Figuring out where to expand a restaurant empire can happen one of two ways. You can pore over economic forecasts, real estate costs, and relevant data points. Or you can do what Sam Fox does. “I gravitate toward cities I want to spend time in,” he says.
Which explains why Fox is all-in on San Diego. He’s owned a home on Coronado for about 20 years, and he’s been opening restaurants in Arizona, California, and beyond since the age of 21. He started with one little bar and grill in Tucson called Gilligan’s, and kept going until he became one of the most prolific restaurateurs in the country. His Fox Restaurant Concepts created Flower Child, Blanco, North Italia, The Henry, you name it. He sold his company to Cheesecake Factory in 2019, but stayed on as CEO and hasn’t slowed down.
He opened his first San Diego spot in 2012 (True Food at Fashion Valley, led by two well-known chefs with San Diego roots—Michael Stebner, who made his name in Hillcrest’s cult-loved farm to table restaurant, Region; and Nathan Coulon, now with Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern). Since, he’s opened Flower Child (Del Mar), Blanco Cocina + Cantina (Coronado, Fashion Valley), and The Henry (Coronado, Carlsbad coming soon).
And next week, he’ll launch the first California location of Culinary Dropout at Del Mar Highlands—a chef-driven gastropub and live music hangout.
Fox came up with the Culinary Dropout concept 12 years ago after he opened a fancy steakhouse that cost him a gazillion dollars. “Go figure, because it’s just like that today, too,” he laughs. But it made him think: What upfront costs could he eliminate without sacrificing quality?
“At that moment in time, there were a lot of chefs that were still really taking themselves seriously,” he says. “And what you’ve seen in the last seven, eight, nine years are these formal chefs who have now gone into the casual world. And I was a college dropout, so culinary dropout was a play on that. But the restaurant really was based around a chef-driven gastropub.”
Everything at Culinary Dropout is made from scratch. “We’re taking ribs, marinating them for a couple days,” he says. “We’re brining that chicken overnight, baking all our own breads, making all our own pretzels, fabbing all the fish.”
All the culinary chops, none of the gazillion-dollar props. Instead of gold-laden statement pieces, they made an art wall out of Converse shoes.
The Del Mar Highlands deal has been in the works for three years, and Fox feels it was worth the wait. “We love that location in the center,” he says, noting that it’s in the middle of San Diego County (Del Mar is equidistant between the San Ysidro border and the tip of Oceanside). Plus, ample parking. Parking’s underrated.
He points to some of their signature items as particular favorites, like 36-hour marinated pork ribs, the Korean-style ribeye cap, and the soft pretzel with provolone fondue. “The pretzels are our signature number one item that gets ordered four-to-one,” he says. “Every single person usually gets the pretzel and cheese.”
But in his quest to continue elevating, this new Culinary Dropout will be the first to offer a sushi program. “The menu in the past lent itself to be a little heavy, and we’ve been trying to lighten up,” he says.
In Del Mar, that’s called reading the room.
The summer drink menu skews lighter as well, with things like spritzes; sangria; margaritas; and his personal favorite, El Matador, made with Gran Centenario añejo tequila, elderflower, ginger agave, and orange bitters. The bar menu will change seasonally because, well, that’s how you make a decent modern drink. “There’s an incredible bar community in San Diego, and we hope to keep up,” Fox says.
The new space spans 8,111-square-feet with seating for 289 guests, with a 1,100-square-foot outside patio that seats 74. They’ll be open til midnight on weekends, with live music Thursday through Sunday.
While Del Mar is the first Culinary Dropout in California, Fox says it won’t be the last. They’re finalizing another location in Orange near Chapman University, and Fox has never been a laurel rester. “We’re always looking,” he says. “The [San Diego] community has been great to us… as long as the community supports us, we’ll continue to grow.”
Culinary Dropout opens on Wednesday, April 30 at 12875 El Camino Real.
