Nick & G's Is Closed for a Makeover, and the Village's Sunday Map Got Short

The Lilian Rice building on the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada is closed this month. Nick & G's shut in mid-October for what the San Diego Union-Tribune's Rancho Santa Fe Review calls a complete renovation and menu refresh, with a reopening planned for November. The building itself goes back to the 1920s and was the Millar family home. It housed Delicias for 24 years and Ponsaty's for a short run before Sandra DiCicco-Bonar of Grand Restaurant Group opened Nick & G's in 2017.

A mile or so away, the Ranch Clubhouse at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club is also closed. The Association's clubhouse page still says the clubhouse and its restaurant are closed for renovations. Two of the Village's most familiar sit-down rooms are out for the same few weeks. That makes this a good time to see what the Village has added over the past year and where those additions leave gaps.

Three new places to eat, almost all on one block

Twelve months ago, the Village had fewer places to eat. Three openings since then have changed that.

Paseo, November 2025. Jennifer Fields, a Rancho Santa Fe resident, took over the former Rancho Santa Fe Bistro on Nov. 1, 2025, and renamed it Paseo. She started with patio service while the inside was rebuilt, as the Rancho Santa Fe Review reported that December. The building at 6024 Paseo Delicias was the first Rancho Santa Fe School, and its first graduation in 1924 had exactly one student. Fields put more than $800,000 into the interior and kept the brick and exposed wood beams. In March 2026, Ranch & Coast Magazine named it Best New Restaurant.

Rancho Sandwich and Creamery, June 2026. Chris Miller owns the building at El Tordo and La Granada under the clock tower. He turned an underused conference room there into a breakfast-and-lunch counter. "We needed this for so long," Miller told the Rancho Santa Fe Review, which reported more than 100 customers a day soon after the soft opening. Several sandwiches are named for his five daughters. The pineapple Dole Whip soft serve sold out every couple of days that summer.

Paseo Pizza and Gelato, September 2026. Fields opened this one next door to Paseo, at 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D. It serves 18 signature pies, rotating gelato and its own craft beer, and held its grand opening Sept. 25 and 26.

When the Review covered the Nick & G's closure, chef and partner Alex Carballo listed what the Village now has. Besides the three newcomers, there's Mille Fleurs, Lilian's and the café at The Inn, Thyme in the Ranch, Caffè Positano and Rancho Roasters. "I like the energy when there's more…it gives people a little more variety and a reason to go into Rancho Santa Fe," he told the Rancho Santa Fe Review.

The longer list helps on weekdays. The posted hours show it helps a lot less on Sundays.

Where Sunday actually lands

Here are the posted hours for the Village spots that publish them. Three of the six close on Sunday, including two of the three new ones.

So on a Sunday in the Village, you have three choices. Coffee and a pastry at The Café at The Inn, which is open every day from 7 a.m. and now carries a curated selection of Erewhon snacks. Brunch at Lilian's, served until 3 p.m. on weekends. Or a pie at Paseo Pizza from noon on. Association members have a fourth stop: the Golf Club snack bar is open Tuesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while the clubhouse restaurant stays closed.

Mondays come up short in a different way. Thyme in the Ranch is closed, and so is the Golf Club snack bar. For a Monday breakfast, your Village options are Rancho Sandwich at 8 a.m., The Café at The Inn at 7 a.m., or the weekday breakfast at Lilian's.

Evenings until Nick & G's reopens

With Nick & G's dark, three places in the Village have posted dinner hours. They don't overlap much, which makes them easier to choose between.

Paseo is the late option. Its dining room stays open until midnight on Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen taking orders until 9:45 p.m. Reservations are recommended for dinner Thursday through Saturday. The patio has live music this month, including the Roman Palacios Duo on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 6 to 9 p.m. playing Sinatra-era songs, with no cover. On the menu you'll find baked brie, house-made meatballs, lamb lollipops, pastas, seafood and steak. There's also the Paseo Chopped Salad, which Fields modeled on the La Scala chopped salad from Beverly Hills.

Lilian's serves dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. every night, Sunday included. That makes it the only Village dining room on this list with posted Sunday dinner hours. Paseo Pizza covers the casual end until 9 p.m. seven nights a week. Mille Fleurs, the long-running French and California restaurant, also takes reservations through its own site.

What reopens on the corner in November

The new Nick & G's won't look like the old one. Carballo has been with Grand Restaurant Group for about a year. He spent 20 years in San Diego hospitality, including Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens and Fox Point Farms, and he was the opening chef at The Crosby Club.

Designed with Rachael Lorraine Harris and Michael Soriano, the new room takes its cues from the Amalfi Coast, in yellows, oranges and blues. A large olive tree will stand at the center of the dining room, surrounded by new custom banquettes. Diners will see through a new wine cellar into 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.

The menu is getting smaller. Carballo is building it around coastal Italian-Americana dishes, local produce, handmade pasta and seafood, and some current favorites will stay. Nick & G's has not announced an exact reopening day. The restaurant is posting updates at nickandgs.com and on Instagram.

The clubhouse is on a similar but less certain schedule. At a Sept. 3 update, Rancho Santa Fe Association planning director Maryam Babaki said the new kitchen was close to ready, pending fire department approvals. Flooring was going in, and tile was being laid on the expanded patio. The redesigned restaurant has a more open layout around a central circular bar, according to the Rancho Santa Fe Review. The target was "fall," and the Association's page still lists the clubhouse as closed.

If both reopen on schedule, the Village goes into the holidays with two more dinner rooms. That still leaves the Sunday and Monday gaps in the table above.

Three October evenings that don't depend on either reopening

1. Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 to 8 p.m. The Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society's Fandango Street Party at La Flecha House, 6036 La Flecha, with a taco bar, margaritas, wine and beer, and the Harmony Grove Band. Advance tickets are $35 for members, $45 for non-members and $20 for kids 12 and under, or $50 at the door, according to the Rancho Santa Fe Review.
2. Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 to 9 p.m. The Roman Palacios Duo on the Paseo patio, no cover.
3. Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m. Inn After Dark, an adults-only Halloween night that takes over The Inn's lobby, Bing's Bar, the Café and the Vintage Rooms. It has live music by Perry and a costume contest. Entry is free with an RSVP, and the Rancho Santa Fe Review notes guests are encouraged to book dinner at Lilian's.

We follow the Village's corners the same way we follow its sales: which addresses change hands, what opens in them, and how that changes the rhythm of a week. If you own in the Covenant and want to know how these openings figure into the way buyers see the area, Klinge Realty would be glad to walk you through it. Schedule a Free Home Strategy Consultation.