A plaque outside 6024 Paseo Delicias marks the building as the first Rancho Santa Fe School. Its first graduation was in 1924, and the class had one student. A century later, the same building holds the Village's two newest dinner tables. For the first half of November, it is also where most of the new evening activity on Paseo Delicias is concentrated.
The timing explains why. Nick & G's, at the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada, closed on October 19 for a full refresh. Up on Via de la Cumbre, the Rancho Santa Fe Association's Ranch Clubhouse restaurant is still closed for its renovation. Both of the Village's best-known dinner rooms are dark at the same moment. Meanwhile, the storefronts that opened over the past year sit within a few addresses of each other.
Two Restaurants, One Owner, Eleven Months
Jennifer Fields, a Rancho Santa Fe resident with 24 years in hospitality, took over the former Rancho Santa Fe Bistro on November 1, 2025. She renamed it Paseo. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's December profile, she put more than $800,000 into the interior. Her plan was to keep the building's brick and exposed wood beams and to open the side doors onto the interior patio. Plantology owner Roxy Najafian redesigned the patio landscaping using the historic pots already on site. The menu includes the Paseo Chopped Salad, modeled on the well-known La Scala chopped salad from Beverly Hills.
That same December story described the neighboring space as a future market and bakery, with crepes, milkshakes and grocery staples. What actually opened at 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D, this September was Paseo Pizza and Gelato. It held its grand opening September 25 and 26. The menu has 18 signature pies, rotating gelato flavors and craft beer brewed in-house. The namesake Paseo pie comes with Grande mozzarella, imported burrata, crispy prosciutto and arugula.
Having both restaurants at one address matters because their schedules fit together. Paseo's website lists an 11 a.m. opening Monday through Saturday and a 10 p.m. close Monday through Thursday, midnight on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen serves until 9 p.m., and the restaurant is closed Sunday. Paseo Pizza and Gelato is open seven days a week, noon to 9 p.m. On a Sunday evening, when the bistro side is closed, the former schoolhouse is still serving.
Paseo has also started hosting single-night events. The restaurant's site advertised a four-course WhistlePig dinner from Chef Jace on October 21, with each course paired with a different pour, at $250 per guest.
Why the Old Anchors Are Both Dark Right Now
The overlap is a coincidence of two renovation calendars.
Nick & G's is approaching its 10th anniversary. The restaurant's own website says it is "temporarily closed from October 19 through November 15." The building has a long history in the Village. It is a Lilian Rice design from the 1920s that was originally the Millar family home. It was Delicias restaurant for 24 years and briefly Ponsaty's before Sandra DiCicco-Bonar of Grand Restaurant Group opened Nick & G's in 2017.
The Union-Tribune's September report describes what's coming. Chef and partner Alex Carballo is leading a redesign inspired by the Amalfi Coast, with yellows, oranges and blues. An olive tree will stand in the middle of the dining room, and a new wine cellar will let guests see through to a lighter bar and lounge. The patio gets a wave-shaped shade canopy, and the back courtyard is being reworked as a garden with water features. The menu is moving to coastal Italian-Americana: handmade pastas, pizzas, seafood and seasonal shared plates, with a few current favorites staying on. When it reopens, two kitchens on the same short stretch of Paseo Delicias will both be serving pizza and handmade pasta.
The Ranch Clubhouse at 5827 Via de la Cumbre has been closed longer. A November 2025 report laid out a $9.6 million renovation: construction starting January 15, 2026, running about eight months, and reopening in August 2026. August came and went. By the Association's September 3 update, as reported by the Union-Tribune, the new kitchen was close to ready with fire department approvals, flooring was going in, and decorative tile was being laid on the expanded patio. The finished clubhouse will have a new lobby entrance and a more open restaurant built around a central circular bar. The project was described as on track for a fall opening, without a date. Until it reopens, the Association's clubhouse page lists the restaurant as closed and the members' snack bar as open Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where the Village Stands Through Mid-November
| Place | Where | Status | Hours as listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paseo | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Suite C | Open | Mon–Sat from 11 a.m.; kitchen to 9 p.m.; closed Sunday |
| Paseo Pizza and Gelato | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D | Open | Daily, noon–9 p.m. |
| Rancho Sandwich and Creamery | 6110 El Tordo | Open | Mon–Sat, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Lilian's at The Inn | The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe | Open | Dinner daily 5–9 p.m.; weekend brunch 8 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| The Cafe at The Inn | The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe | Open | Daily, 7 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Thyme in the Ranch | Rancho Santa Fe Village | Open | Tue–Fri 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.; Sat 7 a.m.–3:30 p.m. |
| Nick & G's | 6106 Paseo Delicias | Closed for refresh | Closed Oct. 19 through Nov. 15, per its site |
| Ranch Clubhouse restaurant | 5827 Via de la Cumbre | Closed for renovation | Snack bar for members, Tue–Sun 8 a.m.–5 p.m. |
The daytime list grew this summer too. Rancho Sandwich and Creamery opened on El Tordo at the end of June, serving breakfast and lunch sandwiches plus soft serve. On a Saturday, Thyme in the Ranch and The Cafe at The Inn both open at 7 a.m., and Rancho Sandwich and Creamery follows at 8. Mille Fleurs is still taking reservations through its own site. Caffe Positano and Rancho Roasters round out the coffee options.
Carballo, whose own restaurant is the one currently closed, sees the newcomers as good for the whole block. He described the mix of Paseo, the pizza shop, the sandwich shop, The Inn's restaurants and the longtime cafes to the Union-Tribune this way:
"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."
The Calendar Fills the Village Green While the Rooms Are Closed
Several of the season's dated events happen within walking distance of 6024 Paseo Delicias. That makes the schoolhouse building an easy stop before or after.
- Thursday, October 29, 6 p.m.: Inn After Dark at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. This is an adults-only Halloween night open to locals and resort guests, with free entry tickets. The lobby, Bing's Bar, the Café and the Vintage Rooms each get a theme, Perry plays live music, cocktails are for sale, and there's a costume contest with getaway packages as prizes. RSVP through theinnatrsf.com.
- Friday, October 30, 1 to 4 p.m.: The Rancho Santa Fe Association's Halloween celebration on the village green in front of The Inn, with a petting zoo, bounce house, pumpkin patch, corn maze, apple cider and food vendors.
- Thursday, November 19, 10 a.m.: The Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club's Holiday Brunch and Speaker Series, featuring an arborist's guide to healthy trees and plants, at the Secret Garden, 17025 Avenida de Acacias.
- Sunday, November 22, 10 a.m. to noon: The kickoff of The Village Church's Alternative Christmas Market on the church patio. The market then runs online and on Sundays on the patio through December 24.
- Sunday, December 13, 7 p.m.: The Village Community Chorale's ticketed Christmas Choral Concert at The Village Church, 6225 Paseo Delicias.
Two of those are Sunday events on Paseo Delicias, which is the one day the bistro side of 6024 is closed. Paseo Pizza and Gelato's seven-day schedule covers that gap.
Plan around the library's holiday hours as well. The San Diego County Library lists the Rancho Santa Fe branch at 17040 Avenida de Acacias as open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It closes all day on November 11, November 26 and 27, and December 25.
After November 15
Nick & G's announced closure ends November 15, which falls on a Sunday this year. The restaurant hasn't posted an exact reopening day, and its site and Instagram are where it said updates would appear. The Ranch Clubhouse is still officially on a fall timeline. Once both reopen, the Village's dinner options will stretch from the corner of La Granada up to Via de la Cumbre again, and the old schoolhouse will be one of three or four places serving dinner on a given night. For the next few weeks, the newest dinner kitchens on Paseo Delicias are the two that share the 1924 building.
Connie Sundstrom follows the Village's storefronts as closely as its market. If you'd like to talk about a home near Paseo Delicias, she's glad to meet over coffee at one of the tables in this post.
