"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." Chef Alex Carballo said that to the San Diego Union-Tribune in late September. He was describing the Village around Nick & G's, which is about to close its doors for a few weeks.
The restaurant at 6106 Paseo Delicias closes in mid-October for a full renovation and menu refresh. It is scheduled to reopen in November. No exact dates have been announced for either step. A year or two ago, losing the Village's best-known dinner room for a month would have left a real gap. This fall it lands at a different moment. Two places opened on the Village's main corners in 2026, a third arrived in late 2025, and the mainstays are still on their regular schedules. The closure works because the Village around it has filled in.
A building with a long run of restaurants
The Nick & G's building sits at the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada. It is a Lilian Rice building from the 1920s and was first the home of the Millar family, one of the earliest families in Rancho Santa Fe. Delicias operated there for 24 years, followed by a short run as Ponsaty's. In 2017 local resident Sandra DiCicco-Bonar of the Grand Restaurant Group opened Nick & G's and named it after her children, Nicolas and Gianina.
Gianina Pickens, the "G," is now chief operating officer of the restaurant group. Her family's restaurant history goes back to her grandfather, Nicola DiCicco, who came from Pacentro, Italy, and built a family restaurant business with his four brothers in the Fresno area. Carballo has been with the Grand Restaurant Group for about a year and has joined her on the renovation as chef and partner. He has spent 20 years in San Diego restaurants, including Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens and Fox Point Farms, and he was the chef at The Crosby Club when it opened.
What November looks like inside
Carballo worked out the design with Rachael Lorraine Harris and Michael Soriano. The inspiration is the Amalfi Coast, and the plans call for a brighter, lighter room in shades of yellow, orange and blue. Here is what the plans include:
- A large olive tree planted in the center of the dining room, with new custom banquettes and tables around it
- A new wine cellar that guests can see through to the lighter bar and lounge
- An open view into the kitchen
- A patio filled with plants under a new wave-shaped shade canopy
- A rear courtyard reworked as a garden, with more greenery and water features
The menu is getting smaller and more focused on coastal Italian-Americana cooking. It will feature handmade pasta, seafood and the best local produce, and some Nick & G's favorites will stay. Carballo plans to use the closure to work on wine pairings, hire new staff, train on service and learn the menu. The restaurant is also adding new private-event space. The restaurant posts reopening updates at nickandgs.com and on Instagram at @nickandgs.
Why a month away is possible now
Carballo's list of Village dining options in the same article shows how much has changed. He named Paseo, the newly opened Paseo Pizza & Gelato, the new Rancho Sandwich and Creamery, Mille Fleurs, Lilian's and the café at The Inn, Thyme in the Ranch, Caffe Positano and Rancho Roasters. Three of the names on that list didn't exist under their current names 13 months ago.
The sandwich shop in a bank building
Rancho Sandwich and Creamery had its soft opening in late June. It sits on the corner of El Tordo and La Granada, under the clock tower and across the street from the new pharmacy that was under construction this summer. Owner Chris Miller is a Rancho Santa Fe resident who owns the El Tordo building and runs a private investment firm. He built the shop in an underused conference room in the corner of his bank building.
Even for an owner who already had the building, opening was slow. Miller told the Union-Tribune it took a year to get permits from six different county and state agencies, and the work included a new plumbing system. In the week after the soft opening, he said more than 100 people a day were already coming in, with no marketing beyond the sign out front.
The sandwiches use Boar's Head meats and local O'Brien's bread. Alexis Mendez and Art Preciado, the owner of Sandwich Bags Deli in Santee, helped develop the menu. Several sandwiches are named for Miller's daughters, such as Chloe's Chicken Chipotle and AK's Special. In June the top seller was the East County Native, turkey, provolone, bacon and avocado on a French roll, named for Miller's Fallbrook roots. The pineapple Dole Whip soft serve was selling out every couple of days. One of the murals by Carmel Valley's Hanna's Murals reads "Ice cream fixes everything."
Pizza next door to Paseo
Jennifer Fields took over the former Rancho Santa Fe Bistro space last fall and reopened it as Paseo. This September she opened a second place right next door. Paseo Pizza & Gelato, at 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D, held its grand opening September 25 and 26. The menu has build-your-own options and 18 signature pies. The house pie, the Paseo, comes with Grande mozzarella, imported Italian burrata, crispy prosciutto, arugula and a balsamic drizzle. The gelato flavors rotate, and the restaurant makes its own craft beer.
Both of these openings follow the same pattern. Miller built inside a building he already owned. Fields grew next to a restaurant she already ran. Nick & G's is a local family putting money into a room it has run since 2017. All of this year's new restaurant investment in the Village has come from people already operating there.
Who is open on a Sunday or a Monday
During the closure, the trickier days are the edges of the week. These hours come from each business's own website or recent local reporting, as of early October 2026. Restaurants can change their hours, so check before you go.
| Spot | Address | Monday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paseo | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Suite C | 11 a.m.–10 p.m. | Closed |
| Paseo Pizza & Gelato | 6024 Paseo Delicias, Unit D | Noon–9 p.m. | Noon–9 p.m. |
| Rancho Sandwich and Creamery | 6110 El Tordo | 8 a.m.–4 p.m. | Closed |
| Mille Fleurs | 6009 Paseo Delicias | No hours listed | Brunch and dinner |
| Thyme in the Ranch | Village | Closed | Closed |
| The Café at The Inn | The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe | 7 a.m.–3 p.m. | 7 a.m.–3 p.m. |
On Sundays, the places that serve both lunch and dinner are Paseo Pizza & Gelato and Mille Fleurs. Mille Fleurs posts Sunday hours of 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 to 8 p.m. Bertrand Hug founded the French restaurant in 1985, and Albert Cuevas is now the executive chef. Paseo runs the latest of anyone, until midnight on Friday and Saturday, though the kitchen closes at 9:45 p.m. on weekends.
Mornings are split between the two corners. Thyme in the Ranch opens at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and at 7 a.m. on Saturday. The Café at The Inn is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day and now carries Erewhon snacks and wellness products along with its espresso and pastries. Chef Patrick Ponsaty runs the kitchens at The Inn, including Lilian's, and the Union-Tribune places Ponsaty in the same close-knit circle of local chefs as Carballo. Caffe Positano and Rancho Roasters round out the coffee choices.
A taco bar on La Flecha on October 24
The closure also overlaps with one of the Village's fall community nights. The Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society holds its Fandango Street Party on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. at La Flecha House, 6036 La Flecha. The evening includes a full taco bar, margaritas, wine and beer, and live music by Harmony Grove Band. Advance tickets are $35 for members, $45 for non-members and $20 for children 12 and under, and tickets at the door are $50. Advance tickets are available through the Historical Society's Fandango page.
When Nick & G's reopens in November, it will sit among neighbors that weren't there for most of its first decade. Carballo told the Union-Tribune he wants to show the community "we're here to stay," and he hopes to keep hosting live music, special dinners and community events like the recent Patrimony Estate wine dinner.
We follow the Village corner by corner because what opens on Paseo Delicias and El Tordo shapes how a Rancho Santa Fe week actually works. If you'd like a local read on how these changes fit with your own plans in the Covenant, The Wright Group would be glad to talk it through. Schedule a Call.