Polo is not your average steakhouse.
The heart of house is a team of notable industry pros, Carlsbad-restaurateur, Mayur Pavagadhi (Paon Restaurant & Wine Bar, Witch Creek Winery, Sleeping Tiger Coffee), Executive Chef Ryan Gilbert (The Lafayette Hotel, Rancho Valencia and the Farms Golf Club)
Polo’s menu focuses on the highest quality and cuts of beef featuring foreign and domestic wagyu, local seafood options, raw bar items and a variety of shareable steakhouse sides. Pair your meal with one of 40 by-the-glass wines or indulge in a bottle from a cellar of 650+ labels.
Meet our new executive chef
Ryan Gilbert
Polo Welcomes Chef Ryan Gilbert to the role as executive chef.
Chef Ryan Gilbert was born and raised in San Diego, California. He graduated from the California
Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California in 2005.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his craft at the award winning Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa
as sous chef under celebrity chef C. Barclay Dodge of El Bulli in Spain and Restaurants Bosq &
Mogador in Aspen, Colorado. Ryan then continued his ascension through the culinary world at
various San Diego establishments including the prestigious Maderas Golf Club in Poway, California
which has been recognized as one of Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Golf Courses in America” and Zagat Guide’s“Top Rated San Diego Golf Course”.
Ryan left Maderas GC in 2014 and took over as the Executive Chef at San Diego’s Historic Lafayette
Hotel, Swim Club & Bungalows while also serving as the Corporate Task Force Chef for RAR Hospitality Inc.
In 2018, Ryan was invited to be the San Diego representative on The Palate Main Stage at Kaaboo Del Mar. Ryan returned to Kaaboo the following year for an encore, opening night headlining
performance as well as the Amplify VIP cooking class, Culinary & Artist Lineup Announcement Event and assisting the festival with culinary logistics.
After a stint at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, a club known for it’s elite and affluent
membership, Ryan will now be taking the reins as Executive Chef.
Ryan attributes his passion for the culinary arts to his Sicilian and Dutch heritage, and more
specifically to his grandfather Simone “Sam” Billuni who was a renowned chef and restaurant owner
in San Diego during the 1970’s and 80’s.
a bit about our
bar program
With two sommeliers on staff, Feliciano Perez and Michael Pickering, and Mayur being a winery owner himself, Polo boasts a collection of over 650 bottles and pours nearly 40 different wines by the glass. Carefully curated with plans to expand to 1,000 labels, the entire collection focuses on new world wines, balanced with old world, and classic California cabernets.
The cocktail program at Polo is run by Lead Bartender, Blake Byram (Morton’s Steakhouse, Ironside Fish & Oyster). When creating the cocktail menu, Blake wanted to maintain the classics, but highlight amaro which is evident in the menu with eight out of 10 drinks containing the Italian digestif. The cocktail menu brings approachability and light-hearted humor to the steakhouse experience with fun names, such as the Fashionably New or the Man With a Hat On, Polo’s take on a Manhattan, made with Templeton Rye, Carpano Antica Formula, Averna and orange bitters.
