Downtown San Diego Stories
No, to answer everybody’s first question, the flashy new Gaslamp Nobu is no relation to our sweet and humble Solana Beach Nobu, owned by Nobu Tsushita. For better or worse, our Nobu-sur mer merely shares …
Gail Jones at the downtown Woolworth’s store, 1972. Jones and a friend, waitresses at the store’s café, were in the dressing room changing their clothes when management locked up at 6 p.m. and went home …
San Diego’s heralded Smart Corner is smarting — as in stinging. It’s a condominium/office building project, another of the City’s touted public/private sector ventures. What titillates city planners is that the trolley runs between a …
Could this be it? Cue music: “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius…” I mean, if I was looking for a sign, this sign has to be it. “Organic to Go,” right here …
Back in July 2001, then–San Diego mayor Dick Murphy and the rest of the city council voted to give a cool $1 million of taxpayer money to a small nonprofit outfit called the San Diego …
Home of the first Methodist church in San Diego, c. 1890. Located on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Broadway, the church was first a wooden structure built in 1870 on land donated by …
“The reason it’s a bloodier sport than boxing is that you’re allowed to use elbows and knees,” says Eric Del Fierro, chief operating officer for Total Combat Entertainment, a San Diego–based mixed martial arts event-production …
Guys asleep on the sidewalk. Guys shuffling past with walking sticks. Guys pushing shopping carts filled with their belongings. Guys rolling by in electric scooters with whiplash aerials and a faded Old Glory flicking at …
Sally’s has a long-standing reputation as one of San Diego’s most romantic destinations for lovers. It’s an outbuilding behind the Manchester Grand Hyatt at the edge of Seaport Village (so, fans of antique rock, you’ll …
This restaurant is closed. I suspect that all middle-class (and up) native San Diegans have dined at Rainwater’s on Kettner at least once — for a birthday, a graduation, an engagement, an anniversary. According to …
Artist: Calico Horse Song:"Awake in the Clouds" (from myspace.com/calicohorsemusic) Heard By: Charlie Herlevic, downtown I liked it very much; it's a very pretty song. It reminded me of a band called Quix*o*tic. It also reminded …
We are a frazzled, worried country after seven years of every important decision being decided wrong by that "deciderator" and the awful gray eminences whispering in his ears. So do I dare to interpret the …
If I could host a dinner for five "unforgettable" San Diegans from long ago, one guest would have to be Apolinaria Lorenzana. Called "La Beata" -- "the blessed one" -- she came to Alta California …
In probably every English-speaking big city in the world, there's a Hotel Pickwick -- a quaintly faux-Victorian (yet divey) one-star habitation, usually located near a major bus or train station. San Diego's Pickwick just passed …
"The secret police? What is this, California?"
Actress Lita Milan, in a phone booth on Harbor Drive and Market Street, 1958. An aide to Dominican general Rafael Trujillo Jr. seems to be offering counsel. Our local paper learned that Milan fled the …
"Jahja Ling's always in. And the mayor, he sits here, at table number two."
Thirty Years Ago You've got a good weekly newspaper. One way to make it even better would be to fire that ignorant pseudo-intellectual, Duncan Shepherd. His movie reviews are totally worthless to the general public …
I overheard a bartender at the Ould Sod talking about a party at Hotel Solamar downtown. I jotted the date on a napkin, and the following Monday, drove down to crash it. I knew there …
From the Evening-Tribune photo assignment sheet: "Get a shot or two of a policeman chatting informally with four or five students -- girls and boys, or all boys, whichever is easiest...idea is that cops and …
Imagine the food and trash that restaurants in San Diego's tony Gaslamp Quarter throw away every night. For more than 15 years, an alley on G Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues made things easier. …
The Minneapolis bridge collapse and New York City steam pipe explosion have engendered introspection: Is the nation neglecting infrastructure? But the city with one of the most gaping infrastructure deficits, San Diego, has a slogan: …
One day, he's a lauded real-estate visionary being handed the key to the city by Mayor Frank Curran. Then, he's battling city officials as they appropriate his downtown properties in the name of some barely …
Most of the Grateful Dead sang "Happy Birthday" to promoter Bill Graham that night; Jerry didn't because he had laryngitis. Though a local reviewer opened his article with, "It's not easy to forgive a group …
When the rumor hit about Britney Spears performing a surprise concert at the House of Blues in San Diego, tickets sold out quickly. Face-value tickets were $35 each, and there was no guarantee that it …
Piano recital at Thearle Music Co., 640 Broadway, c. 1930. The Chicago-based firm opened a store in San Diego in 1903. The article that announced their arrival included this: "It has been and is today …
Parking downtown is a pain. I was surprised to find a pay lot for $4. Even more surprised when, as we paid, my date and I overheard a couple having sex in a van. As …
"We'll be filming at Mardi Gras and several clubs downtown from February 19 through the 21st," says XL Staffing and Security owner Joe Mackey of the still-unnamed reality show being produced about his firm. "It'll …
When I went to see the Zombies at the Belly Up Tavern, I hadn't planned on crashing a party there. But when I saw that a section of the venue was set up for a …
I had taken eight or nine guided tours of San Diego in two weeks when a friend asked if I was tired of sightseeing. I had to say no. Being out on buses and boats …
One of the hottest new spots is Stingaree -- a giant (22,000 square feet) disco palace with a serious restaurant on the first floor, under the charge of chef Antonio Friscia (previously at Alfieres at …
As of early this week, only one campaign committee weighing in on the move of San Diego International Airport from Lindbergh to Miramar had filed its official papers with the county registrar of voters. A …
'Bringing a picture of your dog and saying, 'This is my family dog,' is not much of a story," says San Diego Public Library representative Lynn Whitehouse. "But if you bring a picture of your …
"Welcome to the 15th Annual Good Friday 'Walk with the Suffering,'" said Rosemary Johnston from the flatbed of the truck parked in front of the County Health Building on Pacific Highway. "We're going to be …
"You are our shield and protector, the lifter of our head," prayed Site Pastor Mark Maliepaard, quoting the song that the band -- guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and saxophone -- had just finished. "We thank …
The crucified Christ hung against an intense aquamarine background in the contemporary-primitive painting that adorned the chapel at First Lutheran. His heart was exposed and bleeding. The rough-hewn character of the painting provided dramatic contrast …
Whether you're goth or you just dig celebrity graves (that's "dig" as in "enjoy"), you might be interested to know of these famous former neighbors entombed at a gravesite near you. BOBBY DRISCOLL (1937-1968) starred …
Few legislators have had as great an impact on San Diego as former state senator James R. Mills. Recently, in a Coronado café, he sat down for an interview. Today there is a proposal to …
“My background is on the front lines. I’ve had no formal training, but I’ve done a lot of tasting.”
When I got an invitation to attend the grand opening of the House of Blues, I was jazzed. Those parties have great food, lots of booze, and interesting people. The entertainment for the evening was …
When I have to fit three parties in on one day, it helps to start in the afternoon. At Mimi's Cafe one night for dinner, I overheard a waitress named Melissa talking about a CD …
I went to two events downtown. The first was trying to fight traffic after a Padres game. The second was me getting lost. The Hyatt Hotel near the convention center had a festival showcasing American …
I went to a few interesting parties in March that I'm just getting around to writing about. One was at a place downtown called the Shout House. It was their first anniversary and also a …
"This is the first time we've done this," said Chuck Perrin, manager of Dizzy's, a jazz club in East Village. The Seventh Avenue venue -- a converted trucking warehouse that was also the first stage …
What do people spend money on when they go out Saturday night? I went to a variety of locations to ask a variety of people. I hit Horton Plaza downtown, the Belmont Park roller coaster …
WE REALLY HAVE, from a pedestrian's point of view, two kinds of places in San Diego," said Stephan Vance of the San Diego Association of Governments. "There's the older urban core that was built around …
Startling changes seem to be occurring at an ever-increasing pace in downtown San Diego -- or "Centre City" as it is sometimes known. Back in 1972, when I first arrived, I'd bicycle over from San …
Michelangelo, no. Mundane, yes. Although there is no money in the till, most San Diego politicians still talk about prodigious projects as if they were a painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, rather …
There was an attractive woman in her 40s standing near me. As I was leaving, I heard her say, "It's such an honor to meet you." I turned to see she was talking to Mr. Flynt, not me.
She introduced me to her boyfriend, a 6'3" redhead named Cenoura. She told me, "That means carrot. When they see you, they give you a nickname by looking at you."
YWCA Women's "Passages" program 1012 C Street, Downtown 619-239-2341 The folks at the YWCA believe they're unique (and they probably are) with their "Passages" program. It gives single homeless women a bed and food while …
City Council Chambers 202 C Street, 12th floor, Downtown Monday through Friday, from 2 p.m. to whenever they're done doing whatever it is they do 619-236-6440 It's cool in the summer, warm in the winter, …