Chef Steve Brown and the company he founded, Swagyu Burger, have made like Gwenyth Paltrow and Chris Martin and consciously uncoupled.
“There’s no hard feelings about it,” Swagyu operations lead Kyle Simh says. “We wanted to go with the burger model and kind of expand to have more locations and a broader audience. And it just [did] not really didn’t align with what Steve wanted to do.” Brown announced his departure on his Instagram on March 20, wishing Swagyu “the greatest success.”
The brand’s future expansion plans include more than just a few more burger joints. Swagyu Burger currently has seven locations, the most recent of which opened at 315 10th Avenue in time for Padres’ opening day, and Simh says his team eventually plans to open the brand up to franchisees.
Courtesy of Swagyu Chop Shop Swagyu founder Steve Brown
Before Swagyu blankets the country with burgers made with F1 American and A5 Japanese Wagyu beef, it also plans to open a full-scale brewery at 2428 Fenton Street in Eastlake. One of Swagyu’s partners, Juan Jose, owns Cervecería Bichola in Mazatlán (where there’s already a Swagyu location) and wanted to diversify Swagyu’s offerings with a brewpub that offers burgers, Neapolitan-style pizza, and other bar bites. Simh estimates opening sometime in 2026.
But that’s not all—Swagyu also acquired two storefronts next to its downtown location in order to launch a yet-to-be-named Mexican seafood restaurant in the former El Puerto Seafood By the Park location at 317 10th Avenue, as well as a pizza concept called Bobby’s Pizza in the Short Stop Mediterranean Cuisine space at 319 10th Avenue. Both of those will open in six months or so, Simh says.
Courtesy of Swagyu Chop Shop
That’s still not all. Swagyu has already dabbled in the high-end steakhouse game and plans to sling burgers by day before offering a classic steakhouse menu in the evenings in larger spaces with full liquor licenses (like the future Fullerton location and downtown), while smaller locations (like Imperial Beach and UTC-Westfield La Jolla) will remain burger joints only. It’s a lot to chew on, if you’ll pardon the expression.
Swagyu’s trial-and-error approach over the past few years has felt a little rocky—it’s opened and closed a number of different locations across San Diego County. But Simh says the remaining team feels like they’ve honed in on what works and what doesn’t and are ready to hit the ground running. “We’ve got a lot of projects in the works,” he laughs. “We’re focused on hospitality, and then having a great product.”
Courtesy of Culinary Dropout
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Culinary Dropout Debuting in Del Mar on April 30
Restaurateur Sam Fox already operates a number of concepts across San Diego, including Flower Child (Del Mar), North Italia (Del Mar, Fashion Valley), Blanco Cocina + Cantina (Coronado, Fashion Valley), and The Henry (Coronado and soon Carlsbad), but San Diego will get its first taste of “elevated comfort food” joint Culinary Dropout when it opens in the Del Mar Highlands Town Center on Wednesday, April 30. Culinary Dropout already has locations across the country, but Del Mar will be the first on the West Coast. Fox says the concept is heavily influenced by Southern California, so it’s about time.
Courtesy of Schmackary’s Cookies
Beth’s Bites
New Yorkers must have caught the SoCal bug too, with NYC-based cult cookie brand Schmackary’s coming to 1255 University Avenue, Suite B in Hillcrest this summer. According to WhatNow San Diego, it will be the first of several locations in the area, including La Jolla, Little Italy, and Mission Valley. Looks like Uncle Biff’s is in for some competition…
And what’s more cookies without some more ice cream? Little Fox Cups & Cones is opening another location in Carlsbad Village. I literally can never decide between any of the flavors, but I’d be hard-pressed to find a funnier name than R.B.F. (C’mon, it stands for root beer float!)
I tried—and failed—to take advantage of China Max’s brief foray into AYCE (that block-long line looked to be at least a two-hour wait), but a quick pivot to Tasty Noodle House scratched my dumpling itch and then some. The Shanghai-style grilled beef bun in particular was a glorious packet of curry and beef wrapped in a delightfully flaky puff pastry, and I am not joking when I say that I had to throw my shirt away afterwards due to excessive splatter from enthusiastic noodle slurping. A worthy sacrifice.
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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.
