As we reported this week, Donovan’s is shuttering their Prime Seafood concept on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp. We gave a couple hints last night about the new operator, but now we’ve been cleared to release a couple advance details. Eric Leitstein and his OMG Restaurant Group are taking over the lease. “It’s going to be an extension of the Union Kitchen + Tap brand,” says Leitstein, talking about his beer-and-bites concept in Encinitas. Leitstein is going to take a month, travel to a few cities to scout concepts, and solidify his vision for the 7,500 square-foot space after the new year. But, interestingly, he mentioned his first venue—the now-closed Mission Beach live music den, Canes.
“It does have a live entertainment license,” he said. “I do know something about booking bands. I wouldn’t try to turn it into a House of Blues. But I wouldn’t mind filling the kind of hole that’s being left by Croce’s.” Croce’s, which for years showcased live blues and jazz, is closing at the end of the year.
Where to Eat in San Diego: New Restaurant Openings
White-Hot Tanner’s Burgers Readying First San Diego Location
Tanner’s Burgers is going to be very, very big. Possibly Crack Shack big. And they’re about to open their first brick and mortar in San Diego—in South Oceanside at the Freeman Collective. Chef/partner Brandon Rogers worked at French Laundry, then was chef de cuisine at Benu when it earned its three-star Michelin. But he cut his teeth in San Diego, and came back to partner with family-run good-meat company Brandt Beef for this project.
The burger was the runaway hit of last year’s Del Mar Wine + Food Festival, winning the culinary competition. The debut spot is set to open March-ish. Listen to the podcast where Rogers and Brandt co-owner Eric Brandt explain the whole project to food critic Troy Johnson.
Hotel Indigo in Gaslamp Getting a Redesigned Rooftop Restaurant
Hotel Indigo San Diego – Gaslamp Quarter’s Borrego Kitchen and Cocktails Rooftop Restaurant is in the middle of a revamp and is expected to open in May, just before the summer rooftop season kicks off. The ninth floor rooftop restaurant will focus on American Southwest flavors like yucca, prickly pear, and candied desert flowers. As for the cocktails and mocktails on the menu, the bar will carry the same desert theme and blend ingredients like aloe, sage, cacti, and even frybread.
Rendering courtesy of The Amalfi Llama
Next Big UTC Thing: Live-Fire Restaurant with Patagonia & Mediterranean Bend
The Amalfi Llama is debuting its first San Diego location at The Collection at UTC (second location after Miami) in March and adds to the live-fire scene (using wood instead of gas, a la Fort Oak, Sandpiper, Herb & Wood, etc.). Menu and ingredients are inspired by coastal cuisine from Patagonia to the Mediterranean. The large 7,000-square-foot space, with an outdoor patio, will let guests see their food cooked in real-time as the chefs use a live-fire grill and a wood-burning oven.
Choose your meat to cook over the wood fire, like a Wagyu tomahawk or a Patagonian roasted chicken. Or, try one of their wood-fired pizzas like the Positano using soppressata, finocchiona and hot honey. They’ll also have some woodsy cocktails (along with lighter options)—like Woodland Place using a Buffalo Trace palo santo-infused bourbon, amaro nonino, cacao, bitters and smoke.
Courtesy of Cardiff Farmer’s Market
Where to Eat in San Diego: Restaurant News & Food Events
Cardiff Farmer’s Market is celebrating its one year anniversary on Saturday, March 2 with a special birthday celebration between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The first 150 people will get a free sweet from Chaupain Bakery and each purchase you make will give you a chance to win $100 in “Market Bucks” to use at the farmer’s market.
Elena Gomez is an Emmy-nominated reporter who has spent much of her journalism career working in broadcast news in San Diego and Los Angeles. She joined the San Diego Magazine team as a freelance writer in 2020.
Underground 1920s NYC-style social club is now open
By Troy Johnson | Photography by Paul Body
Two months ago, we showed you the first half of the ambitious Gaslamp project, Queensborough, an ode to 1920s cocktail culture from the Brethren Collective. Designed by Bluemotif Architecture’s Matthew Ellis (Cowboy Star, Kettner Exchange), it’s a classy throwback to F. Scott Fitzgerald romanticism. But the downstairs, deemed Downtown Queensborough, is even more elaborate, and is now open.
Here we’ve got the first photos of the 6,000 square-foot underground social club designed like an NYC subway with white tiled walls, subway-inspired signs, metro booth seats, a custom DJ booth, private whiskey lockers, full-service bar, roving cocktail cart, live jazz (starting in October, on Wednesdays), and build-your-own barrel-aged cocktail program. It’s a beauty. Take a gander. Queensborough, 777 Fifth Ave., queensboroughsd.com.
Many might say the Ra Sushi chain was one of the first to do “social dining,” in which loud music played in a place where reasonably high-end/gourmet food was sold. Some loved it for the party. Some loathed it for the party. And now it’s gone. We’ve been unable to reach Ra, but our sources confirm that, after 10 years in the Gaslamp, Ra has packed up and left its location at 474 Broadway. The Gaslamp isn’t an easy place to make a living for a restaurant, as recent years have seen. Many have just been trying to hold on until the Horton Plaza Park opens. Looks like Ra stopped holding its breath.
Renewable energy companies building hundreds of power plants. Biotech startups using artificial intelligence to create personalized medicine for children with rare diseases. Hospitality companies quietly powering thousands of local events. Consumer brands growing from beach-town startups into national businesses. These are the kinds of companies driving San Diego’s economy today, and the businesses recognized at this year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards offer a snapshot of where the region is headed.
Hosted July 23 by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards event honored four local companies for innovation, growth, and economic impact. More than 100 nominations from San Diego’s middle-market businesses were reviewed by a 10-person judging committee, with winners selected across four categories: startup, early-stage innovator, rising star, and established heavyweight.
Two-time honoree Jimbo Someck, founder of Jimbo’s organic grocery stores, also joined the event for a fireside chat on buying local, supporting emerging brands, and giving back to the community.
“San Diego’s strength comes from its makers and builders—the resilient people who endure great risks and overcome obstacles to build and scale a company,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager and Middle Market Banking at JPMorganChase & Co. “These awards aren’t just recognition; they spotlight the talent, grit, and innovation shaping our region’s future. By celebrating those who create and build, we foster connections and fuel the growth that keeps San Diego thriving.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Building the Infrastructure Behind Clean Energy
Heavyweight honoree SOLV Energy has grown alongside the country’s rapid investment in renewable power. “It’s an exciting time for SOLV Energy as we are experiencing significant growth,” says CEO George Hershman. “The business has doubled over the last year and has almost double-digit growth since its inception.”
The Rancho Bernardo-based company designs, builds, operates, and maintains utility-scale solar and energy storage facilities. Since its founding in 2008, SOLV Energy has built more than 500 power plants.
Growth has translated directly into hiring. About 200 employees work from the company’s local headquarters, including roughly 20 interns. “Our intern program is a big part of the way that we grow our workforce,” Hershman says. “Last year, 43 percent of our interns became full-time employees. We believe San Diego is a great community to build and grow a high-tech infrastructure and technology company because of the incredible workforce—the ability to attract top talent and draw from world-class universities.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Developing Medicine One Patient at a Time
Startup honoree La Jolla Labs is tackling one of medicine’s biggest challenges by developing personalized RNA therapeutics for patients with rare diseases—many of them children with neurological disorders like ALS. Using proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, the biotech company develops treatments tailored to each patient’s specific genetic mutation.
CEO Tamar Grossman says the recognition reflects how far the company has come despite limited resources. “We’re honored to be recognized for our ability to change and save patients’ lives and turn our lean startup into a clinical company with very minimal resources,” she says.
Grossman credits San Diego’s concentration of research institutions—including UC San Diego, the Salk Institute, and Scripps Research—with creating a pipeline of talent and collaboration. “San Diego is one of the world-leading centers for technology, genomics, and RNA therapeutics,” she says. “We have over 30 RNA therapeutics companies here, and we support each other and help with anything related to drug discovery.”
She says that collaborative spirit extends beyond formal partnerships. “You can walk around Torrey Pines, go into a café, and find colleagues from the industry and have an ad hoc conversation,” Grossman says. “That’s something very unique to San Diego.”
While Snake Oil Venue Company may not be a household name, chances are many San Diegans have attended one of its events. The early-stage innovator honoree has expanded from beverage catering and mixology consulting into venue management, operating Julep Venue in Mission Hills, Bramble Bay Venue in Imperial Beach, Vesper Venue, the Chapel at Liberty Station, and five outdoor venues throughout Liberty Station—more than 500,000 square feet of event space altogether.
“We do a lot of launch parties for corporations and new products,” says CEO Mike Esposito. “I really like working on the entrepreneur side of things, where new businesses are entering the San Diego market and looking to make a splash.”
Snake Oil has executed more than 16,000 events, employed more than 1,000 people, and partnered with more than 900 local vendors, including caterers, florists, photographers, entertainers, and other hospitality businesses. The company also works with many of San Diego’s nonprofits, museums, and cultural institutions. “We get to celebrate people’s most important moments,” Esposito says. “Whether that’s a wedding, celebration of life, or quinceañera, we’re fortunate to be involved in the community in so many different ways.”
Photo Credit: Matt Furman
Growing a Beach-Town Brand into a National Business
Rising star honoree ALOHA Collection is proof that a simple idea can grow into a thriving company. Founded by two roommates who wanted a better way to carry wet swimsuits after a day at the beach, the lifestyle brand has grown into a business while maintaining strong year-over-year growth.
Now headquartered in Carlsbad, ALOHA Collection employs more than 100 people and operates its California flagship store in Encinitas, which is slated for a remodel. With roots in Hawaii, the company is known for its lightweight, splash-proof travel bags that have become a familiar sight on beaches in San Diego and beyond.
“‘Aloha’ is part of our name, but it’s also how we move through the world,” says CEO Lynna Barnard. “It’s how we show up for people, the way we travel, the way we give back.” Since day one, the company has maintained a 5 percent giveback to Hawaii conservation efforts, contributing millions of dollars over the years.
“I think what’s so inspiring about ALOHA Collection, and the founders in particular, is when you dream big, those dreams can come true when you work hard and trust in the universe,” Barnard says. “It’s inspiring to be a role model for other people wanting to start businesses from humble beginnings. Start small and watch it grow.”
Together, businesses like these form a cornerstone of San Diego’s economy—not only through the jobs and revenue they generate—but through the local workers they hire, vendors they support, and investments they make in the region. Their growth doesn’t happen in isolation; it ripples outward, strengthening the broader business community and the people who call San Diego home.
THE SPOT: Top of the 14th floor of the new Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Gaslamp/Convention Center Hotel. It has a long name and a nice roof. The Nolen will have its own entrance.
THE CONCEPT: Named for John Nolen, one of San Diego’s earliest city planners. Cocktails will be throwbacks to his time (Old Fashioneds, Boulevardier, Vieux Carre), plus modern riffs like “Dirty Girl,” an near-Old Fashioned with rye, bourbon, coffee liqueur, spice chai syrup and orange bitters. Cocktails will be split into seven categories, including “Barrel-Aged,” “Hoptails” (beer cocktails) and “Draft Cocktails.” They’ll use local distilleries like Ballast Point and Malahat Spirits Company. They’ll barrel-age cocktails in oak for a minimum of two months.
THE REAL CONCEPT: Realize you’re in San Diego and have a rooftop. Realize the weather in San Diego is pretty nice. Realize putting a bar on that rooftop in that famous weather is a pretty good idea.
THE PLAYERS:J Street Hospitality and Azul Hospitality. Their most recent collaboration: SpringHill Suites Hotel and Union & Vine restaurant in Paso Robles. Azul also opened Le Meridien hotel in Indianapolis, while J Street Hospitality has developed San Diego hotels Residence Inn Gaslamp and Hotel Z, and is currently developing Moxy Hotel, Canopy Hotels and Hampton Inn & Suites.
THE FOOD:Upscaled comfort dishes like chili glazed meatballs, jerk chicken quesadilla, a kale Caesar, herbal shrimp flatbread and crispy tots.
THE DESIGN: San Diego’s Matthew Ellis and his Bluemotif Architecture handled it. They build pretty places, as evidenced by their work on Cowboy Star, Kettner Exchange and Juniper & Ivy. The 2,500 square-foot space is open-air. It has two fireplaces, and six-foot glass walls that let people soak in the view. There are “oculi” (fancy word for a circular fixture), lanterns, eight seats at the bar with plush leather and brass barstools. Graffiti-style art pays homage to the key architectural icons in San Diego.
Enough words. Please enjoy the first photos of The Nolen. Then go enjoy a drink. The Nolen opens Thursday night.
Take a gander at The Gaslamp's first dedicated rooftop restaurant
By Troy Johnson | Photography by Paul Body
As a local, the Gaslamp doesn’t always tickle me. The high rent leads to high prices, which doesn’t always translate into high quality food and drink. Regardless, the city’s main tourist nightlife attraction has just about everything a person could want. Except a dedicated rooftop restaurant—until now.
How the hell is Rustic Root the first and only dedicated rooftop restaurant in the Gaslamp? With that expensive sun, the entire Gaslamp area should just be retractable shade tents. Less ceilings, more sun. Someone must have been very nice to the zoning officials.
Rustic Root is the newest opening from RMD Group (FLUXX), hospitality guy Ken Lovi and chef-partner Antonio Friscia (who also runs the adjacent restaurant, Don Chido). Friscia’s always been a multicultural chef. Whereas Don Chido is Mexican, Rustic Root is Americana-based, with Asian, Mexican, French influence. Elk chops with Mexican mole, Fried chicken with habañero honey mustard. Bison meatballs with whiskey sauce. BBQ fries. BBQ chicken liver pate. Furikake-crusted Hamachi with Israeli couscous.
You get the idea.
Handling the bar program will be a familiar and well-loved name to craft cocktail nerds. Garth Flood, formerly “the man” at Cowboy Star for years, is doing time-machine throwbacks like mules, daiquiris, sazeracs, Manhattans, Negronis, and even a “1980 Cosmopolitan.”
The ambiance? Well, if you know Fluxx, you know they’re not a shy wallflower with design. Davis Ink Ltd. designed both the 3,000 square-foot downstairs and the 2,500 square-foot rooftop. Gaslampy lamps. Life-size animal topiaries. Market lights.
Open for dinner (and brunch), it’s worth a look. Speaking of… below is the first photos of the Gaslamp’s first (how the hell did that happen again?) dedicated rooftop restaurant.
It’s estimated that 44% of women in the U.S. have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, but many don’t know it. The disease often has no symptoms, and when symptoms do present, they can appear similar to many other conditions. High blood pressure increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, so it’s critical that it’s detected and treated early. And for women at risk of developing high blood pressure, prevention is key. Click here for the basics of high blood pressure and how Scripps physicians at Scripps use screenings not just as a diagnostic tool, but as part of routine preventive care.
For more nutrition, wellness, and healthy living tips, sign up for the San Diego Health newsletter here.
