The building at the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada dates to the 1920s. Lilian Rice designed it, and it was first the home of the Millar family, one of Rancho Santa Fe's earliest families. Since then it has been Delicias for 24 years, briefly Ponsaty's, and since 2017 Nick & G's. Local resident Sandra DiCicco-Bonar of Grand Restaurant Group opened Nick & G's and named it after her children, Nicolas and Gianina. This fall the corner is closed. The restaurant was scheduled to close in mid-October for a full renovation and menu change, with a new look planned for November.
Every restaurant that has opened in the village since last fall is casual. These places serve breakfast sandwiches, soft serve, pizza by the pie and gelato, and their hours cover far more of the week than a dinner reservation does. Nick & G's redesign, judging by its announced plans, is heading the same way.
Two Sit-Down Rooms Are Closed at Once
Nick & G's isn't the only closure. The Rancho Santa Fe Association's Ranch Clubhouse page still says the clubhouse restaurant is closed for renovations and that members can use the snack bar in the meantime. The page gives no reopening date. That clubhouse work was one of several changes covered in our summer look at Rancho Santa Fe. For now, two of the community's best-known places for a long sit-down meal are out of service at the same time.
Through the end of October, then, the restaurants actually open in the village are mostly the newer, lighter ones. They're working well. Within its first week, Rancho Sandwich and Creamery was drawing more than 100 customers a day, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune's June report.
The Places That Opened Since Last Fall
Three openings changed what a regular weekday in the village looks like.
Paseo came first. Jennifer Fields took over the former Rancho Santa Fe Bistro on Nov. 1, 2025, and renamed it. The restaurant is at 6024 Paseo Delicias, Suite C, and serves lunch and dinner. The restaurant calls itself a California bistro and lists sushi, fresh pasta, seafood and seasonal specials.
Rancho Sandwich and Creamery opened in late June at 6110 El Tordo. Local resident Chris Miller owns it. The shop serves sandwiches, breakfast items and soft-serve ice cream, Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Paseo Pizza & Gelato is Fields' second village spot, next door to Paseo at 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D. It held its grand opening Sept. 25 and 26. The Saturday event included a kids' carnival with face painting and a balloon artist. The menu offers build-your-own pizzas and 18 signature pies, rotating gelato, and craft beer brewed in-house. The signature Paseo pie has Grande mozzarella, imported burrata, crispy prosciutto and arugula, finished with balsamic glaze.
Village dining for the rest of October:
| Spot | Address | Status This Fall | Hours or Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Sandwich and Creamery | 6110 El Tordo | Open since late June 2026 | Mon–Sat, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Paseo Pizza & Gelato | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D | Grand opening Sept. 25–26, 2026 | Daily, noon–9 p.m. |
| Paseo | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Suite C | Open since November 2025 | Lunch and dinner |
| Nick & G's | 6106 Paseo Delicias | Closed for redesign | Reopening planned for November |
| Ranch Clubhouse restaurant | Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club | Closed for renovations | Snack bar open to members |
Taken together, the two newest openings now cover the hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Rancho Sandwich covers mornings and early afternoons six days a week. Paseo Pizza & Gelato runs from noon to evening every day, Sundays included. Neither one takes the place of a long dinner. Both serve a family that wants lunch after an errand on Avenida de Acacias, or a gelato on a weeknight without planning ahead.
The newcomers join a set of village regulars that the Union-Tribune listed in its Nick & G's coverage: Mille Fleurs, Lilian's and the café at The Inn, Thyme in the Ranch, Caffe Positano and Rancho Roasters.
The Redesign Points the Same Way
The plans for the new Nick & G's are the strongest evidence that the village is moving this way. The Union-Tribune's Sept. 29 report describes a redesigned dining room and bar, new private-event and patio spaces, and a California-Italian menu of handmade pastas, pizzas and seasonal shared plates. Chef and partner Alex Carballo is leading the menu work. He plans a smaller, tighter menu built around local produce, handmade pasta and seafood, and some current favorites will stay.
The new room is meant to be brighter and lighter. Per the same report, the design takes its cue from the Amalfi Coast, with shades of yellow, orange and blue and a lot of greenery. A large olive tree will stand in the center of the dining room among new custom banquettes. Guests will see through a new wine cellar to a lighter bar and lounge, and they'll be able to see into the kitchen. Outside, the patio gets a wave-shaped shade canopy, and the back courtyard is being redone as a garden with water features.
Pizza, shared plates, a lounge you can see from the door and a patio built for staying a while all suit an ordinary weeknight as well as a special occasion. Carballo connected the redesign to the rest of the village in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune:
"I like the energy when there's more…it gives people a little more variety and a reason to go into Rancho Santa Fe, and we're in the heart of it."
In the same article, Carballo said his goal is to meet "the high expectations that this community does have," and the restaurant hopes to keep hosting live music, special dinners and community events. It recently put on a multi-course Patrimony Estate wine dinner. Updates on the reopening will be posted at nickandgs.com.
A Century-Old Club Planted a Tree Down the Street
The village's oldest institutions are adding to the same streets as the newcomers. On Oct. 13, the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club and the RSF Association planted a California oak in North Village Park, beside the Lilian Rice statue, to mark the club's 100th anniversary. A potluck at the Secret Garden followed the ceremony, according to the Union-Tribune. The Garden Club was founded in 1926.
This fall, Lilian Rice's statue in North Village Park has a new oak beside it, and her 1920s building on Paseo Delicias is getting an olive tree in the middle of its dining room.
Dates Still Ahead on the Village Calendar
These village events are confirmed between now and the end of the year. Each one brings people to the blocks where the new spots are open.
- Nov. 19, 10 a.m. The Garden Club's Holiday Brunch at the Secret Garden, with a speaker series talk from an expert arborist on keeping trees and plants healthy.
- November, date to be announced. Nick & G's planned reopening at 6106 Paseo Delicias.
- Nov. 22 through Dec. 24. Village Church's Alternative Christmas Market.
- Dec. 13, 7 p.m. Village Church's Christmas Choral Concert at 6225 Paseo Delicias.
Village Church and Paseo Pizza & Gelato are both on Paseo Delicias, and the pizza shop is open until 9 p.m. daily. That leaves time for dinner or gelato after the 7 p.m. concert on Dec. 13. For Nov. 19, Rancho Sandwich and Creamery on El Tordo opens at 8 a.m. on Thursdays, before the Garden Club brunch starts.
For more on the community around these blocks, see our Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood guide.
At Adam Loew & Associates, we follow changes like these on Paseo Delicias because they shape what owning a home inside the Covenant feels like day to day. If you're wondering how this fall's changes in the village affect the value of your home, we're glad to walk you through it. Get Your Home Valuation.
