As a local cultural icon, the Roxy ranks with the La Paloma Theater, the Daley Double bar and Swami's Point as a surviving symbol of Encinitas in the late '60s and early '70s, when people wearing peace symbols and blissful expressions roamed downtown streets.

That was before the bean fields and grazing lands around El Camino Real were converted into a congested commercial corridor and litigiousness replaced love as the prevailing local philosophy.

The citification of Encinitas has driven most of the original flowe-power centers into retreat, but the Roxy has endured. And although remodeling has transformed what once was a funky hole-in-the-wall into a pleasant dining room, the emphasis on natural foods with a Middle Eastern flavor remains.

Dine indoors or at sidewalk tables from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and until 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Roxy is at 517 Highway 101; (760) 436-5001.