Aloha Ice is the only place I've found, pretty much anywhere, that has actual Hawaiian-style shaved…read moreice, complete with the macadamia-nut ice cream on the bottom! For years I've wondered why this isn't a thing elsewhere besides Hawaii. It is so good! We decided to stop here after an e-biking adventure through Oceanside. We got several of the special types of shaved ice (though you can build your own flavor selection) and they were all really good. The bigger sizes were really huge! Things were so tasty I missed actual pictures of the shaved ice but did grab a pic of the outside. They've also done a good job capturing the Hawaiian style inside and even have pog you can get! Nice clean modern ambiance overall. Service was quick even though there were tons of people in line! Overall would totally recommend for a tasty summer treat in Carlsbad!

The portion was hugeeee. I looked at the small at first and was like bruh no way they selling that…read morebut they lowk stack the ice so high. It was definitely worth the price for the amount you get. For taste, I think all the flavors are super artificial (i mean afterall it is syrups) but normally it doesnt bother me and for this it was just really strong fake taste especially of their ube flavor. I do think the sweet cream complimented it very nice and I liked it all when I mixed the ice cream in. The blend was extremely pleasant. I also really appreciated how patient the staff were when I was looking at the menu they were kind about letting me fully look through it all. Id say this is a good place to go with chill vibes and after a long summer day on the beach. Perfect cool down snack

Family-Friendly Escape Near Legoland…read more While staying at the nearby Legoland Hotel, a few of us moms decided to sneak away from our husbands and kids for a quick break, and this place was a fantastic find! It features a variety of food stalls serving fresh, high-quality dishes, which was a very welcome break from the typical fried hotel food. With options ranging from pizza and fried chicken to a great selection of Asian cuisines like Thai and Chinese, it is an easy way to accommodate different tastes within a family or across multiple families. I especially loved the fresh, piping-hot dishes (we got the pad see ew) from the Thai food stall paired with a delicious cocktail from the central bar. Before heading back, we also grabbed some mini donuts to bring to the kids. The space is incredibly accommodating, with plenty of indoor seating options including bar tables, cozy booths, and standard tables. On top of that, they have several arcade games on-site, making this a highly viable and fun dining option for families with kids. Would recommend as a viable option if you're in the area.

"And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space…read moreLike the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind" (Sting) If you've ever driven on Interstate 5 (or in the lingo of the locals...."the Five") in Carlsbad you've seen the giant Windmill spinning curiously on the side of the road. Well, if you're hungry but can't exactly decide how to satisfy that hunger, just follow the windmill to the Windmill Food Hall. That's what we did and were soon face-to-face with fourteen different food vendors, ranging the ethnic gamut from Thai to Chinese to Sushi to Burgers to Lobster to Pizza to Mexican and pretty much anything your hungry little heart craves. Our party of three scattered into three directions and reunited at a table for our eclectic lunch. My wife went with meatballs from Cacio because Craft Pizza didn't sell slices, just a 12" pizza. My brother-in-law went with a Honey Walnut Shrimp plate from Secret Sauce Wok, and I went with sushi and miso soup from Rolled Up Sushi. I loved my lunch, starting with a nice flavorful Miso Soup ($5) that was served in a coffee cup! My eight Spicy Tuna Rolls ($14) were most definitely spicy. Now, since I love spicy food I was thrilled because 98% of the spicy tuna rolls I've had over the years are ho-hum on the old spiciness meter. Not these. The food hall was packed, and we saw many families having lunch there. Kids were all over, including some uniformed sports teams. The kids were also at the many video and arcade games on the premises, while bigger kids were entertaining themselves at Windmill's big bar. What a fun place for a fun food experience.

Neat spot off the main drag in Encinitas, this place has been on my list for a while and did not…read moredisappoint. The ambiance is relaxed and intimate, we had a coveted open window seat and could enjoy evening air. Started with sweet potato fries and mango juice, and my main was the Vegetable kare kare. Generous portions, next time I will try it family style and share (recommended on the menu). Everything was flavorful, with a good variety of veggies. Service was great, owners checked up on us multiple times. No wait for a table on a Friday night. Adding this to my dinner options when in Encinitas.

Food: 4 Service: 5…read moreAmbiance: 4 We were looking for a Filipino food spot in North County San Diego and found Carin de Ria in Encinitas. So glad we did! Upon entering, I immediately loved how homey the restaurant felt. The open windows made it light and bright inside, while still feeling warm, comfortable, and welcoming. We were greeted by a gentleman who was very kind and friendly from the start. We were hungry, so of course we ended up ordering quite a bit of food lol! We got the lumpia, fish ball appetizer, kamote fries, sizzling sisig, bistek Tagalog, vegetable coconut soup (ginataan), and of course we had to finish everything off with halo halo! As a Filipino, I was impressed with the food. I especially enjoyed the sizzling sisig, and the bistek Tagalog really reminded me of home. Everything else we tried was delicious as well, and I'm already looking forward to coming back because I definitely want to try the kare kare next time. Of course, we had to wash everything down with dessert, so we ordered the halo halo. Honestly, I've had better halo halo, but it was still refreshing and enjoyable. And really, what better way to end a yummy Filipino meal than with a classic Filipino dessert? The service was also excellent. The gentleman helping us was so kind and friendly, checked on us often, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our meal. Overall, I would definitely recommend Carin de Ria to anyone craving Filipino food in North County. Great food, a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and excellent service. I will definitely be back!

We came in for a late dinner while in the area. I've had it bookmarked for a while so it was…read moreserendipitous that we happened to be in Vista for a birthday party just around the corner. The restaurant is small, cozy, welcoming and aesthetically pleasing. It isn't well suited for larger parties as most tables are tables for 2 unless tables are pushed together. They do have patio seating and heaters outside, but it didn't appeal to me being so close to the street/loud traffic. Gabriel checked us in, seated us, took our order, served our food and waited on us for majority of our visit, I would give him 10 stars just on his impeccable service. The food though? The food was AMAZING!! Everything we ordered was the best we have ever had anywhere. The buns were very kawaii (and we ordered ever single one to try). The fillings were savory, but we also loved their seasonal panda bun with ube filling while the kids preferred the nutella bunny. Best chicken karaage we've had by far, the coating almost tasted like it was rolled in kinako powder. The ramen broth was "chef's kiss" with so much flavors, the crab rangoon were jumbo and the filling was delicious, but the chicken katsu was also the best we have had anywhere (including Hawaii). The breading was just top tier crunchy while the chicken was thick and juicy. There isn't one bad thing I could say about this place, from the service to the food, I would make the drive out here again. Super duper, highly recommend, don't sleep on this little place, you'll regret it!

Okay, I found out Harumama Ramen + Sushi was in my neighborhood so I had to check it out. I wanted…read moreto see if it's the same as another one I've been to about 20 minutes away. Since I'm a lover of information, I looked up "Harumama". It's a combination of two words: the Korean word haru, which means "day," and "mama". Together, it translates to "mom's daily food". The name reflects the restaurant's mission to serve dishes prepared with the same love, care, and attention that a mother gives to her family's everyday meals. How lovely is that?! Anyhow, I was able to find street parking and walked into a clean dining space with a nice atmosphere. It wasn't too busy. Again, the staff was very attentive and provided stellar service. My food came out pretty fast. I loooved how my Drunken Noodles had the right amount of chicken and peanuts. Overall, another fun flavorful time. I'm still a Harumama fan. I can't wait to try more dishes. I highly recommend this location to the Yelp Community!!

Everything was great and fun! Love it there!…read moreGreat customer service! Food was good! Lots of fun!

I have to give credit where it's due. It really feels like The Camp Store has started listening to…read moresome of the feedback people have been giving, and it's nice to see things slowly moving in the right direction. One thing they absolutely deserve praise for is the events. Like Jurassic Beach (which I saw on the Instagram page) was such a cool idea, and the light shows have been awesome too. Those kinds of events make camping here even more memorable, especially for families, and you can tell a lot of effort goes into putting them together. I've also noticed the store itself starting to feel more like a camp store again. Seeing more Carlsbad and beach themed merchandise instead of all the Sasquatch stuff is a nice change. It gives the place more of that cozy campground feel that so many people loved about the original store. That being said, it still feels like the store is very focused on attracting outside visitors rather than mainly serving the campers who are staying here. The music and events can also be a little overwhelming at times, especially when you're looking for a quieter campground experience. Overall, I'm happy to see the changes that have been made. The Camp Store is not exactly like the old one yet, but it is definitely heading in the right direction. Keep listening to the feedback instead of criticizing the reviews and continue to bring back that classic camp store feeling, because I really think this place can become something special again.

A nice strawberry picking place but not very refined. Dirt paths and quite a bit of walking from…read morewhere you pay to the actual picking area. Very spread out space. Lots of opportunity woth photo ops which is nice. The petting zoo part and tractor ride is additional charge. They hand out scissors to cut the strawberries off the vines. Get the really red ones, even if they're small because they're sweeter. It was a nice experience but just okay.

The Carlsbad Strawberry company offers a fantastic U-Pick experience during strawberry season. For…read more$18 per adult, I got admissions and a reasonably sized bucket for picking strawberries. It's easy to fill up the bucket with ripe strawberries quick. Although it doesn't seem like there's a lot of strawberries at first glance, there's a lot as I walked through the rows of strawberry plants - that was part of the fun! One thing I wasn't prepared for was the dirt and how muddy the strawberry rows were. I'm not sure if it was always that wet. Perhaps it was because it rained earlier in the day? My shoes got extremely dirty and there wasn't a convenient way to wash it off there. I recommend wearing rain boots. In addition to strawberries, there was a sunflower maze and a separate section for a simple sunflower field. For those who don't want to worry about food, there's vendors and food trucks on site. They also sell jam and fresh strawberries at the stand, which doesn't require an admissions ticket. Service wasn't anything special. The staff there were efficient and friendly. Overall, I enjoyed my time there and I recommend visitors trying out the U-Pick experience!

This place is the best! Great big servings of shaved ice with generous flavor added and the people…read moreworking here are awesome!

O'side shaved ice is my go to spot whenever I'm in California for a visit. The staff are really…read morefriendly and I found out that they use the same machine that they use in Hawaii! Definitely a must stop when you're in town! I'll definitely be back on my next trip :) They feature customer photos on their Instagram too so follow them to see if you're in their next post (@oside_shavedice)

Nice customer service and excellent fresh food! This is one…read moreof the best pokè spots I've been to. Very similar to a place I went to in Hawaii. I don't live in the area but if I come back around this way, I'll be going here to Wicked Pokè!

Line was really short and they have affordable prices. The fish was delicious and I was able to…read moresample the sauces to see if I liked them or not. Im not a spicy person so i got the house sauce, mild and it was really good. I also added eel sauce too. I was hungry and forgot to take a picture.

My pictures honestly don't do this place justice. The food was amazing and you can really taste the…read morequality in everything we ordered. Mei Mei was super nice and helpful. She recommended a few different items and they did not disappoint. We truly got a feel for the menu. The space is pretty tight. We heard multiple dishes falling and breaking. At one point, a waiter rushed past us and dropped a water cup behind us. It got us a little wet, but no one even cared to ask. Other than that, the food was absolutely amazing.

Boy does this place pack in a crowd! It was just two of us on Wednesday early evening, but we were…read moreseated immediately; no wait time at all. That was a big plus for us because we were hungry. We were seated at the main dining area but when we requested for a table so we could sit side by side versus across from each other (the room was sooo loud that we couldn't hear each other) the waiter (darned we didn't catch his name) acknowledged and rearranged a table nearby so that we could sit beside each other. Another plus! The place was busy busy and sooo noisy. We were fine with the wait to take our order (about 15 minutes), which gave us enough time to peruse the menu. We ordered the Omasake box with side of sushi rice, Salmon Teriyaki entree with xtra veggies and no rice, a side of Kale salad, and Passion Fruit Cheesecake for dessert. No menu drinks; just water, which came aplenty, as our glasses were never empty while we continually guzzled down our h20 (this summer has been such an excruciatingly hot one) - another plus for this continued h20 service! Now for our order: The Box came immediately, and without hesitation my companion dove in with chopsticks already waiting in hand. I picked on his meal, while waiting for mine. The Salmon entree came about ten minutes later, while I salivatingly and happily endulged myself with its delicious flavor. The Kale salad came quite late (almost like an after thought) as we were almost done with our main orders. The salad had an odor that wasn't quite pleasant - as probably most extremely green veggies do smell when grilled. I liked the taste; my companion did not, as he stated it tasted too bitter. I requested a side of ponzu sauce to tame down the bitterness, and I also ended up tossing some shredded white garnished radish noodles (left over from my companion's box meal) to mix in with the kale salad...hmmm, tasted better, but we eventually requested to have our salad to go. My companion was still hungry after his boxed meal; I was not, but we both agreed not to order anything more, a we awaited the dessert. The cheesecake dessert was the best part of our meal here, as the taste really pleased our still hungry palette. And yet another plus! All in all, the meal was pleasant. A little pricey (over $100) - thank goodness we skipped the drinks, less regular h20. Would we return? Sure. Service was great, and food was pretty good. Just a bit pricey... but then again, most sushi and seafood eateries are. There is plenty of parking and a plethora of other eateries nearby. If ones palette begs to differ from sushi or seafood.