Zuma San Diego: A Terrace Dinner at The Guild Hotel

Some October plans just call for a cute dinner outfit and a table full of food to share. Zuma at The Guild Hotel is one of those options, especially if the terrace in my post caught your eye.

Towering palms, greenery and carved wooden screens give the outdoor space a tucked-away feeling, even though you are right in downtown San Diego. It was the setting I focused on in my October reel, and it makes the restaurant feel like the evening’s main plan.

Make the terrace part of the reservation

Zuma’s first California location is inside The Guild Hotel at 500 West Broadway. There is a main dining room, a bar and the terrace, so mention the terrace when you make your reservation if that is where you want to sit.

My post also highlighted the Columbia Street entrance and its teak-lined walkway. There are lovely details before you even get to the table.

A few dishes to start with

The torched salmon nigiri is one of my favorites and the first thing I would point you toward from my post.

Zuma’s menu spans the sushi counter, the main kitchen and the robata grill, so there is plenty of room to mix things up. The menu includes a rice hot pot with wild mushrooms, Japanese vegetables and fresh truffle, along with saikyo miso black cod wrapped in a hoba leaf.

Wagyu skirt steak and jumbo tiger prawns are among the robata choices. A few sushi selections and a couple of shared dishes would give the table something from different parts of the menu without feeling like you need to order everything at once.

Ask your server about portions as you go. The online menu is useful for getting a feel for the choices and prices beforehand, too.

Make an evening of it

Dinner hours are listed as 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. You can book through Zuma’s San Diego page and confirm terrace availability with the restaurant.

This is a year-round dinner spot rather than a seasonal pop-up. Save it for a date night or a girls’ dinner when you want to dress up, share a few dishes and enjoy being at the table for a while.