Valentine’s Day is a polarizing holiday. Whether you love it or hate it, you might be looking for ideas on how to spend the day with your sweetie, your gal pals, your kids, or all by your lonesome.
We’ve tracked down options that range from traditional dinners to breathtaking experiences, and everything in between. Best of all, you get to stay local, because they’re all nearby in Bay Park, Clairemont, Kearny Mesa, Linda Vista, and Serra Mesa.
Traditional Dinner Dates
Vinya
Vinya’s prix fixe Valentine’s Day menu is three courses: soup or salad to start, Chilean seabass or Chateaubriand for your entree, and, of course, dessert. While you enjoy a superb meal with your honey or your gal pals, you’ll be entertained by live piano music in the background.
The Godfather
The Godfather in Kearny Mesa is offering a prix fixe menu with seafood, pasta, chicken, and beef dishes. Oddly, there is no dessert listed on the menu. If you’d rather skip the Valentine’s Day madness, check out their DAOU Wine Dinner on February 18 instead. It’s a five-course dinner paired with DAOU wines, and this one definitely includes dessert—a coffee créme brulée.
Baci Ristorante
Baci Ristorante in Bay Park is one of the area’s few remaining white-tablecloth restaurants. It’s a great spot to cozy up with a date on Valentine’s Day and enjoy a decadent Italian meal. They’ll offer a limited menu for the holiday.
94th Aero Squadron
Partake in a Valentine’s Day buffet with a date, or get your girlfriends together to enjoy some bubbles as you brunch at 94th Aero Squadron. The menu includes everything from prime rib and lamb to snow crab and sushi rolls, plus an assortment of desserts, because calories don’t count on holidays.
Romanella Cucina Romano
The newest Italian restaurant in the neighborhood, Romanella, is offering a three-course Valentine’s Day menu for $65 per person. Menu items include lamb lollipops, oysters, heart-shaped ravioli, filet mignon, and tiramisu.
BoujieMana
BoujieMana, the tucked-away restaurant that straddles Kearny and Serra Mesa, is making sure couples and gal pals are taken care of for Valentine’s Day. They are offering Galentine’s brunch on Saturday, February 14, and Sunday, February 15, from 10 am to 2 pm. In addition to your main meal, you can satisfy your sweet tooth with a complimentary chocolate fountain dessert. And for the lovebirds, enjoy a multicourse prix fixe menu that includes beef, seafood, and a vegetarian options.
La Gran Terraza
Get a head start on the holiday with a Valentine’s Day Eve dinner at La Gran Terraza at the University of San Diego. Dinner includes an amuse-bouche to start, followed by three courses, ending with dessert. The prix fixe menu offers a vegetarian option. You can also opt for an optional wine pairing.
After dinner, take a romantic stroll in the Garden of the Sea on campus.
The Peruvian Spot
Looking for low-key lovin’? Head to The Peruvian Spot for 20% off salchipapas on Valentine’s Day, a Peruvian street food of French fries and sausages. Stick around for a dessert of Peruvian key lime pie ice cream or lúcuma ice cream with chocolate bites.
Love Brew
Kearny Mesa brewery, Quantum Brewing, is serving up beer and cupcakes for couples at a limited seating on Valentine’s Day. Enjoy a beer flight and two cupcakes for $20. Beer flavors like Pumpkin Spiced Ale and Singularity Stout with notes of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla would make great selections for your flight.
Heart-Shaped Pizzas
Perhaps you want to keep it a bit more casual, or maybe you’d rather enjoy Valentine’s Day in solitude with a gift to yourself—a heart-shaped pizza. Here are a few restaurants where you can get one.
- Pizza Hut: Heart-shaped pizzas are available through February 22.
- Mountain Mike’s Pizza: Your choice of a heart-shaped savory pizza or a cherry pie dessert pizza—or both.
- Giant Pizza King: This Linda Vista pizzeria is offering giant heart-shaped pizzas through Valentine’s Day.
Put On Your Dancing Shoes
Channel your inner Johnny and Baby from “Dirty Dancing” this Valentine’s Day. Melómano is hosting a Love Fest Valentine’s Social on February 13. There will be bachata lessons for both singles and couples, plus a DJ and a photo booth to capture your memories.
Latin music not your jam? Try country two-step, West Coast swing, or hip-hop dance lessons at the Dance with Liza studio this February instead. They’re offering a 20% Valentine’s discount on dance classes.
Wood You Be Mine?
Make wooden wine goblets at Rockler Woodworking and Hardware in Kearny Mesa. You’ll have a chance to get crafty, and then pour yourself a glass of wine to celebrate your creation. Classes are available for Galentine’s Day (February 13) and on Valentine’s Day morning.
Fly High
They say dates with an adrenaline rush bring people closer together. You can test out this theory by taking your date on an airplane thrill ride with San Diego Sky Tours, based out of Montgomery-Gibbs Airport. They offer extreme acrobatics in biplanes where you’ll experience loops and rolls. Pro tip: Save your lunch trip to Casa Machado for after the ride.
Smash It
Perhaps instead of romance, you’d prefer smashing something to bits, which can also be quite satisfying. The Piñata Place in Clairemont is the go-to spot for piñatas in San Diego. Buy something off the shelf or have a custom-made piñata you can smash to smithereens. It’s a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your single friends.
Make Sweet Treats With Your Sweetie
Sweet Petite Confections has several chocolate-making classes for the Valentine’s weekend. Whether you’re looking for a romantic chocolate and wine pairing or a chocolate-making class to enjoy with friends, kids, or a date, this is one sweet way to spend some time.
Cookies by Colette is offering two Valentine’s Day-themed cookie decorating classes. You’ll learn techniques to elegantly decorate sugar cookies into edible art. Classes are designed for ages 12 and up. Sign up for her Bee Mine Cookie Class on February 7, or her Written in the Stars Cookie Class on February 13 and 14.
Relax, Do It
Getting a massage is a great way to unwind on Valentine’s Day. Whether you opt for a couple’s massage or a solo experience, there are plenty of options in the area. Check out Rama Thai Massage in Linda Vista for a deep tissue Thai massage that will melt your stress away.
See Into the Future
Maybe you’re wondering if you’re really meant to be together, or maybe you’re curious if your soul mate will soon enter your life. Book a psychic reading, and find out what the future holds. Psychic Chakra in Kearny Mesa offers palm, tarot, and psychic readings.
