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    The Switchboard

    4.3 (506 reviews)

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    THE SWITCHBOARD ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Hipster
    Casual
    Intimate
    Moderate noise

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    Recommended Reviews - The Switchboard

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    Hawaiian Plate - tofu and fried rice (+ $2 extra)
    Allyson D.

    This has taken me a couple of days to think about because I wanted this to be a hit. We just finished watching Lilo & Stitch so what perfect way to follow up the movie, but a Hawaiian lunch that wasn't fast food. However, due to a few things, I think there's potential to improve. 1. The space - its awkwardly small. The bar takes half the space and I'm really unsure how they handle a busy Friday night. The Fin hotel had a lobby, the switchboard restaurant, and then a coffee shop. The restaurant has 3 tables, plus bar seating. 2. Entrance - no one greeted us. We didn't know where to go to get seated. One couple was eating at a table, and another pair of guys were at the bar. My partner eventually walked to the coffee shop to check where to get seated and someone came out to help us. 3. Seating arrangement - at first, my party of 3 was going to be seated in the corner, awkwardly next to the old couple who was already taking up the table snuggly right next to it. We asked if we can sit at the table by the window. A third chair was pulled up and I sat partly in the walkway space. 4. Brunch menu - great selection of food, but limited in vegetarian options. I was excited to see that tofu was an option for the Hawaiian plate. In fact, my whole party of 3 ordered the Hawaiian plate, but we each chose different proteins - tofu, Kahlua pork, and bulgogi beef. I eat tofu A LOT. I cook tofu A LOT. This tofu was WEAK and I was UNimpressed. It was literally cooked on a flat top with maybe a tsp of soy sauce? I couldn't taste it, if thats what made it brown (although it could've been oil). How could you serve 3 slabs of tofu with a touch of furikake and call it $23? It needed more flavor (like teriyaki) or it also could have been made crispy with some cornstarch and panko and turn it into tofu katsu. So much potential! I had a taste of the bulgogi and kahlua (i had hope for this spot), and they actually had flavor. The Hawaiian mac was the best part of my plate. The fried rice was fine; I added the hot sauce they provided. 5. Service - was OK at first, but he didn't ask any one of us if we wanted white rice or fried rice with our Hawaiian plates. For some reason, all three of us got the fried rice. We didn't think anything of it because maybe we misread the menu, but here comes the bill and a $2 extra charge times 3. I didn't say anything because we ate it all, but I warn you to double check the menu options. $25 each Hawaiian plate for us.

    Island Breakfast w fried eggs
    Hanaah F.

    First time here for breakfast, and the main restaurant area was full. There was bar seating for 5, but not an actual table. So they seated us outside in the lobby next door, which was shared with the Fin Hotel. It was quiet. Service was pretty quick. Food was pretty good. We ordered the kalua pork fries (pretty good) and coconut shrimp (6 pieces) as appetizers. Coconut shrimp wasn't worth it though. You only get 6 pieces. The Island Breakfast was decent- can choose how you'd like your eggs. Spam was pretty salty. The Hawaiian plate with teriyaki was good. The mac salad was good and so was the teriyaki chicken (tender and not salty). The Loco Moco was good too. For the chicken and waffles, the chicken was good but the waffles were really sweet. Felt more like a dessert waffle rather than entreé. Parking was on the street.

    Megan C.

    Came here on a Saturday around 3:50pm- was happily surprised they still have happy hour on the weekends but it ends at 4pm! The server was nice and gave us the heads up to put in our orders asap to get the deal. We ordered the crispy dumplings, the kalua pork fries, and the switchboard burger. Everything was super tasty but the appetizers were my favorite. I think the burger was just okay- I wish there was a sauce on there that made it tastier. The dumplings and fries though were soo good! It wasn't busy at this time, the servers were really friendly, and service was quick too. I'd recommend coming during happy hour because the food is more reasonably priced.

    Valeri S.

    Been here twice. Correction came here two days in a row. Brunch was amazing both visit with bottomless mimosas. I had a sandwich was was delightful. They had comfy seating and out table was right by the window for people watching. I was I rush in my first visit so I had to go back the next day. Service was in point. Love the theme of the place and right below the hotel. This will be a regular spot to visit. What's. Discovery.

    Lemon caper salmon (special)
    Haley L.

    A small restaurant attached to the countries smallest Hilton! Love the vibes. My husband and I sat at the bar. Service was friendly and the food was delicious. The bulgogi lettuce wraps was my fav, the flavor was super good and meat was tender.

    SPAM Musubi (Great with sauce super savory with a hint of salty)
    Nancy L.

    This Fusion restaurant is easily one of the best places I've ever been to.With quaint and relaxing music, it is an overall calming experience.Additionally, you can work or play a game of theirs (I forgot name of game).The service is great with great servers who are very friendly and try to do their job at the greatest.Finally the food is so good with various options that are infused with both Korean and American Heritage!

    Scott M.

    I'm not surprised to see this place closed. Years ago it was one of my favorites. At our last visit it was actually inedible, not good food at all. The service was also horrendous. We ended up leaving and walking across the street to eat elsewhere.

    Loco Moco and Mexican Mocha
    Arjay U.

    Memorial Day brunch here today and we enjoyed our meal here The loco moco was on point it was delish, my Mexican mocha is so good Service was friendly and fast and efficient, shout out to our Berber bartender with dreads he was very nice to us Ambiance is a hotel restaurant. Clean and vibey, def coming back again when I'm in OSide

    Hawaiian Plate with Teriyaki Chicken
    Shirley S.

    Searched for a restaurant in Oceanside to have lunch with a friend driving from Torrance. I went by Yelp reviews and a bit nervous about picking a restaurant I never heard of without a recommendation. It didn't look like what I expected but was greeted by a sweet server who was expecting us, The menu lacked items that were on their Yelp page but it did have what I was most interested in. We started with the #BulgogLettuceWraps. It did not disappoint #KaluaPorkFries Amazing with #KimchiAioli #GarlicAioli #CrispyOnions and a perfectly #FriedEggs definitely one of the best #FrenchFriesFusion The only miss was the #HawaiianPlate We picked chicken as the protein but we did ask for it to be fried and it was a bit dry and overcooked. Good slices of breast meat though. The macaroni salad seemed on the healthier side - light on the mayo but not bad. For dessert we had #Turon aka #BananaLumpia. Having turon many times this was the BEST Very crispy because it wasn't wrapped like an egg roll and the banana filling was very delicious it didn't need a side of caramel sauce but I love caramel so nice addition. Accompanied with #AmericanoCoffee a perfect ending, It does have a coffee shop vibe with switchboard decor in honor of the women who worked at this historical site. Service was fast and our server made great recommendations and was a delight throughout our meal.

    Kalua pork fries, Hawaiian plate with bulgogi
    Irene N.

    We swung by here sometime in February on our way from LA to SD. Kiddo was getting hangry and couldn't wait to get to SD to eat. Interesting spot, small and located inside a hotel. There's only a couple tables in the restaurant but they were open to seating us in the hotel lobby, which worked out better for kiddo to sit and eat. We ended up ordering Kalua Pork Fries, Hawaiian Plate with bulgogi. Everything was tasty! The bulgogi was a little salty and the fries were fried crispy well. Service was great, even for us being separate from the actual restaurant, the servers check on us often and tended to us. The bathroom in also located in the lobby. Glad we stopped here to try this random spot.

    K-pop burger and side salad (dressing was amazing!)
    Emma K.

    2 stars for effort. I am highly disappointed. This is definitely not the same quality of food as it was about a year ago. I already knew coming here that the previous owner and chef were gone. We ordered the loco moco and the Hawaiian plate. Both dishes were nothing special. I could probably go to a chain, fast-food Hawaiian place down the road and get the same quality of food. I had the kalua pork w/the Hawaiian plate-it was a bit salty for my taste and spicy! Not sure why they decided to do that. However, let's talk about the macaroni salad-this was not your traditional Mac salad except that it was cold. It was basically cheese Mac w/curdled cheese and no flavor. Just as a reviewer (below), said the same exact thing I was thinking-the minute I looked at the food, I could tell something was different. It was definitely the taste and quality. I agree, it is really sad that they can't or won't, keep up with the past quality and customer service of this place. Good luck, I won't be back.

    Mo' Betta and Garden Party cocktails
    Savanna V.

    Nice spot for Valentine's Day dinner! They had a dinner for two menu but we ordered a La carte. We ordered the bulgolgi lettuce wraps (delicious) to share and the salmon plate for my entree. The bourbon salmon was good, but medium rare was slightly too undercooked for my preference. Service was good even with a full house, and so was my cocktail, The Local Vibe!

    Ahi & Salmon Tartare
    Maya T.

    The concept of the Switchboard is super cool, with the interior completely decked out with switchboard-like decorations. The service here was good and our server was super nice and gave us a rundown of the specials they had for that day. Unfortunately, I wasn't really impressed with the food. We ordered the edamame, which was $8 for a tiny portion. And I didn't really love the sauce and salt it was covered in. We also tried the Salmon Tartare, and again, I wasn't a fan. Maybe next time, I'll have to try one of the entree items, since a bunch looked good. Would definitely return for the service!

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    2 years ago

    Great food, creative specials, and great atmosphere. My favorite place in Oceanside.

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    Great service, very friendly easygoing servers.. Good food. Small cozy comfortable place.

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    Page 5 of 13

    Ask the Community - The Switchboard

    Do you sell malasadas? Do you sell by the dozen?

    Hi Debbie Unfortunatly we do not sell Malasadas at this time The only place I know of that makes good… 

    Do they still have bottomless mimosas?

    It was on the menu when we went within the last month. This may have been the place that put a time limit of 2 hours though. I can't remember

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    Ohana Hawaiian BBQ - Hawaiian chicken

    Ohana Hawaiian BBQ

    3.3(253 reviews)
    6.1 mi
    $$

    One of go to spots for Hawaiian food. The loco moco is my favorite dish here. The beef is really…read morewell seasoned and the gravy and rice pair really well. The fried eggs and mac salad really put this dish over the top. I usually order takeout here, but the dining area is pretty spacious. It is counter service FYI. They also have some good tropical drinks like passion fruit juice which is a really nice touch. The musubi and other dishes are good, but I usually go for the loco moco because it's so good.

    Now I love a good BBQ mix plate/platter and as soon as I saw it was on their menu (Hawaiian BBQ…read moreMix), I was sold and had to try it. The BBQ mix came with beef, ribs (Kalbi), and chicken. My favorite is usually ribs and this Kalbi was no different. Fell right off the bone and had such a delicious flavor. The chicken was juicy and perfectly marinated and barbecued. The beef had a delicious marinade as well, but it was a bit tough, still good though. I usually eat this plate/platter for two different meals or split this with a friend. While the food was delicious, the wait time was a bit long for to-go. We only had one person ahead of us and it took over 25 minutes for our one order to be ready. Ordering ahead over the phone would probably be the best idea for the future. Really easy otherwise to get in and out as there is plenty of parking on the plazas lot. Overall the menu options here are the same as other Hawaiian BBQ chains in SD. Nothing crazy different. Happy to have another convenient spot to go to!

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    Order and menu

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    Guahan Grill

    Guahan Grill

    4.4(1.1k reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    Cute little place in Oceanside, right past CVS, by Flying Pig. We never really walk out that far…read morefrom the pier area (and it's not really THAT far), but decided to go out a bit just to check it out. Scanned the QR code on the big banner from the outside and checked out their menu. Saw lumpia and thought it was a Filipino spot). Saw they had a happy hour menu and decided to check it out before our movie. The vibe we really cute and played reggae music. It was a relaxing, chill atmosphere with lots of tvs. The server, Jaz was really nice, friendly and very hospitable. She spoke of their Guamanian food, heritage and community. They've been in the current spot for the last 7 or 8 months, so fairly new, but were down the street for many years before that. We ordered 2 different kinds of BBQ chicken wings. Two orders of the sweet chili glazed (Pine Doni) and one of the other which was like a honey bbq glazed style. All were supposed to have 6 wings, but the honey BBQ one had 5 (?). The sweet chili was our fave of the two. Their chicken empanadas were huge, and served 3 per dish, were delicious and crispy, with an aioli like sauce with a wonderful kick. The spam roll was a masubi-like and was good (husband said it was the best he's ever had). The side of mac salad had great flavor! Jaz brought us some red rice to try on the house and it was really good! It reminded me of Vietnamese chicken rice, with chicken broth infused into the rice, making it really tasty and savory. First time having Guamanian food and we're stoked we tried it! All in all, great food and awesome service! If you've never tried it before...put it on your list! You won't regret it!

    This place is kinda far from where we live, but we wanna try a better Chamorro restaurant; (the one…read moreclose to us in Temecula, we have it a 1-star rating ). The place is, of course, decorated with an island vibe (just like the restaurants in Guam but a little bit fancier-as well as the price), coupled with an island music playlist. We ordered the Maga Lahi ($46.99) comes with salad, 4 small scoops of red rice,chicken kelaguen, empanada, 4pcs each of grilled pork ribs (so tender the meat falls off the bone) and boneless chicken with finadene; chicken kelaguen appetizer that comes with 2 scoops of red rice and emapanadas (3pcs an order). Overall we gave a 3.5 stars for the food because having tried the "real deal" in Guam, we haven't found anything like it here in the mainland US. Our server was very attentive even when it was pretty busy on a Sunday lunch and he was working by himself.

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    Lots of seats

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    One Love Island Cuisine - Jerk Chicken

    One Love Island Cuisine

    4.4(711 reviews)
    5.5 mi
    $$

    Our first time at this restaurant. (We found it on Yelp.)All I can say is if you're looking for…read moreJamaican food or something out of the ordinary like Mexican, burgers, or Chinese...you have to try this place! I ordered the boneless jerk chicken plate with plantains and salad. The chicken was tender and flavorful! Plantains were good too. The rice and beans was also a good accompaniment. My fiancée ordered the ox tail plate with mango salad and collard greens. The meat was so tender and delicious! He said it was probably one of the best oxtails he's had. We loved the food, service and will definitely be returning!

    I've been coming to One Love for years and the food has always been consistently good. The oxtail…read moreplate is my favorite, especially with the mango salad and sweet plantains. Everything is flavorful and satisfying, and I usually order it to go. The only downside is the price. It's always been on the expensive side, but seeing one oxtail plate go up to $31 (+tax) makes it hard to justify coming here as often as I used to. The quality is still there, but the higher price means it'll probably be more of once a year meal. One thing to be aware of is that there's a surcharge even when paying with a debit card. Legally you're not supposed to add a charge when using debit card but I paid it anyways. It was an unexpected charge that other customers may want to know about. Ambience was okay. Service was nice. Overall, the food is delicious and worth trying, but between the rising prices and the added card surcharge, I'll likely be visiting once in a blue moon.

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    One Love Island Cuisine - Jerk chicken, BBQ beef, Mango Salsa, Steamed Cabbage, Potato Salad

    Jerk chicken, BBQ beef, Mango Salsa, Steamed Cabbage, Potato Salad

    One Love Island Cuisine - Oxtail, rice, collard greens, plantain. Such great comfort food!

    Oxtail, rice, collard greens, plantain. Such great comfort food!

    One Love Island Cuisine - Beef patty inside Coco Bread with Kola Champagne to wash it down! Jamaican Patties Coco Bread Jamaican Soda

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    L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

    L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

    3.6(262 reviews)
    5.5 mi
    $$

    Happy to have them down the street super convenient whenever I need my Hawaiian food fix!read more

    Corporate: PLEASE FIX WEBSITE Ordered from website for pick up, chose the correct location at 4225…read moreOceanside Blvd. Ordered 1/2 and 1/2 katsu curry with hamburger and gravy, and an order of reg katsu chicken. Got confirmation via website that order went through at 4225 Oside Blvd, although it did not get my name, payment or contact info. I show up and ask about it. The worker was insistent that I must have ordered for a different location. I say no, I didn't, but thats okay because my payment wasn't taken anyway. So I re-order, only to find out the deal I ordered for 1/2and 1/2 chicken curry with hamburger doesnt exist at this spot but was advertised on website for this location. So i said okay that's fine, ill just get curry katsu and got reg katsu for the other person I was with. The order ended up being $10 more expensive for LESS FOOD. I would have gone somewhere else if I wasn't SO HUNGRY. I tried to kindly let worker know about discrepancy but he seemed impatient and un empathetic for the customer. Saying that's not our problem, that's corporate's problem. And that they already let corporate know about it. So was admitting that he knew exactly what I was talking about when he was pretending not to earlier. Also the cooks in the back were laughing at me when I brought up concern. Really sad and rude :( Update: So I have been to a bunch of L&L locations both within the county and out of state, I always get about the same thing. Im so sad yall, Ive never had drier katsu curry they literally put like a drizzle of curry but whenever Ive gotten it in the past its been like CURRY. THICK DELICIOUS CURRY. Im not rich and don't get to eat out all the time, but I know what I like and I'm disappointed when it's 1. More expensive for less food 2. Served by people that treat me like I'm crazy and 3. Dry asf I was not and am not trying to be rude to the workers at all but cmon you guys recognize your fellow human see yourself in me, and please don't mess with my sauce yo!!! Unfortunately gonna be asking for a charge back with my bank on the order, I don't think Ive EVER done that with a food order before. Really sad about this, I love L&L but now I know not to go to this location for next time :(

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    L&L Hawaiian Barbecue
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    PB Poke House Oceanside - Spicy Ahi Signature Bowl

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    4.8(153 reviews)
    0.2 mi
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    Food here is phenomenal. Everything is super fresh and there are plenty of options for…read morecustomization, which is great. Staff is super friendly and helpful...on the day I was there, it was fairly crowded (which is generally a good sign, in my opinion) and I had to wait an extra few minutes because the staff was working on orders - not a problem for me. But, they acknowledged me and apologized for the delay, which I told them was no worries at all. Kind and appreciated gesture. Nice decor and comfortable space where I would definitely sit and eat - but so happened to take my order to go. It was well packed and organized. Definitely would go back and highly recommend! Stoked they're close by/local!

    Brrra! This da kine poke! Full of flavor, a majestic connoisseur of fine seafood. Just walking by…read moredowntown oceanside when I saw PB Poke. Crew is real cool. Give out military discount. So don't forget to tip!!! So if you're headed to Hawaii to get station over there, I definitely recommend this place to give you a taste of what it is to be on the island. Get a sense of the Kama'aina' legacy. We got the spicy garlic and the Ahi tuna both did not upset. The sticky rice made great and greens are fresh. No fishy taste. Fish felt like it came straight out of the ocean. Reminds me of my good old days when I used to live by the Punchbowl, or would like to drive by the outskirts of Oahu to the country and just cruse the island and set camp to see the sunset. Come support local as I see the shop is here to stay for eva! Shootz! Kolohe Boy

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    The Switchboard - hawaiian - Updated September 2026

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