Valle is a Baja California-inspired restaurant in downtown Oceanside that helped put the city on the Southern California dining map. Chef Roberto Alcocer, born in Ensenada, runs an open kitchen producing refined Mexican coastal cooking — farm-grown produce, local seafood, and wood-fire techniques applied to dishes that draw on the traditions of Baja wine country.
The restaurant is compact and popular, with outdoor seating that fills quickly on weekends. It's a prix-fixe experience at dinner — several courses of inventive, beautifully presented food that bears little resemblance to the San Diego burrito-and-margarita template. The wine list tilts toward Mexican and Californian producers, particularly from the Valle de Guadalupe region.