Hillstone, the quietly ubiquitous restaurant group behind Houston’s, Hillstone, R+D Kitchen, South Beverly Grill, Bandera and others, has built a national reputation on polished service, consistent food, and a kind of high-end chain anonymity that has turned its French dip sandwiches, spinach-artichoke dip, and cult-favorite Ding’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich into comfort-food icons. Founded in 1977 by George Biel with the first Houston’s in Nashville, the group now operates dozens of restaurants across the country under many brand names, including Honor Bar outposts in Beverly Hills, Montecito, Dallas, Santa Barbara and other affluent enclaves.
Del Mar has been part of Hillstone’s expansion plans since at least 2017, when the company first brought designs to the city’s Design Review Board for a restaurant on the prized corner at 1404 Camino Del Mar, home to local institution Bully’s North from 1969 until its closure in late 2017. Early iterations called for a roughly 5,200-square-foot restaurant atop a three-level parking structure after a full demolition of the aging building, which was later revised to a slightly smaller footprint with underground parking. At the time, Hillstone indicated the project would be the first San Diego-area location of its R+D Kitchen brand, a polished-casual concept known for its tightly edited menu of burgers, salads, sandwiches and cocktails.
The Del Mar project is notable not just because it will bring Hillstone’s first restaurant to San Diego County, but also because it represents the first new commercial building constructed in downtown Del Mar in more than 30 years - a fact that has amplified neighborhood scrutiny over design, traffic and parking impacts. Even as Hillstone refined its plans, the site sat dormant for years after Bully’s closure, a high-profile hole in the heart of the seaside village.
By 2023, Hillstone appeared ready to move forward with a different brand. The company shifted course from R+D Kitchen to Gulfstream, its American seafood house that debuted in Newport Beach in 1999 and focuses on pristine fish and shellfish, prime steaks, and a robust bar program in a refined, maritime-inspired setting. Gulfstream signage and references began appearing in planning documents and local chatter, and the project was described as a Gulfstream during the early stages of construction.
Now, after a year of visible building activity on the site, Hillstone has changed direction again: Del Mar will instead get Honor Bar, the group’s more intimate, bar-centric concept that often sits adjacent to or alongside a full-service Hillstone restaurant in other markets but can also stand on its own. In Beverly Hills and Montecito, Honor Bar is known for a compact but dialed-in menu of finger-friendly staples - Honor Burgers, veggie clubs, French dips, kale salads, sushi-style starters, and that famed Ding’s Crispy Chicken Sandwich - paired with strong martinis, classic cocktails, wine and beer in a cozy, clubby space.
Honor Bar locations tend to lean into dark woods, leather banquettes, open kitchens and low, flattering lighting - the same design language that has inspired national pieces framing Hillstone as “America’s favorite restaurant” and a go-to for celebrity chefs and diners seeking polished, anxiety-free hospitality. Writers have described Hillstone’s universe as “excellence in mediocrity” and “smooth brain food” even as they confess to being haunted by its French dip or hooked on its chicken sandwiches, a testament to the brand’s ability to make corporate chain dining feel oddly personal.
In Del Mar, Honor Bar is expected to bring that same formula to one of San Diego County’s most high-profile coastal corners. The newly constructed building replaces the low-slung Bully’s structure with a contemporary, view-oriented design that includes underground parking, a critical component in a town where circulation and congestion are constant concerns. While Hillstone has not yet publicly released a full menu or interior renderings for the Del Mar Honor Bar, the company’s track record suggests a tightly controlled, slightly retro atmosphere with meticulous attention to service, from the strength of the martinis to the precise timing of food courses.
The decision to pivot from a seafood-focused Gulfstream to a smaller Honor Bar may reflect shifting market conditions, evolving city input, or Hillstone’s desire to start with a more flexible, bar-forward concept in its first San Diego foray. It also positions the project squarely in line with other wealthy, walkable neighborhoods where Honor Bar thrives, such as Beverly Hills’ South Beverly Drive and Montecito’s Coast Village Road - places where it functions as both a destination and an upscale, drop-in local spot.
What hasn’t changed is the level of anticipation. For San Diego diners who have spent years driving to Orange County or Los Angeles to get their Hillstone fix, the Del Mar Honor Bar will finally bring the chain’s famously consistent comfort food and hospitality south of the county line. For Del Mar itself, the opening will mark the end of a long, complicated chapter at one of its most iconic addresses and the beginning of a new era in the village’s evolving dining landscape.
Hillstone has not announced an exact opening date, but with construction on the long-stalled project now in its advanced stages, Honor Bar Del Mar is aiming to debut in the first half of 2026 - nearly a decade after plans for the site first went before city officials. When it does, it will complete the slow evolution from R+D Kitchen to Gulfstream to Honor Bar, giving San Diego its first taste of a restaurant group that has quietly become one of the most talked-about “secret” chains in the country.
For more information, visit hillstone.com.
Originally published on December 8, 2025.