Beavertails – Mission Beach, San Diego, CA

I heard about Beavertails forever ago. They’re a Canadian based company that makes fried dough with different sweet toppings on it. I’ve always wanted to try one but I figured I wasn’t going to Canada soon, so I probably will never try it. Lo and behold one night Jake told me about this place he saw down at Belmont Park called “Beavertails”. I looked at him in astonishment because I was surprised we even have one. Geez. I never go to Belmont Park so I didn’t know it was there. I made us go and check it out.

Beavertails is right next to the roller coaster in Belmont Park. They started in Canada back in 1973! I believe this location opened earlier this year from a Facebook post I read on Beavertails’ page. 

A Beavertail is a stretched out piece of dough so it looks similar to the shape of – you guessed it – a beaver’s tail. There are a variety of sweet toppings you can add to your fried dough. 

We had to wait for quite a bit to place an order. There was only one person working the counter on a busy Friday night in August. 

When we finally got up to the window, we told her she was really hustling. She told us it was her first night working there and we felt for her. We told her she was doing a great job. We didn’t have anywhere else to be and we understood she was holding down the fort by herself. On her first night! Geez. 


Jake wanted a side of ice cream but she misunderstood and he ended up with a full waffle cone full of vanilla soft serve. He actually took half of it and dumped it into the trash because he didn’t want to eat that much. Ha.

I got to watch her make my Beavertail. Once it comes out of the fryer, it’s brushed with butter before the toppings go on. I picked maple so I got a maple glaze and then it was topped with Hershey’s chocolate syrup. I could have done with no chocolate syrup, actually. The chocolate and maple combo was a little sweet for my tastes, but I liked the fried dough. I think if I got this again I’d go for a simpler topping like cinnamon and sugar, or the one with cinnamon, sugar, and lemon. Maple sounded extra…. I don’t know… Canadian to me, so I wanted to go with that. 

Like I said, I hardly ever go to Belmont Park but if I was in the area, I would get another one because fried dough is delicious. Seems like the perfect beachside treat! 

Beavertails
Belmont Park
3190 Mission Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92109


6 thoughts on “Beavertails – Mission Beach, San Diego, CA

  1. Oh wow, I didn’t know this was down in San Diego now! We first tried Beavertails in Canada when we visited my friend in Manitoulin Island in 2009 and and again in 2012 (2nd time was in Ottawa). In French they are called ‘queues de castor’. We had ours with Nutella and the other time with PB icing, Nutella and Reese’s pieces. If I could do it over again, I would get the plain with sugar. I’ll have to let my friend Christine know that we now have Beavertails in San Diego!

      1. Hi Christine! I never thought I’d get to try the Beavertails so soon, I figured I’d have to wait til we went to Canada! The cinnamon and sugar sounds like a better bet than what I tried – I’ll try that combo next time for sure!

    1. Hi CC – I was really surprised that they were here! I heard nothing about them so it kind of felt like they “snuck in”. Some of the toppings can definitely be overkill. I think when I get another one I’m definitely going to get a plainer one.

      1. We are hardly ever in the Belmont Park area, so I wouldn’t have even known until I read this post. The family and I may have to go here once the tourists leave SD, ha ha. I agree about toppings being overkill. If you see my old post about the last Beavertail we had (toppings were nutella, pb frosting and Reese’s Pieces), I described as looking as if a Care Bear had taken a “dump”, heh heh. Simpler is better.

  2. This sounds similar to “Elephant Ears” served at the Puyallup Fair up in Washington state. Basically they rolled out a chunk of bread dough and fried it. What could be bad about that! Ha! We always got the cinnamon sugar combo. We found other choices too sweet and rich for our tastes. We’ll have to check your little gem out! Thanks for the tip!

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