San Diego Reader

• Restaurant | American | Fusion | Old Town

25Forty Bistro and Bakehouse

• 2540 Congress Street, San Diego, CA 92110 | Directions
• 619-294-2540

Nobody expected that these guys would last. An East Village–type bistro in Old Town? For starters, it’s not on San Diego Avenue, or in the Plaza, but on less-traveled Congress Street. The house is old (1917), and everything around it has that Old Town atmosphere: pink walls, red tile, cactus, yellow stucco, old wagon wheels, purple bougainvillea drooping in the drowsy heat. 25Forty, on the other hand, is all black and white, with a glass barrier protecting gray marble tables, and glinty metal chairs with black woven plastic backs sitting on a big hillside terrace. It looks way upscale. But it turns out that Mark Pellicia, the chef-owner, wants this to be a true bistro, a “small and unpretentious restaurant.” And just look at the menu: breakfasts, all $7. Lunch salads or sandwiches, $8. Snacks, like pissaladière (like a mini-pizza), all $3. Prices at night are pretty much the same, though entrées can be a bit higher. Pasta runs $13, meat dishes, $16.