October 30, 2026 · 7 min read New Openings Japanese La Jolla

Shio La Jolla Shores: New Japanese Restaurant, Grand Opening & What to Order

A $200 tasting, A5 wagyu with four salts, and the third restaurant in a few years at 2259 Avenida de la Playa. Shio opened last Saturday — and this address finally has an operator who already knows the neighborhood.

Some addresses just chew through restaurants. 2259 Avenida de la Playa, steps from La Jolla Shores beach, has now had three concepts in a few years: Galaxy Taco, then Sandpiper Wood Fired Grill & Oysters, and as of last Saturday, Shio Japanese Dining. I have not eaten there yet — it is six days old — but the opening is the kind worth writing about before the room gets loud, because the thing that changed is not the menu. It is the operator.

Shio comes from Eugene Kim and Peter Kim, who opened Takaramono Sushi in La Jolla Village two years ago and have been running it since. That matters more than any single dish. The last two tenants at this address were good ideas run by people learning the room. Shio is a second room run by people who already have regulars a few miles away. Peter Kim put it plainly in an email to a local paper: opening Shio was a chance to offer something more to the La Jolla community, with a full kitchen and bar and space for bigger gatherings. An evolution, not a gamble.

What Shio Actually Is

Traditional sushi preparations with contemporary Japanese dishes, rooted in Japanese tradition and shaped by the coast — that is the house line, and the menu backs up the fancy half of it. This is an upscale room: premium sushi, A5 wagyu, inventive seafood, and a full sake and cocktail program. OpenTable lists it at $$$$, and the prices confirm it. Dinner only, too. Nobody is wandering in for a Tuesday lunch here; the doors open at 5 PM.

The timing play: go now, while it is still a week old. Encore Sushi in Solana Beach taught the same lesson two weeks ago — the first fortnight at a new sushi bar is when the room is quiet, the staff has time, and the chef is still cooking like every plate is an audition. Shio's grand opening was October 24. The window is open right now, and it will not stay this quiet through the holidays.

What to Order First

I am working from the reported menu here, not a meal I have had yet, so take this as the order I would start with — and the one I will be checking first when I go.

The Tasting Shio — $200 per person. Twelve pieces, minimum two diners, and you have to reserve at least a day ahead. That is the chef's argument in one order: if you trust the room, this is how you let it make the case.
Charcoal-grilled A5 wagyu — $100. Served with four varieties of salt selected by the chef. A hundred dollars for beef is a statement, and the four salts are the tell — this is a kitchen that wants you to taste the difference, not just pay for the label.
Charcoal-grilled nodoguro — $48. A prized Japanese fish, served with gnocchi and seaweed pesto. The most interesting plate on the reported menu, because it is the one that could only come from this kitchen: Japanese fish, Italian pasta, seaweed bridging the two.
Chicken breast with spicy honey-soy glaze — $38. The safety valve for the table. Every upscale menu needs one dish for the person who did not come for raw fish, and this one at least has a point of view.

The honest caveat: a week-old menu is a moving target. Dishes get pulled, prices shift, the thing everyone raves about in week one is gone by week three. If you go, check the menu board — or in this case, the reservation page — before you lock in an order. And if the Tasting Shio is the plan, book it a day out. It is not a walk-in order.

Why This Address, Why Now

Galaxy Taco was a masa-focused Mexican room. Sandpiper, from the team behind George's at the Cove, ran about four years before its operators chose not to renew the lease. Neither failure says much about the address itself — La Jolla Shores has beach foot traffic, neighborhood regulars, and hotel guests all within a few blocks. What it says is that a destination room needs a reason for locals to come back, not just tourists to wander in once.

Shio's reason is the most old-fashioned one there is: the operators already have a room people return to. Takaramono gave the Kims a base in La Jolla Village. Shio gives those same guests a bigger, dressier room by the beach, plus a sake and cocktail program the first room never had space for. That is a much better bet than another first-timer learning the neighborhood on the job.

It also lands in the middle of a Japanese-food run on this blog — the sushi rolls ranking, the udon guide, Encore's opening in Solana Beach — and Shio is the first one of the bunch that is genuinely upscale rather than neighborhood-casual. If Encore was the smart-casual sushi bar to try early, Shio is the special-occasion version of the same instinct.

Know Before You Go

Address: 2259 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla Shores (San Diego, CA 92037), blocks from the beach.
Hours: dinner only — 5 to 9:30 PM Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 10 PM Friday and Saturday.
Reservations: book through OpenTable; the Tasting Shio needs at least a day's notice and two diners minimum.
Budget: $$$$ — plan on a special-occasion spend, not a weeknight default.
Parking: La Jolla Shores street parking fills fast on weekends. Go early, or plan to walk a few blocks.

Shio FAQs

When did Shio La Jolla Shores open?

Shio celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and is now fully operational at 2259 Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores, blocks from the beach.

What was at 2259 Avenida de la Playa before Shio?

Galaxy Taco, a masa-focused Mexican restaurant, came first, followed by Sandpiper Wood Fired Grill & Oysters from the team behind George's at the Cove. Sandpiper closed after about four years when its operators did not renew the lease.

What should I order first at Shio?

If the budget allows, the 12-piece Tasting Shio at $200 per person (minimum two diners, reserve at least a day ahead). Otherwise, the charcoal-grilled A5 wagyu at $100, served with four chef-selected salts, is the statement order.

How much does Shio cost?

It is a special-occasion room: the Tasting Shio is $200 per person, A5 wagyu is $100, charcoal-grilled nodoguro is $48, and chicken breast with spicy honey-soy glaze is $38. Expect a $$$$ dinner, not a weeknight default.

Is Shio connected to Takaramono Sushi?

Yes. Shio is from Eugene Kim and Peter Kim, who opened Takaramono Sushi in La Jolla Village two years ago. They describe Shio as an evolution of what they built there, with a full kitchen and bar and room for larger gatherings.

Do I need a reservation at Shio?

Book ahead, especially for the Tasting Shio, which requires at least a day's notice. Shio is dinner-only, 5 to 9:30 PM Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 PM Friday and Saturday, and it takes reservations through OpenTable.

Already Tagged in DishCue

Shio itself has no tags yet — but San Diego's Japanese dishes are already earning badges in the app. The one to know is the Samurai Roll at Glass Box, the sushi bar in a literal glass box at Del Mar Highlands in Carmel Valley.

👍 Thumbs Up ×2

That is the bar Shio's first tag has to clear: a roll the community already backed twice. Shio's menu is built for the same kind of verdict — it just needs someone to go first.

Tag It in DishCue 📱

Here is the honest gap, stated plainly: not a single Shio dish is tagged in DishCue yet. I checked. The room is six days old, the Tasting Shio is $200, and nobody has put the first badge on any of it. That is exactly the kind of gap this blog exists to close.

⭐ Must Try · 👍 Thumbs Up · 💣 Addictive

Tag the dish, not the restaurant. Posting a dish earns 25 points, dropping a badge on someone else's dish earns 10, and every favorite you receive earns 5 — climb from Newbie to Legend one plate at a time. Go be the first person to tag Shio, and make it count.

So tell us: if you go this week, which dish gets Shio's first Must Try — the Tasting Shio, the A5 wagyu, or the nodoguro? 👇