Inland Tavern's 'elevated' Caesar salad
A perfect order at Inland Tavern
In an innocuous-looking restaurant, a culinary romp around the world awaits. The catch: It isn’t located Downtown or Little Italy or North Park. It’s in the emerging north.
With flavors from Latin America and Asia and a little Southern cooking, the dishes at Inland Tavern in San Marcos remain rooted in Southern California. Prime example: the Korean Cali Burrito. Skirt steak is marinated in a sweet and spicy Korean gochujang sauce and then grilled, wrapped up alongside thick-cut fries (essential, or else it’s not a Cali burrito), given a deep note with caramelized onions, and served with a cooling curry sauce.
Located on the main commercial artery of San Marcos Boulevard, Inland Tavern is surrounded by fast food chains, and for now, a clanking orchestra of construction as the city erects its Creekside District (a $108 million project to build bridges, bike lanes, and trails, restore habitat, prevent flooding, just generally improve the area). This summer, the restaurant relaunched its menu under chef Keith Lord, who started his career at the iconic Farallon in San Francisco before becoming a staple in San Diego’s catering scene (Wild Thyme, Picnic People). Lord worked closely with owner Pete Zacarias on a land-and-sea menu—enough intrigue to lure adventurous palates without scaring away the timid.
The word ‘elevated’ is overused in food journalism precisely because it works in cases like this: Inland Tavern does elevated pub food. Take the Caesar salad, for instance. It’s garnished with rose water-pickled onions for a gentler bite and dusted with finely grated nutty, salty Parmigiano-Reggiano—flavors that contrast beautifully with the creamy dressing. Slivered Brussels sprouts add enough substance to order as a meal, and crushed croutons bring just enough crunch and yield—thankfully unlike the rock hard, bagged-and-boxed squares that have wrecked the roofs of mouths for generations. This salad is exceptional.
Inland Tavern's 'elevated' Caesar salad
If dining with a group, start with a few rounds of shrimp and salmon poke seasoned with furikake and served with taro chips (ask for more chips). Then add the flatbread with labneh, a soft Mediterranean yogurt so thick it’s nearly the consistency of cheese, drizzled with olive oil and amped up with za’atar (a spice blend starring toasted sesame seeds, sumac, and oregano).
Next, order the Katsu Crack Sando. This one’s substantial enough to share, and may require a fork, a knife, and ambition. The famed tri-tip from Seaside Market (known colloquially as Cardiff Crack) gets the katsu treatment (breaded with panko crumbs and fried) while griddled slices of Hokkaido milk bread aims to contain crunchy kimchi slaw, garlic aioli, hot mustard, and Asian BBQ sauce.
A perfect order at Inland Tavern
For vegetarians and vegans, well, there’s always water and oxygen. Not much. But they’ve got a few salads and a hearts of palm ceviche, which proves zesty and refreshing with microgreens, quartered watermelon radish slices, and charred lime. Again… elevated. As I snack on cream cheese-stuffed garlic milk bread rolls (softer and fluffier than the average bread roll), I watch a pair of regulars hem and haw over the ceviche, then suspiciously inspect the dish, and finally call chef Lord over to rave about it.
In addition to its new menu, happy hour specials include 20 percent off appetizers and $2 off craft beers on tap, a Taco Tuesday lineup of carnitas, carne asada, and shrimp tacos, and half-off wings on Wednesdays.
I’ll make it out for weekend brunch as soon as I’ve had my fill of that Caesar salad.
Ligaya Malones grew up in Kaua’i, Hawai’i and is a San Diego-based writer covering the intersection of food, travel, and culture. Her work has appeared in publications including Food52, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, and Salt & Wind Travel.
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