Dolphins Restaurant, Chula Vista

Along one wall of the dining room, an eclectic collage of photos hangs in frames of different sizes and colors. Each holds a little piece of nautical history in the form of old black and white ocean scenes. Outside, gulls caw and stays clang against the masts of the boats in the marina, which comes right up to the restaurant's patio. Dolphins is the kind of place where visitors gather to eat, drink, and rest their flippers during lunch and dinner—or during one of the many banquets the restaurant hosts. Focusing on seafood, the menus show off dishes like pistachio-crusted sea bass drizzled with a beurre blanc sauce and grilled mahi-mahi sandwiches on onion rolls. In other words, not your average fare. Beyond seafood, other options such as chicken roulade and tender penne pasta in a zesty vodka tomato sauce broaden the options with influences from French, Italian, and Asian cuisines.