The Pacific Coastal town of Oceanside, situated between Los Angeles and San Diego, offers visitors a cornucopia of dining choices. There are literally hundreds of different restaurants, and nearly every major cuisine on the planet is represented in at least one of them. That said, there are some common threads that run through a large number of Oceanside restaurants. Vacationers staying in vacation rental homes in Oceanside will find that many eateries here concentrate on one of two specialties: Mexican food and seafood dishes.
The reasons for this are not hard to divine. Oceanside's position on the coast means that fresh seafood is readily available, and since it is only a little more than an hour away from the border with Mexico, that nation is naturally a large influence as well.
Fiesta Mexicana
Perhaps the quintessential Oceanside dining experience is to be found here, at Fiesta Mexicana, located near the major thoroughfare of El Camino Real. This restaurant, as it turns out, specializes in Mexican preparations of seafood, thereby blending the two major influences into a highly pleasing fusion.
All too often, Mexican food is associated with a quick bite of fast food or a taco stand at the beach, but Fiesta Mexicana is a full scale restaurant that customers refer to as five-star. Of special interest to many are the variety of sauces prepared to go with the seafood dishes, some of them are quite spicy because they are authentic Mexican food, not a pale imitation.