Four months after Michelin-starred Lilo restaurant in Carlsbad was named the No. 1 restaurant in America by the luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report, the 24-seat chef’s counter-style restaurant has been ranked No. 5 on Yelp’s list of the Best New Retaurants 2026.
Yelp Trend Expert Tara Lewis selected the 25 honorees based on the volume and ratings of reviews submitted by users on Yelp’s restaurant ratings app between Jan. 1, 2025, and June 11, 2026. Lilo opened in April 2025. Yelp reviewers praised Lilo’s highly choreographed service, the beautiful indoor-outdoor environment, the unstuffy atmosphere and dishes that included the orgeat ice cream with caviar, sea urchin with english pea and rose geranium and A5 Miyazaki Wagyu steak with black truffle shavings.
Lilo partner and executive chef Eric Bost said Saturday that the feedback he hears from Lilo diners is that they they love the restaurant’s immersive atmosphere and are craving unique dining experiences.
Wine director Savannah Riedler poses at Michelin-starred restaurant Lilo in Carlsbad on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Riedler won the Michelin Guide’s 2026 California Sommelier of the Year award in June. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Also recently, Lilo was awarded a Red Star award in Star Wine List’s California Wine Bars & Wine Retaurants for 2026. The red star is the top award in this category. Lilo is the only San Diego County recipient of one of the 94 red stars awarded this year.
The Star Wine reviewer praised Bost’s cooking and the California-centric wine program created by Wine Director Savannah Riedler, who won the 2026 Michelin Guide California Sommelier Award. Caitlin Ingraham is Lilo’s sommelier.
Lilo is one of four Carlsbad restaurants owned by Worthwhile Hospitality, led by founder John Resnick and Bost, including Michelin-starred Jeune et Jolie, Michelin-recommended Campfire and the all-day Mediterranean/Italian restaurant, bakery and bar Wildwood.
Rob Blair is the newly appointed wine director for Serafino, an all day cafe and wine bar opening later this year in Mission Hills. (Serafino)
Serafino announced wine director and club: Serafino, the all-day café and wine bar opening in Mission Hills later this year, has hired Rob Blair to run the venue’s wine program and its newly launched The Word of Mouth Wine Club. Blair is a San Diego native with more than 20 years in the wine industry, including a decade as manager and wine buyer at Village Vino in Kensington. Before that, he worked in retail and hospitality at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido and We Olive in La Jolla. The new wine club, run by Blair and Amanda Sarich, is $70 per month and includes two curated bottles of wine per month. More than 50 people have already joined. 301 W. Washington St., San Diego. instagram.com/thewordofmouthwineclub
Crossings and Caffeine Crawl collab: As an outgrowth of the annual Caffeine Crawl, where ticket-buyers can visit up to 30 locally owned coffee shops around the county in one weekend, Alden Hozouri of Crossings Coffee Roasters in Encinitas and Caffeine Crawl founder Jason Burton have collaborated on a coffee bean product sold at the shop. Burton, whose background is in art and design, said he was so impressed with Hozouri’s bean sourcing and roasting philosophy that they agreed to collaborate on promoting the beans Hozouri sorces from the El Porvenir co-op in Santa Rosa, Guatamala. Now renamed Fuego Bloom, the beans feature new packaging designed by Burton. Crossings is inside New Wave Bagel at 312 N Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. crossingscoffee.com
