A Beachside Concessions Stand in Encinitas Goes Fully Gourmet

For the first time in 15 years, there is freshly-made hot food coming out of the boardwalk concessions stand at Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. On top of snacks and drinks, its walk-up window is now serving a bonafide menu from chefs David Volk and Justin Lewis, the culinary team who helped launch a similarly unconventional dining destination — gourmet taco outfit Bull Taco — at Cardiff’s San Elijo State Beach back in 2008.

Dubbing it Beach Wolf, the duo took over the Encinitas stand during the pandemic, and have been cooking up breakfast sandwiches for beachgoers, but they recently expanded the food offerings: the all-day breakfast menu spans everything from Belgian waffles to smoked salmon avocado toast and breakfast tacos stuffed with 24-hour braised barbacoa. There’s also a lunch and sunset menu that includes salads, pulled pork sandwiches, TJ-style hot dogs, and more.

Beach Wolf

Volk, who’s worked for Wolfgang Puck and Roy Yamaguchi and cooked locally at Rancho Valencia and Blanca, tells Eater that they’ll also be featuring frequent specials, from poke and sashimi to oysters and a fish of the day. On Friday nights, they’ll offer tonkotsu ramen as well as dishes like steamed mussels and mushroom and black truffle dumplings, which are from Rooster Ramen, a pop-up that the chef ran in North County which he still intends to open as a full-fledged restaurant.

Operating year-round, except on rainy days, Beach Wolf will extend its evening hours in the summer. The stand, which rents surfboards, beach umbrellas, and beach chairs and sells firewood for its bonfire pits, is also doing custom grill packages where they will provide all the food and utensils for a beachside cookout.