Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

South Park Kitchen dishes comfort to beer fans

Homestyle soups, skillets, pies, and sandwiches

There are corn tortillas at the bottom of this chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet.
There are corn tortillas at the bottom of this chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet.

Something new seems to come out of the kitchen at South Park Brewing Co. every year or so, and with the departure of Tacos La Mezcla to Twisted Taps in North Park (more on that later), the new restaurant inside the brewery this year is called South Park Kitchen.

Place

South Park Kitchen

1517 30th St., San Diego

The folks behind South Park Kitchen are already familiar to the community: they’re Italians with ties to the neighborhood’s growing assortment of Buona Forchetta restaurants, branching off with their own thing here.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A lamb skillet pie, with an aromatic stew inside

But that doesn’t mean South Park Kitchen serves Italian food, at least not the pastas, pizzas, or deli sandwiches we’re accustomed to. They know as well as anyone that the Buona restaurants have that well covered a few dozen feet away. Instead, they’ve put the focus on home style cooking. Comfort food. Food made aromatic with the sort of herbs Simon & Garfunkel sang about.

Roast beef and blue cheese sandwich with brussels sprouts on the side

That includes soup and sandwiches, such as the roast beef with caramelized onions and blue cheese. Sandwich options include veggie, salmon, and chicken, and all come with choice of side including mashed beet and potatoes, fries, green beans, and asparagus. I opted for brussels sprouts, and got a pile of them beside my sandwich. Not a bad haul for nine dollars.

Chicken and vegetable soup so chunk, noodles aren't necessary

The seven-dollar soups are generously apportioned as well. At first, I wondered why my chicken soup didn’t include noodles, rice, or dumplings. But the large chunks of chicken and vegetables rendered any filler unnecessary. The warming, homey soup tastes nourishing and herbaceous.

Now operating the kitchen counter in South Park Brewing Co.

But the most interesting dishes are served in skillets. Savory pies, for example. At 15 bucks each, these are basically pot pies by another name, filled with either stews of vegetables, chicken, beef, or lamb with carrots, celery, and onions. My lamb pie was fragrant with rosemary and sage, with phyllo-light crust and thick chunks of lamb.

The $15 dishes actually named skillets are something else altogether. The menu describing beef with chili and cheese, ground turkey with portabello mushrooms, and veggies with gouda in cast iron skillets don’t really explain it. But my chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet turned out to be sort of inverted enchiladas, with corn tortillas laid at the bottom of the skillet with a green sauce to keep them moist, with chunks of chicken and broccoli covered in melted cheese and crema over top of them. It reminded me of the old casserole, chicken divan, if anybody remembers that. My mom made it when I was growing up, so it particularly hit the spot.

That’s kind of the feeling that pervades the food served over this little counter inside a neighborhood brewery. Like it’s home cooking. Which fits the neighborhood, and certainly suits these chilly nights we’ve been having. Proof again that change isn’t always bad in South Park.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
There are corn tortillas at the bottom of this chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet.
There are corn tortillas at the bottom of this chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet.

Something new seems to come out of the kitchen at South Park Brewing Co. every year or so, and with the departure of Tacos La Mezcla to Twisted Taps in North Park (more on that later), the new restaurant inside the brewery this year is called South Park Kitchen.

Place

South Park Kitchen

1517 30th St., San Diego

The folks behind South Park Kitchen are already familiar to the community: they’re Italians with ties to the neighborhood’s growing assortment of Buona Forchetta restaurants, branching off with their own thing here.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A lamb skillet pie, with an aromatic stew inside

But that doesn’t mean South Park Kitchen serves Italian food, at least not the pastas, pizzas, or deli sandwiches we’re accustomed to. They know as well as anyone that the Buona restaurants have that well covered a few dozen feet away. Instead, they’ve put the focus on home style cooking. Comfort food. Food made aromatic with the sort of herbs Simon & Garfunkel sang about.

Roast beef and blue cheese sandwich with brussels sprouts on the side

That includes soup and sandwiches, such as the roast beef with caramelized onions and blue cheese. Sandwich options include veggie, salmon, and chicken, and all come with choice of side including mashed beet and potatoes, fries, green beans, and asparagus. I opted for brussels sprouts, and got a pile of them beside my sandwich. Not a bad haul for nine dollars.

Chicken and vegetable soup so chunk, noodles aren't necessary

The seven-dollar soups are generously apportioned as well. At first, I wondered why my chicken soup didn’t include noodles, rice, or dumplings. But the large chunks of chicken and vegetables rendered any filler unnecessary. The warming, homey soup tastes nourishing and herbaceous.

Now operating the kitchen counter in South Park Brewing Co.

But the most interesting dishes are served in skillets. Savory pies, for example. At 15 bucks each, these are basically pot pies by another name, filled with either stews of vegetables, chicken, beef, or lamb with carrots, celery, and onions. My lamb pie was fragrant with rosemary and sage, with phyllo-light crust and thick chunks of lamb.

The $15 dishes actually named skillets are something else altogether. The menu describing beef with chili and cheese, ground turkey with portabello mushrooms, and veggies with gouda in cast iron skillets don’t really explain it. But my chicken, broccoli, and cheddar skillet turned out to be sort of inverted enchiladas, with corn tortillas laid at the bottom of the skillet with a green sauce to keep them moist, with chunks of chicken and broccoli covered in melted cheese and crema over top of them. It reminded me of the old casserole, chicken divan, if anybody remembers that. My mom made it when I was growing up, so it particularly hit the spot.

That’s kind of the feeling that pervades the food served over this little counter inside a neighborhood brewery. Like it’s home cooking. Which fits the neighborhood, and certainly suits these chilly nights we’ve been having. Proof again that change isn’t always bad in South Park.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will Trump’s Baja resort be built after all?

Long-stalled development sparks art exhibit, gets new life
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader