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La Mesa Stories
Returned to Carnitas Uruapan and ordered the burrito again
The greatness starts with the carne
Every so often, a meal comes along that is so memorable, it plants a flag in your appetite and becomes a landmark to look back upon and fondly remember for the rest of your life. ...
City College prof collects rainwater on Mt. Helix
Anyone with roof can do it
Chris Baron purchased a home on Mt. Helix in 2007. The house sat on a half-acre of land, so he would have a rather large canvas to work with when it came to landscaping. He ...
Could be wood frame house in Alabama, but it's El Cajon Blvd. storefront
Why would anyone sing in church these days?
“If you want, I’ll give you a hug,” a tall man with silver hair says to a seated congregant. “I give man hugs,” the silver-haired man says after the two have bro-hugged. It’s noon on ...
RIP local comic book creator Batton Lash (Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre)
Wrote Archie Meets the Punisher and more
His local Exhibit A Press published Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre and others
Performance Bicycle Shops shutting down – what does it mean?
Edison Cycle, Bicycle Warehouse offer contrast
The retail apocalypse has caught up with local cyclists. All of the Performance Bicycle shops in the United States are in the midst of store-closing sales. The San Diego region had six stores between Chula ...
A pizza my heart
Surf Rider Pizza makes a vegetarian pizza even meat eaters crave
I’m in a mixed marriage — my wife is a vegetarian and I eat meat. Usually, we are able to deal with our differences, but the one time when it does come up is when ...
A La Mesa brewery gets better with age
Things get funky at the tasting room next door
Since the day it opened in 2015, Helix Brewing Co. has offered one of the county’s most appealing places to hang out and drink beer. Though right in the thick of La Mesa’s industrial zone, ...
Dave Myers, rabble rouser
Tells all about Sheriff Gore's body cameras and private jails
When 33-year San Diego Sheriff Department veteran Commander Dave Myers announced he would be running to unseat Sheriff Bill Gore, he says his boss tried to humiliate him in front of the force. “He took ...
We followed LuLaRoe to Facebook Live
Toy addicts in La Mesa diss Amazon and eBay
On September 29, about 200 collectors met at The Toy Addicts Trade Show in La Mesa; many were 1990s era toy collectors. “I do find it kind of weird that people are calling 1990s vintage,” ...
Farm doors on the bathrooms
La Mesa's Fourpenny House offers remnants of British empire — curries, roast
Some things are worth the wait. That’s how I felt when Fourpenny House opened on La Mesa Boulevard back in April. This Scottish-themed pub has been in the works for at least two years before ...
Dem, GOP? It's the farmers market, stupid.
El Cajon, La Mesa blur party lines
Two East County cities are showing it’s possible to cross party lines to work on common goals. At the El Cajon City Council meeting August 14 Democratic activist Mark Lane apologized to the city of ...
Pigging out
New BBQ joint in La Mesa
There’s no doubting Chef Hanis Cavin’s affinity for pigs. On his forearm is a tattoo of a butcher’s diagram of pork cuts, and in his home is his beloved pet, Carnitas—the not-to-be-eaten little piggy for ...
Somewhere between pasta and salad
A humble deli side dish keeps them coming back
It’s not a dish that typically makes or breaks a restaurant. You won’t find it in competition at the county fair. It’s not the subject of magazine top ten lists, the way pizza is, nor ...
Thirsty for sunshine
Five outdoor brewery destinations for the summer
Long summer days mean opportunities for drinking outdoors. Here are the top five brewery destinations to catch fresh air and sunshine with your craft beers this summer Eppig Brewing Waterfront Biergarten 2817 Dickens Street, Shelter ...
La Mesa: forget the antiques
Who but a restaurant could afford $2.50/foot?
On the afternoon of April 7, patrons lined up for the grand opening of Fourpenny House, a Scottish pub and restaurant. Over at Park Estate Company, antique shoppers browsed at the going-out-of-business sale. Restaurateur Peter ...
Who’s about the kids and who’s about the money?
San Diego school district loses money if charters approved
On April 3 the San Diego Unified School Board granted the charter school petition of National University Academy 1001 STEAM, the first approval of a charter school new to the district in over four years. ...
The remembered dead
Spring Street memorials in La Mesa
The Rodeway Inn at the intersection of Spring and Gateside in south La Mesa burned in 2015. But its freestanding roadside sign still advertises the “new management, complimentary breakfast, and free WiFi” at the “home ...
Springtime incivility
Is it something in the air?
On March 21 a man pounded on the door outside the military recruiting office next to the Santee trolley station. He yelled through the door as he pounded: “Open the f’n door! I want to ...
Dog on death row since December
Moose's owner feels set up, betrayed by La Mesa police
John Correia wants his dog back. He hasn’t seen the dog, a Labrador-pitbull mix named Moose, since the day the La Mesa police officer shot at the dog and missed. “I raised him from a ...
On top of this little corner of the world
South Encanto has the views
When my friend Jon visits from from the murk and damp of Michigan, he always looks up for what he thinks of as a real San Diego sky: not merely cloudless, not merely blue, but ...
Wrecking ball target: Drew Ford roundhouse
La Mesa landmark could be disassembled and moved, say preservationists
"Penske fails to see the value in the roundhouse of values," said Gregory May, who started a petition and a Facebook page to bring attention to the planned demolition of the 1960s Drew Ford roundhouse. ...
A view of Mexico from the bathtub
Mel Taylor's home on Panorama Drive lot
It was the last undeveloped ocean view lot on La Mesa’s Panorama Drive, and the view was what made artist/designer Mel Taylor bite. The 7000+ square-foot home he nestled against the steep slope features decks ...
Did the Glen Street killing start at El Cajon Oktoberfest?
Death next door
I moved from Normal Heights to La Mesa in 1999, mostly because I wanted a yard for my kids. But also because an old woman was attacked across the street from my house on East ...
Life is Good in Ferret-Friendly La Mesa
So said the T-shirts worn by group at a recent council meeting
Although the La Mesa City Council on September 26 rejected the appellation “Ferret-Friendly City” for their town, councilmembers agreed to write letters to support changing state law to allow ownership of domestic ferrets as pets. ...
County sees golf carts as viable future transportation
"Local jurisdictions need to allow people to use these vehicles on the roads.”
The San Diego Association of Governments has noticed a big increase throughout the county in the use of golf carts and low-speed vehicles — golf carts being two-seaters and LSVs, as they’re called, being four-seaters. ...
Another good turn at La Mesa Walmart
The price of cream
The wife and I like cream in our coffee. So do our kids. Trader Joe’s in La Mesa charges $3.29 for a half-pint. Walmart charges $4.14 for a full pint. I resolved to make the ...
Smokehouse in a food court?
Slow meats next to Macy's in La Mesa
The thought of a food court evokes strong sensory memories burned into my consciousness by the presence of trashy mall franchises: the baked cinnamon aromas of Cinnabon, the pulpy viscosity of Orange Julius, the slab ...
Little Flower's nuns stymied by La Mesa city council
"I've never seen such a rude group of people"
A La Mesa City Council 2-2 vote on August 8 stalled Silvergate Development’s plan to convert the now-closed Little Flower Haven Catholic retirement home at 8585 La Mesa Boulevard into the 130-unit Little Flower apartment ...
Mideast woman and child get baby back ribs and ribeye steaks at Walmart
Immigrant exploitation
Walmart Neighborhood Market carries El Jimador reposado tequila for $15.97 a bottle, which is $4 cheaper than my local liquor store, which is why I went there on the night of July 7th. As I ...
Music Trader veteran opens La Mesa record shop
"I know what kind of product just walks through the door and falls in your lap."
When you think of genius business moves in 2017, opening a used-record shop doesn’t immediately spring to mind. Since the advent of Napster in 1999, the general trend for record stores has been death as ...
BLVD's small plates and the blues
Sunday night surprise in La Mesa
La Mesa on a Sunday night? Looks deader than a dodo on downers. Okay, a couple of bars send out lights like lonely lighthouses. Chances for eats? Ha! But then, someone’s just put this sandwich ...
I’m going to have to shoot you
La Mesa police Firearms Training Simulator
The La Mesa Police Department’s Citizens Academy is, in the words of training sergeant Kate Lynch, “a great way to share the unfortunate realities of the job without putting citizens in harm’s way. It helps ...
Music publishers' police on duty
ASCAP, BMI, and, "like, four of five of these scum suckers out there."
Called scum suckers and worse. In January it was announced that ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) had sued Jolt’n Joes in La Mesa and the Ramona Mainstage because they hosted musicians without ...
All about those buns
La Mesa's first ramen house still in its infancy
La Mesa’s downtown strip has been raising eyebrows as an aspiring food and drink district lately. The fast-casual BLVD Noodles is among the more recent arrivals, touting a menu of pan-Asian appetizers, ramen (the first ...
Developers of Little Flower apartments tussle with La Mesa neighbors
Parking is the sticking point
The La Mesa Planning Commission on June 7 was scheduled to consider approving a special permit for Silvergate Development’s conversion of Little Flower Haven, a Catholic retirement home that closed in 2015, into a 130-unit ...
The lure of fresh bread in the morning
Torpedo repeat
BMH Italian wasn’t open yet, but I could smell the bread baking, so I parked it on a bench outside and waited. 10:30 a.m. may have been a little on the early side for lunch, ...
For missionaries, ministers...also candlestick makers
Pastor Brian Tallman has concerns about the ignorance among clergy
New Life Presbyterian Church of La Mesa Membership: 437 Pastor: Brian Tallman Age: 39 Born: San Diego Formation: Southern California Bible College, El Cajon; the Masters Seminary, Sun Valley; Bethel Seminary, San Diego Years Ordained: ...
Whither La Mesa's old police station, the farmers market?
City council works deal with SDG&E, water authority
The La Mesa police station at 8085 University Avenue opened in 2012, and it’s been five years since the old station located at 8181 Allison Avenue was demolished. The sight of fencing and equipment on ...
La Mesa's Green Mile
University between 70th and Baltimore
University Avenue is improving. Between 70th and Baltimore, La Mesa is “maximizing walkability and creating a unifying streetscape theme” by installing trees along the sidewalks, amending crosswalks, updating street lights, and most significantly, planting the ...
Random people with great weed
The Vault on La Mesa Blvd. — "This is my afterlife"
Jay’s daughter has osteosarcoma — “cancer of the bone. She had to have her leg amputated. It also tries to travel to your heart and lungs, and it’s ongoing. They actually prescribed cannabis for her ...
Weird crimes so far this year in La Mesa
The hatchet, the drug dealer, and two staged robberies
According to La Mesa police chief Walt Vasquez’s quarterly operations report for the first three months of 2017, the city’s one homicide was related to a 1996 incident where a man attacked his mother with ...
Move over burger place, coffee place coming in
Sixties-era Jack in the Box building not considered historical
When construction started in September 2016 in the Village Shopping Center parking lot east of the Jack in the Box, people were curious about what was coming to the center located at the northwest corner ...
The pork chop was the star
New La Mesa eatery now open
The Farmer’s Table restaurant in downtown La Mesa had only been open a week when my mother invited us to try it out with her. When we arrived, the line was out the door, and ...
Historic elderly home to become apartments
Developer to convert Little Flower Haven in La Mesa
Little Flower Haven, the Catholic nonprofit home for the elderly located at 8585 La Mesa Boulevard, closed on June 30, 2015. The proposed plan for the 4.09-acre site is Little Flower Apartments, a 130-unit complex ...
Beereakfast at Craft Kitchen leaves me wanting a morning nap
A steamy, spicy mess
Hmm. Chilaquiles. Coffee. Beer. Beer. My Sunday brunch. Not just me. Guy on my right is downing a pint of “Dank & Sticky IPA,” think he says. Couple on my left is full-chomp into steaks, ...
Legitimate proof that La Mesa is hip
Blvd Noodles hits the boulevard
For some, a Starbucks is a sign that the neighborhood has arrived. For others, it’s a microbrewery. For me, it’s a noodle shop. La Mesa already has its share of sushi joints, pho spots, and ...
La Mesa opens for pot business
Shop applicants cough up the fees as illegal dispensaries close
Today (February 6), the City of La Mesa accepted applications — and a nonrefundable $1200 initial fee — from people seeking a conditional use permit to open a medical marijuana dispensary, cultivation business, or to ...
Inadvertent off-roader vanishes from crash scene
Six tow-truck operators work on vehicle stuck on side of hill
A La Mesa motorist expressed surprise on Wednesday (January 18) when he saw a burgundy-colored truck on the side of a hill on the south side of Parkway Drive. The truck had crashed through a ...
Tried taking Highway 94 east off the 125 south lately?
Caltrans won’t clean up the mess
High-priority project at the 125/94 interchange never gets done.
Beer and wine fuel La Mesa's music scene
Breweries bringing bands to East County
Depot Springs, the brewery, restaurant, live music venue being built in La Mesa, seems to be nearing the finish line. After two years of development — and delays — founder Aaron Dean anticipates the ambitious ...
Bloody good bloody mary at The Hills
La Mesa pub does brunch right
For the next five months, my kids are spending their Saturday mornings at a theater rehearsal. Date nights are difficult to do right now, but I can handle date mornings. For our taste of Saturday ...
Former gas station turned into hot La Mesa lunch spot
At your service
When La Mesa held its Oktoberfest in early October, a running topic of conversation was whether the city is the next North Park or the next Little Italy. La Mesa is a great city to ...
