Encinitas Restaurant Among Nation's Top 100, New Ranking Says

ENCINITAS, CA — An Encinitas restaurant was named to a new ranking of 100 nationwide that "delight their communities and make them better."

Resy, an online restaurant reservation service for roughly 10,000 restaurants, said the debut "Resy 100" is a "curation of restaurants that thrill us, that serve exceptional food that alternately might be comforting or daring, traditional or completely new."

"These are places that make us want to return again and again, and define the best of our dining culture today," according to the company.

"They don't have to be new. They don't have to have a famous chef at the helm," the company said of the 100 restaurants on the list. They could be absolutely anywhere — as we've learned, a great meal can find you where you least expect it, whether you've traversed the country or just headed down the block. They are, simply, excellent and cherished. They delight their communities and make them better."

Leu Leu, located on North Coast Highway in Encinitas, is the only San Diego area restaurant that made the list. The eatery ranked No. 48.

Guided by the visionary spirit of award-winning Chef Claudette Zepeda, Leu Leu is a "rare jewel tucked within the seaside corner of Leucadia," according to the reservation service.

"A one-time 1930s motel in North County San Diego isn't perhaps the most obvious place to find a former 'Top Chef' star, but Claudette Zepeda and her partners Brittany Corrales and Jason Janececk have created a remarkable homage to Zepeda's upbringing between Tijuana and San Diego, to her global travels, and to an aesthetic that’s somehow both midcentury modern and California coastal, which it turns out is the perfect mix for the seaside hamlet of Leucadia," the company said.