The French Door Café

The French Door Café is a small café in Carlsbad run by French pastry chef Elissa Benjamin, who also runs the artisan chocolate business ChocolateByE. The menu is French-ish and eclectic, with made-to-order plates such as shakshuka, a Moroccan beet salad and quiche, plus pastries baked in-house and a rotating line of small-batch chocolates made on site each month.

The menu changes with the chef's whims, so regulars often come back to try new dishes. The café has outdoor seating and is dog friendly, and it offers delivery, pickup and gift cards. It sits in the Carlsbad Research Center off Faraday Avenue, near the Carlsbad airport and Legoland, and there is parking on site. Look for the yellow and blue CAFE sign at the entrance to the business park.