Linda Vista Stories

It’s not shrimp at Purple Mint

Vegan Asian eatery makes it fast casual in Linda Vista

There’s a controversial ingredient on my rice noodles: cilantro. Most of us love the citrusy, parsley-like herb, which grows from coriander seeds. About ten percent of us think it tastes like soap. I’m firmly entrenched ...

Skateworld: meals on wheels

I’m clinging to the snack bar like it’s flotsam from the S.S. Bedford.

‘Are you sure?” “Piece of cake. We’ll get right back into it. They’ll want us in Cirque du Soleil.” With my friend Annie again. ’Cause she’s usually up for anything. Went for a winter swim ...

Don't let Linda Vista fool you

Skate World, Clairemont rivalry, Yum Yum Donut Shop, Morena Corridor, utopia in 1940s-50s

Butt out, Clairemont, says Linda Vista "I have a lot of respect for the Clairemont planning group and the other planning groups — they're citizens like us who are investing in their community," said Howard ...

Claro Coffee goes with the grain

An industrial zone lumber shop furnishes the prettiest café in town

The best looking coffee shop in San Diego has sprung up in a surprising place: within a specialty lumber shop in the Morena district. Claro Coffee serves locally roasted coffee from Zumbar Coffee & Tea, ...

It’s always fünf o’clock at Deft Brewing

Linda Vista area brewer finds a year-round audience for European styles

It’s September, and that means several of San Diego’s craft breweries have been gearing up for Oktoberfest, breaking out their German beer recipes and planning modest parties loosely modeled after Munich’s massive end of summer ...

Sab-E-Lee: Isaan expression for “Delicious and Spicy.”

I practically broke down too, in tears. So-oo deelish.

‘What is the one dish you would take to a desert island if you had to eat it for the rest of your life?” Interviewers are always throwing this out at celebrity chefs. Tonight, what ...

Linda Vista's Skate World, you're fine, now go away

Plans for big box store

Linda Vista residents were stunned to learn Monday night that Civic San Diego, a wing of city government, is quietly selling off the land beneath the historic building that is Skate World, where 15,000 people ...

Tri-City nurse stabs boyfriend with butter knife, then steak knife

Will she be re-instated to labor and delivery?

‘We are not required to wait for her to injure a patient at work,” attorney Erin Sunseri told a judge. Representing the California nurses licensing board, Sunseri was trying to prevent Christena Potter doing any ...

New Linda Vista apartments welcomes present tenants

Community HousingWorks doubles rent, but still cheap

Lillibelle and Jimmy have lived in their Linda Vista apartment complex for more than twenty years. So when the 36-apartment complex was sold for $8.3 million last year, the couple began keeping track of the ...

Do you like lamb?

Texas smoked BBQ shank begs the question

“What can you tell me about the lamb shank?” I ask. “Well, do you like lamb?” comes the answer. At first, it sounds like a silly question. Actually, a non-answer to my question. But it’s ...

Watchtower done looking the other way?

Final lawsuit over sex abuse by Jehovah's Witness elder settled

The lawsuits over sexual molestation by Jehovah's Witness elders in San Diego are officially over. On February 18, former parishioner Osbaldo Padron, one of several children molested by former church elder Gonzalo Campos, agreed to ...

Sandag causes my property to flood

Not our fault, says association of local governments

Trolley-line travesty — adjacent property owners keep an eye on Sandag.

Jehovah's Witnesses to settle sex-abuse case

Victim filed lawsuit six (6) years ago

A lawsuit is now settled between a former victim of sexual abuse and Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the court's website, the case is under a "conditional settlement." The terms and conditions of the settlement are ...

Rent-control guy for city council

Rafael Bautista's good-works momentum could unseat Myrtle Cole

On January 8th, rent-control advocate Rafael Bautista filed paperwork with the city to run for the District 4 council seat now occupied by Myrtle Cole. As covered by the Reader, Bautista is a real estate ...

Linda Vista skate park open to law-breakers only

"What did they think was going to happen? Kids are going to want to skate it."

The Linda Vista skate park was supposed to open in August. Then in September...November...January… By all appearances, the facility looks open. Skaters are spotted there all the time — though, kids sneaked into the park ...

City okays USD plans to build on three sides of widow’s home

USD to neighbor: Sell us your house or we’ll build a six-story parking garage next door

The Spanish villa that Virginia LaGuardia and her husband built in the 1970s may soon be nestled against a massive parking garage, student housing, and an administrative building that the University of San Diego intends ...

Protest at alleged slumlord's house in Point Loma

And a "Walk of shame" tour of short-term rentals in O.B.

Thanksgiving weekend found plenty of San Diegans less than thankful for housing conditions in their communities. Saturday (November 25th) saw Ocean Beach play host to a short-term vacation rental "walk of shame" sponsored by the ...

Jehovah's Witnesses' withheld info will cost them

Appellate court lets stand prior ruling that penalizes at rate of $4000 daily

The clock is ticking for Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters to turn over documents detailing sexual abuse of children by kingdom elders. For each day they do not, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organizational ...

Can sushi go populist?

Make-your-own spot gives new respect for the chef

Should sushi have populist appeal? It's a question worth asking. On the one hand, a talented sushi chef can turn a meal into an transcendent eating experience. On the other, why should the enjoyment of ...

Cops called over tenants' uprising

Linda Vista renters proceed with plan to stop paying

Tenants at a large Linda Vista apartment complex who last month threatened a rent strike are following through on their intentions. What that will eventually mean is still unclear. According to Rafael Bautista of San ...

Capital of Craft IPA, aka San Diego Super Ale

Brewers guild members hammer out commemorative recipe

The San Diego Brewers Guild turns 20 this year and has organized a massive collaboration beer to commemorate the milestone. Dubbed the Capital of Craft IPA, the beer was brewed with input from many of ...

Jehovah's Witnesses look in other direction

Lawyers for religious group argue against daily fines in sex-abuse case

Attorneys for the Jehovah's Witness church appeared before a state appellate court yesterday (October 11) in hopes of overturning the $4000 daily sanctions that a trial court ordered them to pay for refusing to turn ...

Aromatic dishes and a heart for Puerto Rico

When I walked into Andrés Restaurant for the first time, the smells wafting out of the kitchen were so good, I almost didn't ask for a menu. Just give me whatever's cooking, I wanted to ...

Linda Vista renters threaten strike

Tenants demand habitability improvements, protest 15 percent hike

As many as 50 tenants at the Village Apartments complex in Linda Vista are threatening a "rent strike" beginning next week if their demands for more modest rent increases and completion of repairs affecting the ...

Home Brew Mart turns 25

Shop has supplied countless local craft-beer startups

Call it the homebrew shop that launched a thousand brewing careers. Linda Vista's Home Brew Mart, best known as the birthplace of Ballast Point Brewing Company, turns 25 this week. While the story of the ...

Never opened a Bible till my 40s

Drunk driver changes Lutheran minister's life

Membership: 25 Pastor: Rigoberto Gonzalez Age: 55 Born: Sonora, Mexico Formation: Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO Years Ordained: 6 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon? Pastor Rigoberto Gonzalez: I’d say ...

You want rent control in San Diego? Sign here.

Meeting draws only three, but hopes for movement are high

“I’m paying $950 [for rent per month] there, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed [that it doesn’t go up],” said Cat Mendoza on August 26. She lives off of 44th Street in City Heights, just ...

Linda Vista skaters snort at park completion date

First scheduled to open in August, then September, now November

San Diego's largest skate park is 90 percent complete, says the city. Many hoped it would open in August and then September. Last week, a worker at the skate park, located at the intersection of ...

7-Eleven pushes for more liquor licenses — City Heights, Ocean Beach, Linda Vista

Already owns more than 20 percent of beer and wines permits in San Diego County

In the past year, the 7-Eleven corporation — which now holds more than 20 percent of the beer and wine sales licenses in the county — has launched a push into at least five San ...

If Linda Vista said no, maybe Mission Valley will also

7-Eleven, facing foes to Friars Road site, misses meeting

Representatives from 7-Eleven were a no-show at a Mission Valley Planning Group meeting Wednesday (May 3) — for a presentation they had asked to make on a proposed store at Via Las Cumbres and Friars ...

Bay Parkers praise Highway 101 signs on Morena Blvd.

But one old-timer says 101 was where I-5 is now.

The last stop for Dave Potter, before ordering historic Highway 101 signage to put up along Morena Boulevard, was to get one last final thumbs-up from the Clairemont community planning group on April 18. Potter, ...

Metal is alive and well at Brick by Brick

San Diego is secretly angsty.

Bar ownership Rule No. 1: You snooze, you lose. “We learned it's not real easy,” says Shannon Sgrosso, part of the rock-star contingent that swooped in to save the struggling Brick by Brick three years ...

Butt out, Clairemont, says Linda Vista

Affordable housing and cyclist groups don’t like neighborhood planning groups

Linda Vista should have a neighborhood voice in planning how the neighborhood is developed and maintained, the neighborhood's planning group voted unanimously Monday night. "I have a lot of respect for the Clairemont planning group ...

Clutch Bar’s Bar Monster requests you stay off your phone

“You can drink alone at home. We’re here to talk.”

Were it not for the name and the salvaged “CUSTOM SERVICE” sign overlooking the pool table, you might not guess that the Clutch was once an auto shop before becoming a neighborhood bar in the ...

Residential puts squeeze on Linda Vista retail/industrial

Rezoning process to delay 90-foot towers and 1700 high-density homes

“The neighborhood isn’t crazy about this,” said Howard Wayne about the city’s suggestion to build up to 90 feet high on West Morena Boulevard. Wayne heads the Morena Corridor Specific Plan subcommittee for the Linda ...

Fake Twitter account prompts lawsuit

USD student sues for Trump-related defamation

A University of San Diego law student says a fellow student defamed her on Twitter for her unwavering support of then-candidate Donald Trump. The woman, Tiffany Dehen, is suing the student (who has not been ...

Can't you smell that smell in Ocean Beach?

And downtown, Loma Portal, Mira Mesa, Linda Vista, Chula Vista...

Residents in Ocean Beach and Loma Portal woke up this morning (December 22) to a mysterious odor hanging in the damp air. Over the course of an hour, dozens of people reported the smell via ...

Last chance for neighbors of Francis Parker School

Residents hope for successful appeal to halt expansion

Community members in Linda Vista hope to overturn a San Diego Planning Commission approval of a massive expansion of one of San Diego's most elite private schools, the Francis Parker School in Linda Vista. As ...

How much more black could it be?

Dark Pugliese wines

Down in the sunblasted “heel” of Italy, grapes with thick, black skins flourish in the baking sunlight. The wines produced from such crops are quintessentially Italian in their boldness and, if I might go out ...

Francis Parker School expansion approved

"I am not sympathetic to residents that live near high schools."

San Diego's planning commission approved a proposed expansion of Francis Parker School in Linda Vista today (July 28). The private high school expansion calls for a net increase of approximately 62,000 square feet of new ...

Linda Vista in conflict with itself

“Absolute truths make people uncomfortable”

Comedian George Lopez jokes that every Mexican family has a haunted room somewhere on the premises — “the cucuy room.” It’s the one you sprint past on your way to the commode in the middle ...

McDonald's at Rady Children's packs up the fryer

Ronald McDonald House still held in high regard

Parents and kids visiting Rady Children’s Hospital may be surprised at a big change in the hospital’s lobby: the McDonald's restaurant inside, which had opened in 1996 next to the emergency room, has closed. “It's ...

Unreasonable eviction in Linda Vista

Tenants say they're being forced out after complaining to media

About 50 tenants from several apartment complexes marched throughout Linda Vista on Monday evening (June 20), demanding better living conditions and a halt to what they're calling retaliatory evictions against tenants who've spoken up about ...

A moral question about Francis Parker school’s expansion goes unanswered

Francis Parker vs. neighbors...again

Lights, traffic among residents’ objections to the school’s plans

Apartment tenant action in Linda Vista

"...cockroach and rodent infestations, leaky roofs and windows, broken windows..."

Dozens of protesters rallied in front of a Linda Vista apartment complex Wednesday afternoon (April 27), demanding property managers immediately begin dealing with a backlog of habitability complaints ranging from deferred maintenance to rodent infestation ...

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