Culinary Dropout, the live-music gastropub from restaurateur Sam Fox, has opened its first California location at Del Mar Highlands Town Center on El Camino Real. The 8,000-square-foot restaurant represents a westward push for Fox Restaurant Concepts, which already operates Flower Child, The Henry, and Blanco Cocina + Cantina in the San Diego market. Fox, a longtime Coronado resident who has owned a home on the island for two decades, chose Del Mar for its central county position and what he describes as the strongest food scene outside of downtown.
Bold Flavors and Live Music at Del Mar Highlands
The menu leans into scratch-made American comfort food with a chef-driven edge. Signature items include 36-hour marinated pork ribs, a Korean-style ribeye cap, and the soft pretzel with provolone fondue that the brand says outsells every other appetizer four-to-one. The Del Mar location introduces a sushi program — a first for the concept — reflecting Fox's effort to lighten a menu that historically ran heavy. Add craft cocktails like the Giddy Up Espresso Martini and a rotating live music calendar, and the restaurant fills a niche that didn't previously exist in the Del Mar dining landscape.
The Highlands location sits a short drive from Del Mar Village and its walkable Camino Del Mar strip, where established spots like MARKET Restaurant + Bar, Jake's Del Mar, and Monarch Ocean Pub have long anchored the local bar scene. Culinary Dropout expands that map inland with more space, more volume, and a distinctly different energy than the intimate ocean-facing rooms along the coast.
Fox's Growing San Diego Footprint
Sam Fox opened his first San Diego restaurant in 2012 and has steadily expanded since. Flower Child already operates in the Del Mar area, and a new Henry location is planned for Carlsbad. The pattern suggests Fox sees North County and the coastal corridor — stretching from Coronado through La Jolla to Del Mar — as the center of gravity for upscale-casual dining in the region. For entertainment seekers who want dinner and a live show without heading downtown, Culinary Dropout fills that gap with polish.
