Kearny Mesa Stories

Kearny Mesa Stories

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94th Aero Squadron's Coyote Margarita

Adorned with the parti-colored relics and memorabilia of winged battle’s golden age, the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant has the look and feel of a rural French chalet that’s been commandeered by World War I flyboys. ...

Approval and dissatisfaction at water-quality board meeting

Surfrider Foundation criticizes safe-harbor clause

Community members, environmental activists, government officials, and business owners met in Kearny Mesa on April 10 to vocalize their support for clean water at the Regional Water Quality Control Board hearing. The purpose of the ...

Grub of the gods at 94th Aero Squadron

Grazing’s good next to Kearny Mesa’s airfield.

SDPD Eastern Division crime report from Capt. Andy Mills

Increases in arrests, crime, suicides

San Carlos was among the neighborhoods where residential burglaries increased during 2012, San Diego Police Department captain Andy Mills reported at the January 2 San Carlos Area Council meeting. Mills is commanding officer for the ...

San Diego Restaurants to Try at Least Once

Even if it weren’t my job to go out and look for new places to eat, I still wouldn’t be able to eat the same thing over and over again. I rarely visit any place ...

San Diego's Best Fried Chicken

The background photo on my brother’s iPod shows a plate of fried chicken and waffles from Roscoe’s up in Los Angeles. Before dining there, he had never enjoyed the two foods together, and he was ...

Lunchtime in Kearny Mesa

I’m just an average guy who likes to eat, cook, and travel. Food is the window through which I see the world. It’s through various cuisines that I learn about history and culture. It’s the ...

Restaurants for Hardworking Foodie Freelancers

A roundup of eateries that are open when you, the hardworking foodie freelancer, need them to be.

Presidential Debate and BBQ at Democratic HQ

On October 3, the San Diego Democratic Unity Campaign Center hosted a viewing party for the first of three presidential debates at their Kearny Mesa headquarters. Many of the same people showed up who were ...

The Church of Yeshua Ha Mashiach

Membership: 50 Denomination: Nondenominational/interdenominational Pastor: Dennis Hodges Age: 57 Born: Chicago Formation: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL; International Theological Seminary, Bradenton, FL; Ashford University, Clinton, IA Years Ordained: 7 years San Diego Reader: What is ...

Democratic Convention Viewing Party in Kearny Mesa

The San Diego County Democratic Party announced a viewing party of the national convention proceedings on Thursday evening, September 6, at their new Kearny Mesa headquarters. I called to RSVP and spoke with Chris, who ...

Pacific Hope Church

Certain churches draw people in by way of entertainment. Interview with Pastor John Leeder of Pacific Hope Church.

Most Important Meal of the Day

That’s what they call breakfast, right? But, honestly, most weekdays, I’m not very good at getting my day started off right. Our household does enjoy breakfast on weekends, and we always take note of what ...

Congregation Dor Hadash

Denomination: Reconstructionist Membership: 125 families Pastor: Rabbi Yael Ridberg Age: 43 Born: Bridgeport, Conn. Formation: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Philadelphia, Penn. Years Ordained: 15 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Rabbi ...

Dinner at Mom’s

I recall that first sniff on a warm September evening in 2008, the sight of various nimono (simmered dishes) piled into oozara ryori (large plates) lining the sleek wooden bar, the light crunch of the ...

Frankie the Bull at Proud Mary's

What’s a Louisiana restaurant doing in a Ramada in a sterile business district near Montgomery Field? Well, it’s making a lot of pilots happy, and me, too. With Magnolia gone and Bud’s moved up to ...

Four Bakery Outlets Close in San Diego County

This month, Bimbo Bakeries closed all of its San Diego-area bakery outlet stores: in Kearny Mesa, El Cajon, Escondido, and Chula Vista. By shopping at the discount stores, many folks, particularly those on fixed incomes, ...

Storage Facility Fire in Kearny Mesa

Just after 7:10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 16, a fire broke out in a two-story storage facility located on the 7500 block of Dagget Street. Firefighters were able to knock down the blaze before it ...

Patriot Flag Raised in Kearny Mesa

The Patriot Flag made a brief San Diego stopover this morning, March 1, on its way from Hawaii. According to project coordinator Mitch Mendler, the flag is scheduled to fly in all 50 states in ...

Pho Forager

It came to me four or five years ago as — surfacing to catch my breath — I looked up from a steaming bowl of pho: there were more non-Vietnamese patrons having lunch in this ...

Crash on Kearny Villa Road

Shortly after 11:30 a.m. today, January 5, a late-model Honda Accord was traveling south on Kearny Villa Road and slammed into another vehicle heading north on Kearny Villa at the Balboa Avenue intersection. The other ...

Walmart's All-Out War Against San Diego City Hall; Bridgepoint Leases New Space

Lobbyist and ex-Tribune reporter Al Ziegaus and his Southwest Strategies have gone to bat for Walmart in the company’s all-out war against San Diego city hall. According to recent filings, Ziegaus and sidekick Clint Carney ...

With Candice and Da Man at Izakaya Sakura

My first meal at Izakaya Sakura was an especially joyous occasion. Not only did I get to enjoy sharing bites with Candice Woo (former CityBeat food critic who just replaced David Nelson at San Diego ...

Islamic Center of San Diego

Congregants: daily, 100–150; Friday weekly prayer service, 1200 Weekly Services: 12:15 & 1:15 p.m., Fridays Imam: Taha Hassane Age: 41 Born: Tenes, Algeria Formation: University of Algiers-Institute of Islamic Sciences, Algiers, Algeria; Graduate Theological Foundation, ...

Beer Medals

So this is it? The Holy Grail? Where the Beer Capital of the New World was born? I’m fresh off the number 44 bus, searching through a typical Kearny Mesa strip mall. Yogurt World, Tofu ...

Korea's Got Cooking Talent!

The adventure began with an email from a work colleague: “You’ve got to try this place, even if you don’t review it. You should just go and enjoy it.” After checking blogs that gave more ...

Pecks of Pickled Peppers

Who’ll be the winner of Szechuan Idol? The two local finalists for the most authentic Szechuan food in San Diego are Ba Ren and Dede’s. After thoroughly enjoying Dede’s (reviewed 10/22/08), I was eager to ...

Into the Swarm

Walking at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, I neared the corner of Balboa Avenue and Kearny Villa Road and noticed a large cloud of movement. I thought they were just flies, but as I ...

Like Weeds

Inside the auditorium at the Metropolitan Wastewater Operations Center in Kearny Mesa, community planners from across the city gathered for the February 23 meeting of the Community Planning Committee to discuss the issue of medical ...

Strip to This

“I’ve got to be the first person ever to play Joy Division in that club,” says DJ Atari, after being hired with Junior the Disco Punk to bring their club DJ sound to Kearny Mesa ...

Crunched

On Tuesday, October 20, a budget workshop for the San Diego Unified School District was held in Kearny Mesa. District officials estimated the deficit for the 2010–'11 budget to be $100 million. This does not ...

Another Perfect Day

BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting with a variety of lenses and techniques…. It seems everybody ...

Stripped

San Diego police were called to the Dream Girls Cabaret Wednesday night, August 26, after a disturbance involving customers who left the establishment without paying their bill. According to an SDPD report, two units were ...

Invisible Dog and Man with Knife

Last Thursday morning, August 13, anyone driving up northbound I-15 trying to get on SR 52 found a middle-aged man assaulting vehicles and stopping traffic. The man was screaming that he had been assaulted and ...

No-wait Nuptials Nixed

San Diego County is putting the brakes on spur-of-the-moment marriages. Beginning Monday, July 6, marriage licenses and civil ceremonies will be offered by appointment only. “The walk-in marriage services are being discontinued due to budgetary ...

Another Side of BBQ

And now, for a completely different style of barbecue: Japanese yakiniku. Sensei Shima, Samurai Jim’s martial-arts teacher, favors Suzuya for it; Jim and his fellow students often eat there with the master after class. Jim ...

KFMB Channel 8 Blood Drive in Kearny Mesa

On Friday, January 23, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. through 6:30 p.m., San Diego residents waited in the parking lot of the Kearny Mesa Walmart to help replenish the dwindling supply of blood at the San ...

New Stephen Birch Healthcare Center Unveiled

On Saturday, January 10, 2009, the new Stephen Birch Healthcare Center at Sharp Memorial Hospital was officially unveiled to the public. Hospital staff members were on hand at the 315,000-square-foot, 334-bed facility to provide tours ...

Congregation Dor Hadash

Shabbat was over; the spare, clean-lined synagogue at Dor Hadash was empty. Instead, the community gathered in the adjacent room, decorated for a party. Tinfoil runners gleamed over blue-and-white tablecloths; clusters of silver-and-blue-foil dreidels hung ...

Beepers and Omelettes

Nobody goes to the hospital unless they have to. Or their buddy has to. My buddy Cisco had to today. Tests. He’s like me: car-free. So our neighbor Linda offered her Nissan. Bless that gal. ...

Dog Is My Copilot

The last weekend in August, I was invited to a party in an airplane hangar, which is funny because the word one associates with parties is “hangover,” not “hangar.” James, a local doctor with a ...

Heat Lightning

Enter the Dragon! I am breathing fire after enjoying the spicy cuisine of Szechuan every night for a week. One of my favorite occasional email pen-pals, a UCSD social science prof (another expat New Yorker), ...

Charity Checkers

“Some people will flat out tell you, ‘I don’t want anything too hard,’” says Kathryn Smith. “With most people, you can just kind of tell what games they’d be good at. I had one crowd ...

Crabba the Hut

Crab Hut advertises, "You'll swear you're in New Orleans." (They clearly don't mean the drowned, empty neighborhoods and the crack-dealer gangs, but the pre-"Brownie" foodies' paradise.) But you can't believe everything you read. Take Crab ...

The Penetrators, 1980

The Penetrators at Western Audio recording studios in Kearny Mesa, May 15, 1980. "Need good personality art," reads the photo assignment sheet. Standing in the back of the room are Gary Heffern, Chris Sullivan, and ...

Hearing No Evil

Fighting a two-front war with the Federal Aviation Administration over the too-tall high-rise he is building near Kearny Mesa's Montgomery Field and two towers he's proposing for Harbor Island near Lindbergh Field, Sunroad Enterprises' Aaron ...

Flood, Kearny Mesa

Denomination: associated with the Baptist General Conference Address: services held at Kearny High School, 7651 Wellington Way, Kearny Mesa, 858-268-2330 Founded locally: 2005 (as independent entity) Senior pastor: Matt Hammett Congregation size: 1600 Staff size: ...

Kearny Mesa: Next Boom?

San Diego wants to build up, not out. Single-family detached homes will become historical artifacts. High-rises will mushroom out of the ground. But will it work? The infrastructure to support the population growth doesn't exist. ...

Fuzzy Little Hats

When I was a kid, I saw a Shriner wearing a fez in Kearny Mesa. It reminded me of Tom Bosley's character, "Mr. C.," on Happy Days, who would sometimes wear those fuzzy hats. (And ...

The Rock Church

Polished pop filled the vast, low, pale-gray box that housed The Rock Church. On stage behind the band stood mock highway signs, highlighting the book of Numbers as a road trip: a caution triangle warning ...

Back When

Thirty Years Ago The bare bottom of San Diego sport is epitomized by the face of Canadian entrepreneur and Sports Arena operator Peter Graham. This contemptuous double-dealer is the best case yet for confiscatory inheritance ...

The Mystery of Lot 3

For decades, the Gibbs family and Montgomery Field, the city-owned airport on Kearny Mesa, have been joined at the hip. The family's concrete-block buildings and metal hangars, its gas pumps, taxiways, and tie-down areas, have ...