Del Mar's Newest Fall Tables Seat Four. The Room Adding Space Reopens in Spring.

"Dress for the occasion," reads the front window at 1404 Camino Del Mar. The sign belongs to Honor Bar, now open on the lot where Bully's stood for 48 years. The dress code is the most visible rule at the new corner, but the one that affects fall plans more is a quieter one. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's opening coverage, the restaurant prefers to host parties of four or fewer.

Two miles of calendar later, the same number comes up again. The Thanksgiving brunch in the Del Mar racetrack's Turf Club seats tables of up to four. Meanwhile, Market Restaurant and Sushi Lounge on Via de la Valle has closed for a remodel that will add expanded dining spaces, and it is aiming to reopen in spring 2027. Del Mar's most talked-about fall seats are sized for small groups. The room that is growing will stay dark through the holidays.

The Corner That Took Nine Years

Bully's closed in 2017. The building with the white brick facade was demolished, and the new restaurant was built from the ground up over a long stretch of construction. In its place is a red brick building with a sunken patio off Camino Del Mar, a row of bright yellow umbrellas, and a vintage-style pole sign out front in the same yellow. Inside are brick walls, wood paneling, booths and heavy ceiling beams.

The operator is Hillstone Restaurant Group, which also runs Houston's, Gulfstream in Newport Beach and Rutherford Grill in Napa. Del Mar joins an Honor Bar lineup that includes Beverly Hills, Dallas, Montecito and Palm Beach. The Del Mar location's house rules shape any evening on this corner this fall:

1. No reservations. You can call ahead to be added to the wait list.
2. Small parties. The space is intimate, and the restaurant prefers groups of four or fewer.
3. A dress code that is enforced. The guidelines rule out sportswear, gym clothes such as sports bras and sweatpants, backwards hats, flip flops and "excessively revealing clothing." The full list is on the website.
4. Cashless. Bring a card.
5. Parking underneath. The garage below the restaurant is entered from the alley off 13th Street.

Honor Bar is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and current details are posted on the Honor Bar Del Mar page.

The menu fits a small table. It is short and built around shareable plates: deviled eggs, chicken meatballs, and hand-rolled sushi such as the Thai tuna roll and a crunchy avocado roll with macadamia nuts. The best-known dish is Osaka-style pressed sushi, which stacks sashimi tuna, avocado and rice into a block. Larger plates include the Honor Burger with melted cheddar and coleslaw, a French dip au jus, cedar plank roasted salmon and a USDA prime flat iron steak. The central bar pours a martini, a grapefruit Aperol spritz and the Hillstone negroni with a hint of lime. On weekends only, it also serves the Kickstart, Honor Bar's take on a Bloody Mary.

Via de la Valle Goes Quiet Until Spring

By the time the Union-Tribune covered Honor Bar's opening on Sept. 6, the new corner was already serving. Then, on Sept. 21, Market Restaurant and Sushi Lounge closed, and demolition is now underway, the Union-Tribune reported on Oct. 3. The farm-to-table restaurant near El Camino Real has been open in Del Mar for 20 years and has been recognized by the Michelin Guide.

The closure is a planned handoff. Founder and chef Carl Schroeder sold Market to Monica and Bernd Brust in 2025. The new owners said they plan to carry on the restaurant's tradition and invest in long-needed upgrades to the building. Market's own announcement says "A new chapter is coming" and promises new interiors, expanded dining spaces and a new menu.

Spring 2027 is a target, not a confirmed date. The owners are posting updates at marketdelmar.com and on Instagram at @marketdelmar. Either way, the closure covers the whole holiday stretch, from the opening of the fall racing meet through Thanksgiving and into the new year.

The Village's Summer Arrivals Fill the Weeknights

Two spring and summer openings keep a weeknight in the village simple, and both sit on Camino Del Mar.

Queenstown Del Mar opened May 21 at 1435 Camino Del Mar. It is the Queenstown group's first North County location and serves New Zealand-inspired comfort food: breakfast classics, burgers, pies, fish and chips and seafood, with chef Yohalmo Rosales running the menu. When it opened, the Union-Tribune reported a weekday happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. with $10 cocktails and wines and $7 beers. It also listed weekend brunch from 9 a.m. and regular hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., extended to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Those details date from May, so check the current schedule with the restaurant before planning around it.

For dessert, Desserts By Clément opened its second San Diego shop in Del Mar Plaza, Suite 304, at 1555 Camino Del Mar. It sells French pastries, desserts, coffee and baked goods and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. With a 9 p.m. close, it is still open after an early dinner in the village.

The Track's Thanksgiving Is Also Set for Four

The Bing Crosby fall meet runs Nov. 6 through Nov. 29, according to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's 2026 season calendar. The FanDuel Racing Turf Festival takes the last four days, Nov. 26 to 29, and the club notes that its dates are subject to change. Opening day is Friday, Nov. 6, with a 12:30 p.m. start.

With Market closed, Thanksgiving Day at the track is one of the few fall meals in town you can book ahead with a date and a time attached. The Thanksgiving at the Track page lists three ways to spend Nov. 26:

• Family Fun Run. The day opens with a one-mile run on the Seaside Oval.
• Thanksgiving Turf Club Brunch. It starts at 11 a.m. and includes a three-course Thanksgiving meal, a reserved Turf Club table seat and bottomless mimosas. Tickets are required, and tables seat up to four.
• Trackside restaurants. The track's trackside restaurants serve a Thanksgiving plate with a view of the finish line, and race-day tickets are sold through the track's ticket office.

The Turf Club cap matches the one on Camino Del Mar. A party of six or eight planning a holiday meal in Del Mar this year will run into the same limit at both of the season's most visible new or seasonal tables.

The Next Bookable Village Dinner Is in January

For a village dinner you can book ahead, the Del Mar Village Association runs the Gather Dinner Series. Each one-night dinner partners with a local restaurant and includes a welcome cocktail, a multi-course family-style meal and wines paired with each course. Seats are intentionally limited.

The 2026 dinners both sold out: Monarch Ocean Pub on June 3 and Coral Del Mar on Oct. 1. The schedule then skips the rest of the fall. The next confirmed dates are:

Thursday, January 21: Queenstown Del Mar. Thursday, March 18: Viewpoint Brewing Co. Tamarindo Del Mar and Adelaide: dates coming soon.

Tickets for all four are listed as "coming soon." Since the last two dinners sold out, the January date at Queenstown will likely fill quickly once tickets go on sale. That puts the series' first 2027 dinner at one of this year's new village restaurants, a few months before Market expects to reopen with more room.

Until then, the fall in Del Mar runs on a short list of fixed points: a wait list on Camino Del Mar, a 12:30 p.m. post on Nov. 6, an 11 a.m. brunch on Nov. 26, and a dinner on Jan. 21.

At FW Property Group, we follow these changes along Camino Del Mar and Via de la Valle because they shape what a week in Del Mar looks like for the people who live here. If you own a home near the village and want to know how the newest corners and upcoming reopenings figure into its value, request your free home valuation.