The next time I witness a falling star, I’ll be wishing for multiple locations of Beach City Market, which offers top-quality deli meats and glistening-fresh meals that our city’s major grocery stores sorely lack.

Despite its San Diegoesque name and Horton Plaza location, the 4,000-square-foot market resembles more of a Manhattan street deli, with the added bonus of outdoor seating for 60 people. Plaza shoppers need only stick to ground level and head to the south end of the mall, where they’ll find puffs of smoke wafting from a gas grill parked in front and canopied tables leading into the store’s various food stations.

At the grill, a cook flips burgers, chicken, jumbo dogs, veggies and some of the most succulent salmon I’ve eaten in a casual setting. The inside is designed to give customers a further sense of culinary activity when they walk in, with a steaming food bar and omelet station in the middle surrounded by colorful depots for sushi, soups, salads, smoothies, espresso and tempting boxed meals prepared fresh daily.

The full-service deli serves as another focal point, where nearly 25 specialty sandwiches and hot paninis are made to order. The refrigerator case is stocked with Boar’s Head cold cuts and cheeses – an exclusive back-East label that picks up in quality where Ralphs and Vons leave off.

A sandwich made with Londonport Roast Beef, for instance, incorporated lean slices of herbed beef layered with double Gloucester cheese, mayo, leafy lettuce and juicy tomatoes. It was a delicious stacking that came on chewy seeded wheat bread from a lineup of non-generic bread choices baked daily by Bread & Cie.

There’s also a Blazing Buffalo chicken breast sandwich with blue cheese dressing, Salsalito Turkey Breast with pepper jack cheese, Bavarian ham with gruyere and infinite combinations that you can request from the array of meats and cheeses winking at you from the display case.

A waist-high bin of chilled, pre-cooked meals is where Trader Joe’s meets Whole Foods. Here, you’ll find neatly packaged take-away items like roast beef and turkey dinners, teriyaki bowls, low-carb burritos and Caprese salads that look as though they were made just 10 minutes ago. The goat cheese salad with cranberries and walnuts is a big seller, I’m told.

Owners Brian R. Jackson and Robert Dorfman bring not only a gourmet flair to their market, but maintain a level of freshness and quality that translates to healthy eating. (The steady flow of gym rats filtering in from the 24 Hour Fitness across the way tells you this isn’t some high-fat food court.)

Jackson, who is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and board member of Front Runners and Walkers of San Diego, says what doesn’t get sold at the sushi station, for example, gets thrown out at the end of the day. Indeed, the bright taste and appearance of eight packaged tuna-avocado rolls I ate later could have fooled me into thinking I was sitting at a sushi bar rather than on my living room couch. Generally, what’s pre-packaged here doesn’t sit around long enough to collect dust.

Among the more novel items I tried was a pureed berry imported from Brazil called Acai. Mellow and tart, the fruit is loaded with antioxidants and I rejoiced in its bowl presentation topped with honey-drizzled granola – an exceptionally healthy food option that didn’t leave me craving for something more sinful.

Which is exactly the goal that Jackson and Dorfman have achieved at their 14-month-old market: to give patrons nutritious and wholesome meals without forcing bundles of raw carrots down their throats. The extensive (and affordable) offerings appeal to both the brown-rice crowd – since brown rice, tofu, wheatgrass and veggie sandwiches are available – as well as less persnickety eaters hankering for a fat wiener charred on the gas grill or a good Italian sub piled with fine meats.

A limited selection of gourmet condiments and moderately priced wines fill the shelves. What a surprise it was to see those fruit-bomb reds by Tobin James on the rack, along with his hard-to-find chardonnay called Radiance. And from the espresso bar, all coffees originate from Café Moto, a local roaster in the East Village that helps give the market its neighborhood anchoring. (Tough luck, Starbucks.)

If I had it my way, there’d be a Beach City Market operating every 10 blocks.