A few years ago, Little Italy was a nice, quaint place to get some red sauce, maybe a salami sandwich at Mona Lisa or bucatini from Assenti’s. Now you hear locals talk about parking dilemmas and “oversaturation.” You go to the Gaslamp to party and peacock. You go to Little Italy to eat.
The boom seemed spurred by The Q, a mixed-use building from local architect Jonathan Segal. Into its bottom floor went modern Italian standout Bencotto. Down the street, a James Beard-nominated restaurateur put in Davanti Enoteca. Then two non-Italian concepts opened the floodgates: cocktail haven Craft & Commerce (part of Consortium Holdings) and Prepkitchen (an offshoot of La Jolla’s Whisknladle). Little Italy was dubbed “the new North Park,” then surpassed that this year when Top Chef all-star Richard Blais opened Juniper & Ivy. Two upcoming projects include one from iconic Baja chef Javier Plascencia (in the new Ariel building) and another from Brian Malarkey (in Mixture’s warehouse space).
Restaurant Review: Ironside Fish & Oyster
ROLLIN’ ALONG: Lobster roll with brown butter mayo and chives
Some new joints took over failed Italian restaurants. Others retrofitted warehouse spaces on the northern end. But every restaurateur who scouted the area was drawn to one large, abandoned, expensive, and potentially magical warehouse in the middle of the action: Ironside Metal Supply. It seemed ripe for a rave party or one grand restaurant.
Ironside Fish & Oyster is that restaurant—the third Little Italy project from Consortium Holdings (Craft & Commerce and UnderBelly being the first two). It’s the most ambitious project yet from the group people love to resent. Those fascists don’t serve vodka! Those moustache-twirlers won’t give me ketchup or a Budweiser with my fries! Their crimes against mass-consumed food and drink are well-documented.
And yet, each of Consortium’s concepts—including Neighborhood, El Dorado, Soda & Swine, Polite Provisions, Rare Form, Fairweather, and Juice—seem to do well, if not extremely well.
Why?
First, design. The folks at Consortium are art-school kids who treat their restaurants like giant dioramas, filling them with elaborate detail, camp, and cultural statement pieces (i.e., broken mirrors in Craft & Commerce evoke deep vanity thoughts). After a $1.8 million build-out by talented designer Paul Basile, Ironside looks like NYC’s Grand Central Station inside the hull of Titanic. The front is all roll-up garage doors with windows edged in brass. One wall sports hundreds of gold-plated piranhas, like a catacomb dedicated to a B movie. A seafoam-green bench runs down the middle of the 4,500-foot space, separating the bar from sit-down dining. There’s old luggage near the rafters. A giant octopus tentacle cradles a light bulb. Big-band jazz plays a perfect mood.
The place is as visually awesome as it is physically uncomfortable. The stools near the bar are too small for any ass not attached to a runway model. The tables are the size of pizzas.
For a restaurant group known for its tattoos and see-through earlobes, Ironside attracts a surprising amount of mature, sophisticated clientèle. Then again, hipsters and elders have always had similar interests.
Restaurant Review: Ironside Fish & Oyster
IN THE PINK: Sautéed salmon over corn and chanterelles
IN THE PINK: Sautéed salmon over corn and chanterelles
Another reason Consortium succeeds? They find holes and fill them (Neighborhood was downtown’s first craft beer bar, and UnderBelly was the first ramen shop in Little Italy). At Ironside, they realized Little Italy—historically a fishing village—didn’t have a single seafood joint. The nearest oyster bar was downtown. So they created a menu full of local seafood, plus a lobster roll and chowder. Their raw bar—with up to eight oyster varieties served on chilled metal countertops—is now the busiest in town.
What Consortium isn’t known for? Food. Neighborhood’s burgers are good and Craft’s mini-corn dogs fun to eat, but Consortium is famous for making world-class drinks in cool-looking rooms. To drastically change this, they hired Jason McLeod, a chef who earned two Michelin stars at Ria in Chicago.
Ironside is McLeod’s showroom, and it’s Consortium’s first stab at a restaurant with proper service. On a Monday lunch shift—usually a day off for chefs—McLeod is here, overseeing the open kitchen. He’s there Tuesday night, too. He’s got good help at Ironside, with chef de cuisine JoJo Ruiz (ex-Searsucker) and bread-maker/pastry chef Donna Antaloczy (ex-Bouchon Bakery, Nine-Ten).
Restaurant Review: Ironside Fish & Oyster
Old Ironsides: “Baby Jesus in velvet pants”
So how’s the food? Over two visits I try 12 dishes, and most fall in the good-very good-damn excellent range, with only one true misstep: a far-too-acidic ceviche, which is a no-no for a fish joint located near Mexico.
For the lobster roll, they split a buttery Dutch roll and fill it with massive chunks of Maine claw meat in brown butter mayo and chives. Some lobster rolls are flooded in picnic mayo, which masks the lobster flavor. But Ironside’s is lightly dressed and one of the best I’ve had (just wipe the grease on your jeans). Their chowder is nice, even if it could ease up on its bacon enthusiasm. The fish and chips are solid, with a well-browned batter and meaty white fish. The pork belly comes with creamy grits and a phenomenal Luxardo cherry demi-glace. Our belly is a tad dry, but a sauce that good forgives “tad” errors.
The white bass collar appetizer is a really generous portion for $10, topped with a nice chimichurri. A single octopus tentacle is beyond tender and its sauce of Castelvetrano olives and chorizo is a nice, deeply flavorful salt element. Served a la plancha (grilled on a metal plate), though, it’s missing the caramelization and a little char to develop levels of flavor. The plancha spot prawns in anchovy butter miss nothing—a sort of lobster replacement therapy at a third the cost. The knuckle-meat crab cake has nice flavor (including a touch of sriracha). It lacks crunchy texture, but that’s supplied by the bread-and-butter pickles that have a really nice pop of fennel. The tomato salad is a ridiculous portion of riches—huge slices of heirloom tomatoes served with obscene amounts of Humboldt Fog cheese in olive oil and aged balsamic.
For mains, McLeod’s salmon is simply one of the best I’ve had. Sautéed over pork belly scraps, the crust is so crisp and light it cracks like brulée, and it’s served over corn purée and chanterelles. Even stuffed, our whole vermillion rock cod from Punta Baja in basil pesto (with toasted Marcona almonds instead of pine nuts) is highly enjoyable.
Restaurant Review: Ironside Fish & Oyster
GONE BANANAS: Fried banana bread with fruit and Bavarian cream
GONE BANANAS: Fried banana bread with fruit and Bavarian cream
Service on both nights is professional, friendly, knowledgable, if a tad slow at lunch (it takes five minutes for someone to touch my table). In light blue jean shirts, servers err on the side of casual, as they should.
Under drinks man Leigh Lacap, the bar has damn near everything (50-plus cocktails in all). It starts with a riff on the oyster shooter—single raw oysters with Champagne cocktails. In fact, there are 14 Champagne cocktails on the menu, plus a bevy of lemon-spiked stimulating drinks (aperitifs), fortified sherry cocktails (referred to as “baby Jesus in velvet pants”), digestifs, and coffee creations. We especially liked the Swiss Pile Driver with gin, Cynar (bitter Italian herb liqueur), grapefruit, and orange cordial.
In terms of design, vibe, and grandeur, Ironside is the crown jewel of Little Italy. For tackling so much (bakery, craft cocktails, oyster bar, etc.), it does very well. Just think of it as a bring-your-own-seat-cushion establishment, and you’d be hard-pressed to have a bad time.
Restaurant Review: Ironside Fish & Oyster
Food & Drink
JULY 17, 2026
Chula Tacos Is Opening a New Ocean Beach Location
The fast-growing taqueria will open its third restaurant on Newport Avenue after a viral social media moment fueled its rapid expansion
When Rigo Munoz opened a weekends-only taco stand on Market Street in 2018, at first, he was just hoping to sell his tacos to however many customers he could. That low-key, word of mouth approach worked well for a couple years. Very well.
“Then, the line started,” he laughs. He began to double his sales week after week, until an influencer from Tijuana paid them an undercover visit in 2024. Munoz was hanging out in his backyard the next Monday when his phone started pinging and ringing off the hook. “So I go onto my social media and there, lo and beyond, the video already had 10,000, 12,000 views in like, less than an hour,” he says. The next day, there was a line of customers waiting for him before he opened at 5 p.m. The Chula Tacos revolution sparked there.
Now, he’s ready to open his third location on August 1 at 4994 Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. It wasn’t an easy or straightforward path—the city shut down his original location citing too much noise and traffic. But Munoz was looking ahead, already in talks with a restaurateur to take over his space at 1719 Palm Avenue in the Nestor neighborhood of southeast San Diego. From the time he got shut down to getting the keys of his first brick-and-mortar was less than two days.
The second location in Chula Vista caught fire on Valentine’s Day and is slated to reopen later this fall (689 H Street). Munoz says he also plans to open a fourth location somewhere between the Ocean Beach and Morena Boulevard areas, but has aspirations for more.
“I’d like to become the In-N-Out of tacos,” he says. He’s actively looking for places that could support either a drive-thru or the typical fast-casual taqueria style, but no matter what, he’s going to keep his menu simple.
Each location has the same menu, except labio, which are ox lips, and beef intestines. They’re top-sellers at Palm Avenue, but might not translate as well to the OB crowd, he says. But guests can still get their fix of vampiro tacos, tacos de trompo, and from-scratch horchata and jamaica.
Chula Tacos is best known for its kekas (pronounced keh-kuhs), which are extra-large quesadillas stuffed with your choice of meat. “It’s a hefty thing,” Munoz promises. It’s such a trademark that he filed for a patent, which is still pending.
Building a taco empire has been a long time coming. Munoz first started making tacos at age 12, and has operated a number of cafes, delis, and other businesses on both sides of the border ever since. “We’re a family business,” he says. He’s been trying to hit that mother lode for years—and all it took was one video to light the fuse.
The newest location of Chula Tacos opens August 1 at 4994 Newport Avenue, Suite A in Ocean Beach. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to midnight daily. (Opening date subject to change.)
Courtesy of Oceanside Sustainable Food Festival
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Beth’s Bites
Everyone (clap) watches (clap, clap) women’s sports! (Thunderous applause!) San Diego’s first women’s sports bar, One of Us, opened this week in the former URBN Pizza space in North Park. I stopped by the preview and can confirm the Big Ass Fan is still there, but now there are tons of TVs lining the walls ready to broadcast women’s soccer, basketball, volleyball, and all the other sports events you could ever dream of. (And yes, they’ll be showing the men’s World Cup on Sunday, because I guess people watch men’s sports, too.)
Rolando’s ears must have been burning, because a month after interviewing chef Coral Strong of the now-closed Garden Kitchen, Campus Burgers announced plans to turn the formerly hyperlocal farm-to-table restaurant into a spot for affordable smashburgers. I’m sure the local college kids will appreciate the $1.99 smashburger special—although let’s face it, in today’s expensive times, everyone is ready for a wallet-friendly outing.
A few months ago, I gave Navore Market’s farm-to-front door delivery service a try and as a longtime former CSA subscriber, I have to admit it felt nice to leave the produce purchasing to the pros. But as of July 12, you can now head to Navore’s second community pickup hub at Mission Valley YMCA (5505 Friars Road) every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Having a centralized drop-off point makes it easy for farmers, and buyers don’t have to commit to a subscription—sounds like a farm-to-table win to me.
Keeping on with the farm-to-table news, the 4th annual Oceanside Sustainable Food Festival is scheduled for July 25 in downtown Oceanside, bringing 50-plus vendors together for a day of global food and drink, artisan products, home goods, live music, and more. The event usually draws in a couple thousand people, so might I suggest arriving close to the 11 a.m. kickoff for the best chance at maximizing your nom?
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
There’s a place in heaven for a steakhouse that remakes chicken nuggets but uses Jidori instead of whatever glum bird is proffered in the children’s section. And then they top it with caviar. That, plus an editor with an obsession-level ranking of chai in Carlsbad, and a whole fish from one of San Diego’s OG top chefs who has mercifully returned to the kitchen. These are the very best things we’ve found from another month of eating professionally in San Diego. Go get some.
Stake Chophouse & Bar
Caviar Chicken Nugget
One of my favorite experiences at Stake in Coronado is that—if the patio is chilly enough to warrant heaters—they’ll surround you with towers of flame. Paired with the retaining wall of heat against the glass railing overlooking Orange Avenue, there is so much surrounding fire that it feels like dining in a much nicer version of the Elmo meme, in which the nasally puppet’s whole world has amusingly arsoned.
Three things you have to get here: first, the Wagyu popcorn (kernels popped in melted Wagyu beef fat, salted with paprika); second, the Snake River Farms Wagyu skirt steak (its Gold grade means incredibly high marble), one of the best steaks in the city; third, the Jidori chicken nuggets with herbed crème fraîche, pickle, and a perm of caviar. A childhood food, deliciously adulted. —Troy Johnson
Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen
Tri-Tip Sando
It’s been 15 years since married folk Aaron and Roddy Browning opened Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen in a hidden south Oceanside hovel—using vinyl records as placemats, the decor an assortment of welded metal weirdities. One thing has always remained: Pork is their native tongue.
This sandwich pries open long-dormant pleasure receptors in most alive human bodies. Brandt Beef tri-tip is rubbed with its “Pig Spice” (hint: good paprika and celery seed do wonders), sleeps for 24 hours, then is seared and rested for an hour—sliced and seared again, placed on a mini baguette wet with fresh chimichurri and smoked tomato aioli, then topped with melted aged provolone, grilled peppers, onions, and gremolata (parsley, garlic, lemon zest). Order two, or be prepared to fight. —Troy Johnson
Valentina
Pan Tomaquet
Pintxos are Basque-country bar snacks, finger foods for Real Sociedad games. The appropriate utensils are a couple of fingers and a toothpick. But Valentina’s in Leucadia are done with just enough culinary school ambition (not too much, fuss has no place in pintxos) from exec chef Enrique Ñol, who worked at the estimable Wrench & Rodent.
Its tomaquet (tomato bread) could be underestimated as a stacked pile of quality ingredients, but it’s undeniably great—toasted pan de cristal (light, airy, Catalan “glass bread”) dressed with tomato, garlic, salt, EVOO, and a layer of one of the world’s greatest meats: Cinco Jotas Iberian jamón. Eat it with a minor winefall of porrón, and ask for Todd—a certified sommelier and one of the most knowledgeable food minds in the local scene. —Troy Johnson
Ironside Fish & Oyster
Whole Fish
Get the whole fish. Doesn’t matter the catch, just trust that chef Jason McLeod’s got you. When CH Projects opened Ironside in Little Italy in 2014, the restaurant group took over the old Farkas furniture store and turned it into a replica of an ocean liner, tapping McLeod (a chef who’d earned two Michelin stars in Chicago) to oversee its menus.
It quickly became a San Diego staple for seafood. After leaving for a few years to help concept and launch some big-name restaurants in Vegas, McLeod is back again getting his hands dirty in the kitchen. And his fish? They come in fresh from local fishermen who he’s established relationships with over the years. So yeah, get the whole damn thing. —Nicolle Monico
Steady State Roasting
Indian Summer
I have a running spreadsheet of chai rankings in Carlsbad. The chai that stays on the highest shelf? Steady State’s gingery, nutmeggy Indian Summer with an almond milk base and fresh nutmeg shavings on top. Juiced ginger gives the drink deeper, warmer notes, but not so much spice that your throat closes on the first sip.
Too often, coffee shops advertise authentic chai, then uncork that carton of sugar-bomb concentrate from an artisanal wholesaler called Costco. This is the real deal; it’s mildly sweet, a little more spicy, and in my opinion, best served hot. If I could order a keg of it, I would. (Can I?) —Emma Veidt
After 10 years of rooftop dining and brewing award-winning beers, OB Brewery is for sale. A local fixture on Newport Avenue, OB Brewery owner Mike Tajran is ready to retire and hand over the reins. “It’s got so much potential,” he says, pointing to the accolades the brewpub has collected throughout the last decade (it’s more than a few).
At the 2017 Great American Beer Festival, OB’s Hidden Gem Dunkelweizen won silver in the German-Style Wheat Ale category, followed by a World Beer Cup silver medal as a South German-Style Dunkel Weizen in 2026. In 2018, GABF named OB Brewery Small Brewpub of the Year, brewer Jim Millea earned Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year, and the B. Right On pale ale nabbed a gold medal in the American-Style Pale Ale category. The Elevator Red IPA also took bronze that year at the San Diego International Beer Festival, and earlier this year, they won gold for Couple’s Therapy chili beer and silver for Rauch Me smoked beer at San Diego County Fair Craft Brew Competition.
It’s a solid foundation for the right buyer, he says—someone with brewing and business chops ready for a turnkey operation in a favorable location a block from the beach on Ocean Beach’s busiest street. (And while he’s letting go of the brewpub business, he’s also open to selling the building as part of the deal.)
Originally from Iraq, Tajran’s family ran restaurants in Baghdad, but “they were decimated by Saddam Hussein,” he explains. Once in the United States, he launched Giant New York Pizza at 5050 Newport Avenue in 1984, which eventually became Newport Pizza & Ale House. Newport Pizza felt long ahead of its time, proudly proclaiming they served “no crap on tap” years before the craft beer craze caught fire in San Diego.
Courtesy of OB Brewery
When the building’s owners passed away and their son cut his lease short in 2020, Tajran says he was disappointed, but he had a nagging feeling that would happen eventually—which is why he already purchased 5041 Newport Avenue back in 2009 and opened Ocean Beach Brewery in 2016.
“For 42 years, I have been in this location in this area, the same block,” he says with pride. Ocean Beach has gone through some changes since 1984 (the OB farmers market launched in 1992, Starbucks came in 2001 and left in 2022, ADUs crept in, and the iconic OB Pier closed in 2023), but Tajran says the heart of the beachside town has remained the same.
So has most of his staff. Millea has been brewing since day one, and longtime manager Megan Schuster has worked for Tajran for 19 years, first at Newport, then at OB Brewery. Most of the employees are locals, and Tajran says he doesn’t plan on closing the business until he finds the right buyer to carry on the baton.
The property itself comes with some unique features for the area—three stories with a rooftop deck and ocean views from every level. And if you’re wondering if those uninterrupted views will remain that way, Tajran assures me they will. Part of his original building purchase included language that prohibits the three buildings between him and the ocean from building up. He also leases space next door, which would allow a new owner to expand brewing capacity with more tanks and fermenters.
“I just wanted to make sure this goes in good hands,” he says. He and his wife both hope to retire soon in order to spend time with their children. But he’ll make sure his other baby is taken care of first.
“I love Ocean Beach,” he says. “I can say nothing but thank you, OB.”
OB Breweryis still open at 5041 Newport Avenue. Hours are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Interested parties should contact Next Wave Commercial.
Along the same vein of iconic businesses, Tribute Pizza is celebrating 10 years in North Park this week with different events every night. Good luck getting a reservation if you haven’t already, but you can still take part in the silent auction on behalf of Feeding San Diego. Owner Matt Lyons’ goal is to raise $100,000 for the nonprofit and is offering some pretty sweet stuff to do so—think a full weekend buyout of Tribute, a private event with Lyons and chef Travis Swikard of Callie and Fleurette, a year of access to a VIP hotline for reservations, and even more. Time is ticking away on your chance to bid, so be sure to make your best offer before time runs out.
La Corriente continues its expansion across San Diego with lucky number three coming to Oceanside. Located next to Tanner’s Prime Burgers and PopUp Bagels, a restaurant rep says that at the rate the restaurant is opening new spaces, it wouldn’t be wild to see a few more pop up along the coast in the future.
Kitchens for Good has big plans on the horizon, including their sprawling new Culinary Impact Center coming to Bankers Hill next year. Now, it should be a bit easier to accomplish their (many) goals with the help of a $50,000 grant from the Jacques Pépin Foundation. Kitchens for Good is one of four awardees this year and will receive the funds over the next two years, allowing them to launch their Market Cafe initiative in the new center and continue their mission of hospitality training programs and ending food insecurity across the city. It’s a pretty awesome award, given by a pretty awesome group to another pretty awesome group, so it’s just mega-awesome all the way around.
Listen Now: The Latest in San Diego’s Food and Drink Scene
Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
Entrepreneurs typically launch businesses because they’re passionate about a product or service, not because they want to manage its finances. While working to carve out a niche in their respective industries and drive their companies forward, many business owners find themselves bogged down by day-to-day accounting. Their existing accounting tools don’t provide the necessary visibility or insight, and they don’t have the time or resources to hire additional staff or a chief financial officer. That’s where NOW CFO comes in.
For more than 20 years, NOW CFO has been pairing businesses across the country with experienced accounting and finance professionals. Its outsourced model allows clients to customize solutions that match their individual needs, size, and financial challenges, whether that’s fractional or interim support, project-based services, or full-time placement.
NOW CFO’s clients range from startups preparing for rapid growth to established companies that need additional financial leadership without the commitment or expense of building an in-house team. However, many of these companies don’t fully understand their needs until they experience a “trigger” event: preparing for an acquisition or capital raise, navigating a first-time audit, or another period of transition. With a team of over 300 consultants nationwide, NOW CFO can start quickly and match the right expert to the right business.
“It’s important for companies to have financial visibility, and we can help them avoid a lot of the potholes that companies often run into,” says Mariah Block, a partner at NOW CFO’s San Diego branch. “Roughly half of our clients have an in-house finance person or department, and we’re resourced for more bandwidth when they need an extra set of hands at the staff or senior accountant level, or the controller or CFO level. Some clients use this a few hours a month and others use multiple people close to full-time. Our model is solution-based and customizable. We’re like a faucet you can turn on and off.”
With NOW CFO, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Solutions are based on the client’s individual goals, challenges, needs, and budget, meaning a client never pays for more than they need. Whether it’s a few hours of executive-level guidance or a full accounting team to support daily operations, NOW CFO meets businesses where they are and grows alongside them.
“We pride ourselves on providing our clients with the right resources at the right rate and being able to evolve as their needs evolve,” says Block.
And clients appreciate on-demand access to cost-effective support designed to improve performance and profitability.
Luxury car storage service Auto Concierge has partnered with NOW CFO to support growth over the past year. The arrangement began with a staff accountant who covered a leave of absence, but as the client’s needs changed, they also added a controller role. This allowed Auto Concierge to put effective processes in place and navigate operational challenges. Lori Church, Auto Concierge’s chief operating officer, says NOW CFO has been an “outstanding resource” and a “true strategic partner.”
“From the controller to the bookkeeper, every professional they’ve placed has brought a high level of expertise, responsiveness, and professionalism to our organization. Their team took the time to understand our business of high-profile clients and needs, adapted quickly to our fast-paced environment, and became a trusted extension of our team,” she says. “As Auto Concierge continues to grow, having a reliable financial partner like NOW CFO has allowed us to strengthen our financial and business operations while remaining focused on delivering exceptional service to our clients.”
San Diego has lost a number of ambitious concepts lately—Vulture and Dreamboat in University Heights, Wildflour Delicatessen in Liberty Station, Deckman’s in North Park, Matsu in Oceanside. All have different reasons for closing (some outgrew their space, some overshot their costs), but none of them suffered for quality. Ditto for the next casualty. On July 19, Cellar Hand in Hillcrest will close its doors.
Unlike the other closures, there’s actually a silver lining. The Perr family, who owns both Cellar Hand and Pali Wine Co., announced they will relocate Pali’s tasting room from Little Italy to take over the vacated Cellar Hand space.
Cellar Hand opened just over two years ago with a promise to source 100 percent of their produce locally. Ambitious, but admirable. Logan Kendall, the original executive chef, launched with a menu centered around lots of funky fermentation, tinned fish preserved in-house, a bevy of fun dips like labneh and whipped tahini, and a ridiculously fantastic pork chop from Thompson Heritage Farms. Wine Enthusiast named the 120-seat eatery one of the top 50 wine-focused restaurants in the country in 2025—not a shock, considering the mega wine chops behind the project.
Following Kendall’s tenure, chefs Ashley McBrady and then Sable-Tanya Wentwoord took over the reins, keeping things rolling with expanded brunch offerings, chef’s dinners, and all the usual accoutrements of a hyped spot. Before joining the Pali Wine/Cellar Hand team, Wentwoord worked and staged at multiple James Beard Award–recognized and Michelin-starred restaurants in Boulder, Colorado (Frasca Food and Wine); San Francisco, CA (Coi, Che Fico); Providence, Rhode Island (Persimmon); and Fredericksburg, Tex. (Southold Farm + Cellar). She will continue to head the food program at Pali Wine Co.
Bad luck or bad timing, the reasons behind closing Cellar Hand don’t really matter. But I, for one, will really miss that pork chop.
Photo Credit: Kimberly Motos
Still, Cellar Hand’s loss is Pali Wine Co.’s gain, or at least a small balm on the sting of closure. The tasting room in Little Italy opened 10 years ago, bringing its Central Coast wine and vibes to an area smack in the middle of a craft beer boom. When it came time to renew the lease, the Perrs say the landlord did the landlord-y thing and tried to nearly double the rent. (Tale as old as time—just ask Wildwood Flour.)
Rather than suffer a double-whammy, the Perr family instead decided to shift their focus (and finances) to the heart of their businesses: wine. And despite losing a very cool rooftop patio in one sizzling hot neighborhood, they are gaining a pretty prime spot in a different sizzling hot neighborhood with a not-too-shabby patio of its own accord. (One more silver lining: no more jet noise from the airport!)
By moving Pali Wine Co. to where Cellar Hand used to be, they could at least keep a toehold in San Diego, says Nick Perr, managing partner. His family has made wine in Santa Barbara county for over two decades, with 10 of those years in the San Diego market—an investment they refused to lose. “That’s why it’s impossible to separate our winery from our San Diego community,” he explains, adding that the new location will allow Pali Wine Co. to offer programming designed around the nearby Hillcrest farmers market.
Guests can expect the same wine selection, wine club perks, private tastings, and similar food offerings Pali Wine Co. offers in Little Italy to transfer to Hillcrest. And maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll bring back the pork chop (please?)
“We are extremely proud of what we accomplished at Cellar Hand,” said Perr in a statement. “Running an independent restaurant with real values is hard, and we gave it everything we had.”
Cellar Hand will permanently close on July 19. Pali Wine Co. will cease operations at 2130 India Street on July 19 and will move to 1440 University Avenue.
Pali’s new location in Hillcrest will soft open on August 12 with a grand opening on August 22. Operating hours will be Wednesday through Friday, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. Happy hour will run Wednesday through Sunday (hours to be determined).
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
There are two types of people: those whose cookbooks remain clean and crisp, and those whose cookbooks are dog-eared, stained with flecks of oil and butter, and graffitied with handwritten notes scrawled on each page.
Courtney Geilenfeldt falls in the second group. Sure, it’s easy to go to TikTok or Instagram to figure out what to cook on any given day. “But there’s something about a physical, analog book, where you can see the photos and get pasta sauce splattered on it,” she says. “I just have always loved that.”
In the spirit of sharing that love, earlier this year Geilenfeldt opened Patine, a cookbook micro-shop and grocery with an itty-bitty selection of curated goods. And when I say micro-shop, I mean it literally—she runs it out of her one-car garage in University Heights that’s too small to even fit her car.
What she lacks in square footage, she makes up for with unique offerings. “If I know that there’s this very specific ingredient in a cookbook that I’ve had to hunt down, then I will try to have that in the shop to just make it a little bit easier,” explains Geilenfeldt. Patine’s shelves are lined with items like specialty beans, a handful of wines, and fresh baked goods like loaves of sourdough, but the main attraction is her collection of new and used cookbooks on cuisines ranging from the Caribbean to Japan.
Her garage shop is only a placeholder. Later this year, Patine will open as a brick-and-mortar on Fifth Avenue and Nutmeg Street in Bankers Hill, across from Heavenly Bodega. That space will be “much, much bigger,” she promises, with an expanded selection of books and goods, plus space for cooking classes, author events, book club meetings, and other events.
The educational-plus-retail approach is something she missed from her years in Seattle, where bookshops like Book Larder have been combining the two since 2011. Although Geilenfeldt is a San Diego native, the Pacific Northwest is where she really began to cut her teeth in the world of professional baking. From there, she bakery-bopped to Germany, where she learned the art of European-style baking and embraced the more methodical, slowed-down culture.
“‘Patine’ is the French word for patina,” she explains. Items only acquire patina, or a polished look of something well-used and cared for, over years. It’s not something you can fake or make new, and it was the idea that inspires her in both baking and business.
That’s not to say Geilenfeldt doesn’t create new things. Actually, quite the opposite—she’s launched a micro-bakery cottage food business, hosted a supper club series, worked as a recipe writer, food stylist, private chef, pop-up host, book club host, and pretty much every other food-related entrepreneurial route you can think of. And if everything falls into place, Patine’s future storefront will open in August or early fall, bringing people together for the love of food and each other.
Patine’s micro-store currently operates at 4673 Alabama Street in University Heights. Check Instagram for current hours of operation.
Courtesy of Nobu del Coronado
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Beth’s Bites
Neptune may be the tempestuous god of water, but even his famously volatile temper can be soothed with a plate of fresh sushi. (I’m just guessing, I’ve never spoken to him personally.) His namesake restaurant, Neptune Sushi, opens this summer (or maybe fall, you really never know) at 3015 Adams Avenue in the former Tajima space. One of Neptune’s partners, Michael Harrison, says guests can expect a modern interpretation of temaki-style hand rolls with locally caught fish, utilizing influences from Asia and Latin America alongside San Diego. The team isn’t ready to announce many details yet, but the 1,500-square-foot space fits around 60 guests and Harrison says there will be table seating, plus multiple sushi bars. “We do have plans to expand the Neptune concept in the future,” he says, so may the gods be with them.
At long last, New Wave Bagel is ready to serve its signature bagels alongside breakfast and lunch sandwiches, open-face toasts, pastries, and full espresso bar starting on Saturday, July 18. Baker and co-owner Cheryl Storms says they’ll finally be able to fulfill one long-requested update: toasting bagels. “We’ve gotten a lot of flack for not being able to toast bagels this whole time,” she says. (It’s a pop-up! There are limits!) “On the 18th, that changes—we will be able to toast all bagels all the time.” New Wave will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Tuesdays coming soon.
If you can’t wait for Neptune, there’s always Nobu. Nobu del Coronado is one of the best-known upscale sushi chains in the world, and now, you can get a bento box full of goodies for $70. Grab a Summer Bento Box Lunch special between noon and 3 p.m. daily and get a Matsuhisa salad, three pieces of tuna, chef’s choice for three pieces each of uramaki and nigiri, rock shrimp tempura, and the iconic miso black cod, plus steamed rice and vegetables tossed in a spicy garlic sauce. Considering the black cod miso dinner portion costs $65 by itself, this is legitimately a pretty good deal (IMHO). Plus, those Coronado views!
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Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.
Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa
Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.
The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.
At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.
Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.
Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.
Healcove Chiropractic
There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.
This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.
There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point.
Juice Holler
West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.
We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.
Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.
Everwell Acupuncture
We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.
Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.
Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.
At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.
