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. 

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. 

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. 

Rise and Shine Hospitality Group’s (Breakfast Company, Breakfast Republic) handle added a coffee roaster to their roster—Ox Coffee opened in Mission Valley. The idea behind the name is the coffee’s as strong as an ox.

The post Where to Eat in San Diego: Restaurant Openings & News (Feb. 26–Mar. 1) appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Rendering: Fifth Avenue Promenade

Courtesy of The Gaslamp Quarter Association

For decades, plans have been in the works to close Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp District to traffic. But when the pandemic struck, the idea got a real-life test run.

Soon after restaurants reopened for outdoor dining in 2020, the city of San Diego used a special events permit to allow restaurants and bars to operate from makeshift patios. That included closing Fifth Avenue to cars every Thursday through Sunday so tables and chairs could be set up on the street.

The special events permit ends June 30, but that doesn’t mean the street will be reopened. The city is working with organizations like Downtown San Diego Partnership and The Gaslamp Quarter Association to make the arrangement permanent.

The first step of that project is happening right now. The city is installing bollards—short, sturdy posts—at seven intersections from K Street down to Broadway. The bollards will create small plazas on Fifth Avenue and replace the temporary gates that are currently being used to block traffic.

The impact? Increased pedestrian safety, reports David Rolland, a spokesperson for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. He says that, weather permitting, all of the bollards should be in place by early May. The city is also working on an ordinance that will designate Fifth Avenue as a slow street, which will allow for the weekend closures that have been going on since Covid to continue longer-term.

But there is a vision for Fifth Avenue beyond just bollards. The Gaslamp Quarter Association and the Downtown San Diego Partnership are seeking grants and other funding from the state to roll out additional phases of the project, including public art, street furniture, shade trees, and repaved streets.

“Our goal is to hopefully drive more business to the merchants who operate in the Gaslamp and also to create more of a tourist destination,” said Michael Trimble, executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association. “We don’t have many of these types of open spaces, especially in the downtown area. And so by creating this temporary promenade 12 hours a day, it gives people the opportunity to experience the Gaslamp in a whole new light.”

The plan will not permanently close the street, but will shut it down to vehicles from 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday, from Broadway to K Street, according to Trimble. Fifth Avenue from L Street to K Street will always be open.

Rendering: Fifth Avenue Promenade

Courtesy of The Gaslamp Quarter Association

Trimble said the plan was originally to have streets shut down to 3 a.m., but it will be more like midnight because of police concerns.

“I think that the issue with having it at 3 a.m. is that it makes it harder for the police to make bar break happen safely,” he said. “So if it closes at 2 a.m., then people are lingering in the streets until 3 a.m., and then it doesn’t promote getting home safely. If the streets close and open to traffic at midnight, then they can bar break at 1:30 a.m., and everyone could be out of the Gaslamp by 2:30 a.m.. If you do it at 2 a.m., people will linger, and it potentially could be not as safe.”

For ridesharing, all cross-streets will stay open, and cross-street parking will be redesigned so there are more loading zones on each corner, making it easier for rideshare cars to drop off and pick up customers.

MTS will also reroute buses from K Street to Broadway. The change in routes that serve lower income communities raised controversy at recent MTS meetings, but officials say they have chosen alterations with minimal impact. Route 120 buses will turn one block earlier and Route 3 buses will be rerouted to Seventh Avenue until after Broadway.

For people who need to park, the Gaslamp Quarter Association says there will be parking along Fourth Avenue. There are also plans in the works to change some cross streets from parallel parking to diagonal parking, which increases the number of parking spaces. The association says there are also more than 3,700 parking spots in parking structures nearby.

And all ADA accessible parking spaces that are removed from Fifth Avenue will be replaced near the Gaslamp Promenade. All valet stands for hotels and restaurants will also be located on side streets, according to the association.

Rendering: Fifth Avenue Promenade

Courtesy of The Gaslamp Quarter Association

Trimble said he hasn’t heard any concerns from businesses about loss of parking or getting deliveries, both because the plan only reduces parking by 32 spaces and because businesses are already used to the routine from the Covid street closure.

“It’s pushed everyone to service the neighborhood quicker and more efficiently,” he said. “And so if there have been any growing pains, we’ve worked through that during this temporary closure.”

Trimble has a long term vision for the promenade that goes beyond the street closures, but said it’s dependent on cost. Originally, before Covid the plan would have cost $40 million, but now it’ll be closer to $60 million, he said. He would have loved for flattening the curbs in the area, but that may now be too expensive, he said.

“I would like to see something more than asphalt on Fifth Avenue. I’d like to see improvements of the sidewalks, new trees, new storm drain type systems that will be more environmentally friendly. I know that it’s important to the city to be environmentally conscious,” said Trimble. “It’s a very old street so updating those types of internal operations are very important to moving forward into the future.”

Rendering: Fifth Avenue Promenade

Courtesy of The Gaslamp Quarter Association

“Because of Covid, the original plan was to have the existing patios expanded onto the sidewalk and the sidewalk being pushed into the street. So instead of having parklets on the curb, you’d actually have an existing patio that’s twice as large because you’re moving the sidewalk farther into the street. And so giving more room for restaurants to operate without having the sidewalk street separation.”

Betsy Brennan, the president of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, said the city is also working on drawing more walkers to the Gaslamp just like they’ve done in other parts of downtown, including the Symphony Shell, the Waterfront Park, and areas around the Convention Center—all aspects of the larger, pedestrian-friendly puzzle of which the Promenade is a piece.

“We want to welcome all of San Diego back to downtown with the Promenade,” she said. “This is the heart of the city.” By the end of 2023, the city expects to have completed an initial study of what is possible on Fifth Avenue and open up the project to bids.

In a statement, Gloria said the project will make the Gaslamp Quarter “an even more enjoyable and vibrant place to stroll, dine, and hang out with friends,” adding that, “We know from attractions like the Piazza della Famiglia in Little Italy that people flock to outdoor pedestrian plazas lined with restaurants and shops, and we’re excited to create that kind of open, welcoming atmosphere [in] the Gaslamp Quarter,” he said.

The post Fifth Avenue Promenade One Step Closer to Becoming Reality appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Reddit Party

When: July 18, 7 p.m.

Where: 835 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp

Help bring the Reddit group, r/comiccon, offline at Trailer Park After Dark for its third annual Unofficial Subreddit Party. RSVPs are closed, but it’s an open event, so get there early to join the party.

Bondon by Con feat. Exodus

When: July 18, 7 p.m.

Where: 1055 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp

Price: $30, standing room only

Heavy metal meets comics when Exodus performs at House of Blues to celebrate Comic-Con. All ages can rock out, but minors must be accompanied by a guardian.

Comic-Con Thursday with Kristian Nairn

When: July 18, 9:30-12:30 p.m.

Where: OMNIA, 454 Sixth Ave., Gaslamp

Price: Free (with admission to OMNIA), 21+

Already miss Game of Thrones? GOT fans will rejoice as Kristian Nairn (you’ll remember him as the charming but repetitive Hodor) hits the stage at OMNIA in honor of Comic-Con.

Awesome Mixer Vol. 2

When: July 19^th, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.

Where: 500 4^th Ave., Fluxx Nightclub

Price: Tickets start at $35, 21+

Darryl McDaniels (the “DMC” of Run-DMC fame), along with actor Dan Fogler and more celebrity guests will hit the stage for this Guardians of the Galaxy-themed event at Fluxx Nightclub.

NBC Show Pop-Ups

When: July 18-21

Where: Gaslamp District

Price: Free

Fans of NBC’s biggest shows don’t need Comic-Con tickets to enjoy the event. Replicas of the sets of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Superstore, will take over the Gaslamp District.

Theatre Box

When: July 18-21

Where: 701 5^th Ave

Price: $12-$25

Whether you’re enjoying a movie at Gaslamp’s new luxury cinema, Theatre Box, or dinner at the Sugar Factory located inside, you can refuel like a superhero and go back to saving the world. Choose from menu items like the Deadpool Wrap, Wonder Woman Salad, Captain America Burger (with a blue brioche bun), or Hulk Sliders (with green buns; and a take-home duckie, Sugar Factory’s waterfowl mascot).

Havana 1920

When: July 18-21

Where: Havana 1920, 548 Fifth Ave.

Price: $12

If we were rebelling against the Empire, we’d need a drink, too. Choose from Star Wars-themed cocktails like the Dantooine Daquiri, the Mon Calamari Mojito, and the Yavin Four at the intimate Cuban restaurant Havana 1920, and toast to the rebels.

Mezé Greek Fusion

When: July 18-21

Where: Mezé Greek Fusion, 345 Sixth Ave.

Price: $13

Check your lightsabers at the door and order mixers inspired by Star Wars: The Old Republic, including the Darth Revan Cooler, Ebon Hawk, and Grey Jedi Jungle Juice.

Prohibition

When: July 18-21

Where: 548 Fifth Ave.

Price: $14

You won’t have to use the force to find this speakeasy (well, maybe just a touch of it). Prohibition is located underground at 548 Fifth Avenue, and will be serving up three Jedi-inspired cocktails: Crazy Old Ben, There Is Another Skywalker, and Use the Force Luke!

El Chingon

When: July 18-21

Where: 560 Fifth Ave.

Price: $12-$25

Picture Darth Vader on the beaches of San Diego drinking a margarita. It’s hard to imagine, we know, but head to El Chingon and order the Vader-rita to see how he’d take it (in a goblet, of course!). Still feeling evil? Try Palpatine’s Paloma or Kylo’s Kooler.

A Guide to Offsite Comic-Con Events 2019 to Keep the Festivities Going

Photo: Shutterstock.com

The post A Guide to Offsite Comic-Con Events 2019 to Keep the Festivities Going appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

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.

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

First Look: Queensborough, Part 2

The post First Look: Queensborough, Part 2 appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Goodnight: Ra Sushi

The post Goodnight: Ra Sushi appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

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.

FIRST LOOK: The Nolen

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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.

FIRST LOOK: Rustic Root

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On June 4, San Diego gets a new force in Vietnamese food. Michelin-awarded, James Beard “Tastemaker” Michael Bao Huynh heads up Sovereign Kitchen + Bar, a concept from Asian restaurateur Alex Thao (Rama, Lucky Liu’s). Sovereign takes over the marquee corner spot at 5th and Island Streets in the Gaslamp (formerly Royal Thai). It’ll be the first and only Vietnamese restaurant in Downtown (outside of pho noodle joints), located right next to the incoming $100 million Pendry Hotel.

Huynh grew up in Saigon and learned to cook at the side of his mother. The family fled Vietnam by boat in 1982 and were rescued from open waters by the USS Midway, now stationed in San Diego. Once landed in New York, he changed his name to Michael (in homage to Michael Jackson), and eventually opened a series of restaurants in New York—OBAO, Baoguette, Bao 111, Mai House, Bia, Pho Sure, etc.—becoming one of the city’s top names in Vietnamese food.

New York Magazine once named Huynh the city’s “Best New Chef,” and Michelin twice gave him a Bib Award for OBAO. In 2013, he returned to Vietnam and coached the nation’s team for the 2014 Asia Pacific Bocuse d’Or.

Thao and Huynh also operate the to-go concept next door called Food Shop (already open), which serves banh mis, pho, etc. Sovereign’s menu will include rolls (crispy fried crab, grilled pork meatball, etc.), salads (spicy grilled hangar steak), meats and poultry (wok-seared garlic beef bo luc lac, stir-fried lemongrass, crispy pork belly, coconut-curry chicken, etc.), noodles (pho, mi quang, bbq pork vermicelli, etc.) and rice options (crab-and-lobster fried rice, roasted duck fried rice, etc.)

It’s scheduled to open to the public June 4. For now, please enjoy the first known photos in the universe of Sovereign Kitchen + Bar. If the art looks familiar, it’s the same intense gal that graced the walls at the recently shuttered Gang Kitchen.

FIRST LOOK: Sovereign Kitchen

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If the cuisine ADD scares you, don’t let it. Friscia is one of the more respected chefs in San Diego.

Don Chido is going into 527 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp (formerly Fred’s Mexican Café). He’ll have a Santa Maria grill (barbecue culture heads go nuts for these things, and they’re rare in restaurants) that he’ll use with coastal live oak to make some Santa Maria-style barbecue. Expect wood-fired and smoked Mexican specialties like tacos al pastor with fire-roasted pineapple, and the mother of all dishes: Don Chido Especiale—a wood-fired rib eye with ancho chili garlic butter, chipotle lime wild Mexican shrimp, charred house-made chorizo, frijoles refritos, avocado, chile relleno, house-made corn tortillas and charred globe onions garnished with red guajillo sauce.

Davis Ink Ltd. handled the design of the 4,000 square-foot space (max occ. 120). The image of a cowgirl frolicking in her own libido nods to the old west via Betty Page. One wall is made of Mexican blankets. The center bar is equipped with a tacqueria stand that’ll make hot, fresh tortillas. There are custom-designed maraca wall sconces. The color palate is a playful kind of paint-can roulette.

They’re shooting for a June 30 open (that’s always a crapshoot). When they do, it’ll be 11am to close.

Enough with the un-pretty words. Please enjoy the first pretty photos in the known universe of Don Chido.

Don Chido. Don sexy.

Found Creative Studio (http://foundcreativestudio.com/)

The post FIRST LOOK: Don Chido appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

If the cuisine ADD scares you, don’t let it. Friscia is one of the more respected chefs in San Diego.

Don Chido is going into 527 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp (formerly Fred’s Mexican Café). He’ll have a Santa Maria grill (barbecue culture heads go nuts for these things, and they’re rare in restaurants) that he’ll use with coastal live oak to make some Santa Maria-style barbecue. Expect wood-fired and smoked Mexican specialties like tacos al pastor with fire-roasted pineapple, and the mother of all dishes: Don Chido Especiale—a wood-fired rib eye with ancho chili garlic butter, chipotle lime wild Mexican shrimp, charred house-made chorizo, frijoles refritos, avocado, chile relleno, house-made corn tortillas and charred globe onions garnished with red guajillo sauce.

Davis Ink Ltd. handled the design of the 4,000 square-foot space (max occ. 120). The image of a cowgirl frolicking in her own libido nods to the old west via Betty Page. One wall is made of Mexican blankets. The center bar is equipped with a tacqueria stand that’ll make hot, fresh tortillas. There are custom-designed maraca wall sconces. The color palate is a playful kind of paint-can roulette.

They’re shooting for a June 30 open (that’s always a crapshoot). When they do, it’ll be 11am to close.

Enough with the un-pretty words. Please enjoy the first pretty photos in the known universe of Don Chido.

Don Chido. Don sexy.

Found Creative Studio (http://foundcreativestudio.com/)

The post FIRST LOOK: Don Chido appeared first on San Diego Magazine.