Visit the South of France in San Diego at Bo-beau kitchen + bar

For the times you can’t hop a plane to France but have a hankering to eat like you’re there, it’s nice to have a local option. Though with La Jolla home to some of San Diego’s best restaurants, it’s rare for us to leave the 2-mile radius of our house to go out to eat. Bo-beau kitchen + bar, a quaint yet popular French restaurant located in Ocean Beach, has the ability to draw us out of the 92037 for its bohemian vibe, al fresco dining, huge portions and consistently good food. Here are (mostly) Instagram shots of our last incredible meal there.

Here’s what usually happens.

We Uber a car so we both can have wine and because it’s on the early side of a weekday, there’s a little bit of traffic getting into OB. Whatever, we’re not driving.

See also: Incredibly Family-Friendly San Diego Restaurants

Because it’s early, there’s plenty of space on the courtyard patio. We order wine, the charcuterie board, and escargot. My husband usually forces me to take a bite of escargot—I do like it—but it takes a decent amount of wine for me to embrace it. Really, how can anything soaked in that much butter NOT be good?

Freshly-baked bread still warm in a paper bag accompanies the charcuterie board and is perfect for dipping in the escargot’s herb butter. Pate on the charcuterie board is made in-house as are the pickles. The meats and cheeses are well-paired. I appreciate the small salad and, to be honest, I could just eat this and be done.

Except that never happens.

The moules marinieres (mussels in white wine broth, shallots, garlic, chopped parsley) is exquisite. It comes with french fries that melt in your mouth after a gluttonous dunk in the mussels’ liquor.

We share a beet salad to make ourselves feel better. Thank goodness we had our 6-year-old in tow to help eat all of this.

Also delicious are the gourmet flatbreads baked in the patio oven and the heaving roasted brussels sprouts appetizer that’s big enough for a main course.

I couldn’t bear to leave without a bite of dessert but inevitably had to take the remnants of the chocolate dessert trio home with me. That is how full I was. I have never taken home a dessert doggie bag. Who does that?

Portions are big, prices are reasonable for what you get and it’s definitely a case where simple food tastes spectacular.

See also: Dinner at The Fishery in Pacific Beach

What’s your Bo-beau order? Have you been?

*Patio Photo Credit: Bo-beau kitchen + bar