Best of 2001: Best Surf Shop

Mitch's Surf Shop
631 Pearl Street, La Jolla
858-459-5933

Opened in 1967, Mitch's Surf Shop in La Jolla is probably the oldest surf shop in the city under single ownership. Today it offers brand-name, fashionable surf wear and everything you need to make a surfboard, including different sizes and shapes of blanks, resin, and parts. The owner says it's safer and easier to sell videos on how to make surfboards than explain everything. Local surf shops often send their customers to Mitch for parts they don't have. Videos sell for about $30, and the items to make a surfboard run about $200.