet butter-crust pies. Both are highly successful kitchens.
“These are places where I don’t have to go through a 100-page menu to find out what they do right,” Real added.
And then there’s atmosphere, which is a magnetic draw at breakfast hot spot Morning Glory in Little Italy. It greets on weekends with hour-long wait times for camera-happy customers.
“Morning Glory is aesthetic with extravagant décor, which makes it very popular on TikTok and Instagram,” Mattinson said.
Real added that social media is essential for pumping up traffic.
“It allows operators to use their own voices to tell their stories with cost-effectiveness. And it allows them to be visual with their food and atmosphere, which is just as important as the narrative.”
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