Downtown San Diego Stories
A group of picketers took to the streets outside newly installed California Assembly speaker Toni Atkins’s office Friday afternoon, May 30, in protest of her vote in favor of Assembly Bill 2145, which environmental activists …
First things first. A word to every theater lover in San Diego who can’t afford a full-priced ticket to this truly remarkable event: two-and-a-half hours before every performance of The Book of Mormon, Broadway/San Diego …
If there's one thing Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony can do, it's play Brahms. Over the past few seasons we've heard all four of the Brahms symphonies and each time the performance has …
The San Diego Symphony concert the weekend of May 16-18 was a mixed bag for me. I'm not speaking of the performance, but the repertoire. The opening piece was Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky …
City-council candidates Lorie Zapf and Chris Cate have a solid partner in the Downtown San Diego Partnership. The agency that manages the city's largest property-based improvement district and its CEO Kris Michell has gone to …
This coming weekend is the penultimate concert in the Jacobs Masterworks Series at the San Diego Symphony. The concert features the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 — the "Rach 3" as it was referred to …
Environmental activists representing SanDiego350.org assembled downtown on Tuesday, May 14, to confront governor Jerry Brown — here on a visit —and to urge support of SB 1132, which would ban a controversial method of extracting …
“Anyone who does happen to lose their lunch while sailing will get it back with a gift certificate to a restaurant just down the street.”
Jsix at the Hotel Solamar downtown closed down at the beginning of the year to revamp the menu. The restaurant now promises food that is organic, sustainable, hormone-free, and that supports local farmers. All of …
The San Diego City Council on Wednesday, April 30, removed the historic designation for a house at 1619 J Street — but is banking on the owner, Jerry Navarra, to move it rather than tear …
“I must’ve looked pretty awful,” says a character in one of Peter Devries’ novels. “When I asked the bartender if he served Zombies, he said, ‘sure, what’ll you have?’” Ya gotta love the old ones! …
A group of about 50 activists rallied Wednesday morning (April 30), holding a prayer circle on the city seal 12 floors below the city-council chambers downtown in support of council president Todd Gloria's proposal to …
I was tempted to recite the musical biographies of Emanuel Ax and Christoph von Dohnányi but that is always boring, especially when the musicians are Emmanuel Ax and Christoph von Dohnányi — meaning they’re such …
One perk of writing for Feast! is that I get to eat out a lot. But to look at it another way, I have to eat out a lot. Like anyone else, I have those …
At approximately 7:00 p.m. on April 23, fire alarms went off at the Hotel Sanford in the 1300 block of Fifth Avenue. As the alarm is connected to the San Diego Fire Department, they and …
Mark Rothko and his fellow Abstract Expressionists (though they didn’t like the name) battered the Cubists to pulp. Now, as Rothko contemplates what could be his masterpiece — and the place to showcase his special …
Just as the success of the Moonshine Flats country bar downtown seems to signal a turnaround in the live-music scene, word is that the Gaslamp will get another live venue in late May or June. …
Saturday night at the Jacobs Music Center was about the most fun I’ve had at a symphony concert. The buzz before the April 12 concert was alien to those hallowed walls — at least in …
The Project Trio was in town last weekend. I had recommended them sight-unseen earlier in the week. Having now seen them at the Jacobs Music Center on Sunday, I can say they are the most …
A Canadian drywall contractor was kicked off the job at the $150 million, 45-story Pinnacle Towers development on the 1400 block of Island Avenue downtown for failing to obtain a California contractor's license, the state …
A pair of protest groups descended on the convention center Friday morning, April 11, to picket outside a medical convention, only to find that their target, former secretary of state and likely presidential candidate Hillary …
I hate to pigeonhole a place, but when you stake out a central-Gaslamp location, write the word "Shots" in giant letters along the back wall and name it Werewolf, you've pretty much decided to cater …
After a few months of operation, Lucky Liu’s still hasn’t gotten a license to sell alcohol. Either the ABC is trying for restaurant infanticide, or owner Alex Thao and his associates were overly optimistic about …
Downtown residents are being warned to expect a major disturbance on Saturday morning, as work crews will be pouring concrete for the slab of a new headquarters building for Sempra Energy. Partial street closures will …
The fellows from Rumbling Tins Construction brought their pleasant clamor to the Westgate Hotel to offer patrons a trifecta of cocktails as part of a recent tasting soirée. A five-member collaboration of jiggering journeymen, Rumbling …
Part one began our interview, it continued with part two, and concludes here. SB: Last night, for the first time in my life, I watched How Green Was My Valley. Oh my God, it’s a …
It's an odd thing to hear an it-is-ya-know Irish accent filtered through Minnesota real-good-then. Almost as odd, perhaps, as encountering an Irish whiskey named after a couple of redheaded women, dreamed up in a Minneapolis …
Raise Up San Diego, with backing from labor groups and their supporters, organized a rally outside city hall Wednesday afternoon, March 12, promoting a minimum-wage increase and access for workers to paid sick leave — …
Last month, Jsix completed a renovation that included walling off the dining room with exposed brick and concealing the open kitchen to place added emphasis on the bar, which has been extended to seat 19 …
“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy,” I say to no-one in particular. Sigh. Actually, no chance of a bottle in front of me. Not tonight. Gotta work. Came …
On Wednesday, March 5, a group of Venezuelan citizens and sympathizers gathered for a peaceful protest at Ruocco Park in downtown San Diego. The demonstration — to express discontent with the current crisis in Venezuela …
Un Ballo in Maschera has opened at San Diego Opera and the reviews are lauding its merits. And indeed they should. Ballo can be great or it can be an ordeal. This Ballo is top-to-bottom …
Scottish funnyman Billy Connolly, The Big Yin himself, is coming to town. The actor, singer, cartoon voice artist, and comedian will perform live at the Balboa Theatre on March 11. With a guy like Billy …
What a cool idea is Encore Champagne Bar. Decked out in white leather and crystal chandeliers, it has a vaguely Russian sensibility; the kind of cheesy opulence that’s earnest, retro, fun, and attractive all at …
They have trod the proscribed path: college, marriage, no beer-drinking in the front yard.
A developer has scaled down a hotel project at 401 W. Ash Street, previously approved last September by Civic San Diego. The reason for the downsizing was due to the developer's difficulty in obtaining financing …
“I got a call from the band’s manager,” guitarist John Collura tells the Reader. “I’d been out of the band for, what, six years? He said, ‘What do you think about getting the band back …
Stephanie Blythe is in San Diego to sing. It’s what she does, and she does it as well — if not better — than anyone you’ll ever hear. I was able to sit down and …
What if you could walk into a sushi joint and invent your own sushi roll? Just tell the chef "Gimme some of this, some of that, and I don't care if they shouldn't go together, …
The golden-brown steaming lake of birria sends wafts of beefy, spicy, cilantro-y, almost mole-ish richness swirling up my nostrils. And now the lime I’ve squirted on it makes it so purr-fect it almost sings as …
The Ring Without Words. That’s all I need to write. The Ring Without Words. I’ll add the time and dates as well. Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st, at 8:00 pm and Sunday, March …
TIMPANI! Ladies and gentlemen, the Film Consortium San Diego is proud to announce the star-studded, first ever San Diego Film Awards! A relative new kid in town, the FCSD "has been actively working to mobilize …
Pity about Saltbox at the Hotel Palomar. The place used to have something going for it when Simon Dolinky wore the big hat in the kitchen. His dishes weren’t always mind blowing, but they had …
Something amazing is happening at San Diego Opera right now. In an opinionated industry, as we discussed with Frank Porretta, there is a consensus regarding soprano Tatiana Lisnic. Every, single person I know who has …
The San Diego Performing Arts League is an umbrella organization dedicated to promoting local arts groups. The SDPL operates the Arts Tix booth at Horton Plaza (selling discount and full-price tickets) and the ArtsTix website. …
Wow. What a difference from last time. I stuck my nose in in early January. This is near the old Central Library, Ninth and E. The sign, “Acme Southern Kitchen” was up, but inside it …
I never made it to Café Paris, but there's enough Francophile to me that I'd looked forward to it. Wine and small plates can be just the thing some evenings, even if you have to …
Will somebody please tell me where there is a better happy hour deal than here at the House of Blues' Crossroads Bar? Two-dollar pints of Bud Light! Five-buck quesadillas. Free live music! So okay, the …
Americans tend to be sentimental about Southern food whether or not they've ever lived below the Mason-Dixon. It seems to be linked to some sort of nostalgic national identity, to the point that poor-quality biscuits, …
One of the great movie gangsters was also a smart, discriminating art collector. As Rico Bandello in Little Caesar (“Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?”), Edward G. Robinson, born Emmanuel Goldenberg in …
Watching Kevin Burdette perform a comedic opera is kind of like watching Jim Carey perform opera — only Kevin sings better. Kevin is a lanky bass from Knoxville who nearly stole the show last season …