What are San Diego’s top-ranked restaurants?

The Automobile Club’s elite group of top-rated dining venues remains as exclusive as ever, with only two Southern California restaurants — including one in San Diego — securing a five-diamond rating this year.

Nabbing the highest AAA ratings were Addison, in the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in Carmel Valley, and The Belvedere in the Peninsula Beverly Hills. They are among just nine California restaurants with five diamonds. In San Diego County, there are an additional 10 dining rooms that qualified for four-diamond rankings, which were announced this month.

New this year to that list is the Grove Steakhouse, housed in the Viejas Casino & Resort.

The latest AAA rankings mark the eighth year that the Grand Del Mar’s highly regarded fine-dining restaurant has been bestowed five diamonds. All diamond-rated restaurants, as well as hotels, undergo unannounced inspections, which in the case of Southern California properties, are conducted by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Just 64 restaurants throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean received the highest ranking, representing 0.2 percent of the more than 30,000 diamond-rated dining properties. By comparison, 683 restaurants received a four-diamond ranking, according to the Auto Club.

A five-diamond restaurant, says AAA, is characterized as one that is “renowned and consistently provides a world-class experience. This is haute cuisine at its best. Menus are cutting edge, using only the finest ingredients available. Food is prepared in a manner that is highly imaginative and unique.”

To even qualify for a rating of one to five diamonds, restaurants need to first apply to AAA, which may explain why a number of well-respected dining destinations in San Diego County are not on the list.

For example, Little Italy’s 2-year-old Juniper & Ivy, helmed by celebrity chef Richard Blais, is considered one of San Diego’s top restaurants, as is Nine-Ten in La Jolla, but neither have ever formally sought an evaluation for a AAA rating. The Grande Colonial hotel, where Nine-Ten is located, however, is a four-diamond-rated property.

Juniper & Ivy partner Michael Rosen, who developed the frequently full restaurant, said he intends to apply to the Auto Club for consideration.

Nine-Ten executive chef Jason Knibb was less enthusiastic about a Triple A rating. He said he wonders how many people rely on the Auto Club for making dining decisions.

“There are a lot of other resources like Zagat, Eater and Yelp,” he said. “I don’t think young people go to Triple A. It may be a generational thing.”