North Park Stories
The name seemed familiar, but when I walked past Bangkok Spices shortly after it opened on 30th Street, I couldn't quite place it. Eventually I realized I'd been to a restaurant of the same name …
Mid-city residents packed city-council chambers on Tuesday afternoon (October 25) as councilmembers convened to consider long-awaited updates to community plans for North Park and Golden Hill. The most contentious discussion centered around the North Park …
Atmosphere's tour began with a broken down van just outside of Saskatoon, but smoothed out quickly with a string of sold-out shows leading into Friday night's gig at Observatory North Park, which sold out weeks …
I didn't think North Park needed another coffee shop, particularly along 30th Street. But when I walked into the newly opened Torque Moto Café, I immediately felt as though it scratched a neighborhood itch that's …
The North Park Planning Committee on Tuesday (September 6) approved the area's draft community plan update — the roadmap for long-term growth and preservation for a neighborhood deemed one of America's hippest hipster neighborhoods in …
David and I finally made it to Encontro, in that magical empty hour between lunch and dinner. The restaurant is positioned at the corner of University Avenue and 30th Street, which puts it right in …
Tribute Pizza has been in soft opening mode for the past month or so, but this review begins about two years earlier. The setting is BLVD Market, San Diego’s premier prepared-foods monthly on El Cajon …
If you count the controversial Jack in the Box, there are now 14 restaurants and two bars within 500 feet of the doglegged intersection of 30th at Upas Street. Some food writers have taken to …
Lil B’s Urban Eatery at 2611 El Cajon Boulevard in North Park has closed down. All the windows are covered. Their listed phone number doesn’t answer. More than a week ago when I ate there, …
After decades of back-and-forth about whether to demolish or restore the Georgia Street Bridge, restoration of the 102-year-old structure began on August 3. The project was supposed to break ground in the fall of 2015 …
"Our music is dark, heavy post-punk, made by two people who make a surprising amount of noise," says Jeff Terich, who partners with Candice Renee in Blood Ponies. “It sounds best at night when our …
Organizers with the consumer advocacy group CalPIRG gathered in front of a North Park fast-food outlet on Tuesday (August 9) to deliver signatures and entice passersby to pose for "photo petitions" aimed at ending the …
Fun Fact Number One: University Heights seafood counter Beerfish couldn’t get www.beerfish.com because some obscure rod and tackle outfit with the tagline “Worse for wear and overpriced” has it locked down. Fun Fact Number Two: …
What to say about Savages…these are some badass ladies. The English quartet is known for their fierce and eerie delivery. Atmospheric guitar feedback, constant rumbling of bass and drums, topped off by Jehnny Beth’s maniacal …
Wye Oak is a Baltimore indie-rock duo formed in 2006 whose music ranges from laid-back and spare to noisy guitar freak-outs. They showcased these dynamics mid-set at the Irenic with the galloping soft/loud/soft/really loud structure …
While there are a lot of big, notable restaurants lining 30th Street as it winds through North Park, there are a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them spots as well. Apparently I didn’t blink overly much while driving …
In 2011, restaurateurs Joel Herzer and Tom Eads got approval from the San Diego City Council to loan them $500,000 in redevelopment funds to assist with costs of opening Wang’s North Park restaurant. Housed in …
A large crowd gathered at the northwest corner of Texas Street and Howard Avenue on July 13 for a groundbreaking ceremony marking construction of affordable apartments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender seniors. The housing …
Though she was instrumental in cracking the 2014 case of the serial attacker in North Park and Normal Heights, Carrie Spillane didn't feel right about accepting the $10,000 reward. So she asked the city to …
One of the beer community's most anticipated brewery debuts hit University Avenue at the end of June when North Park Beer Co. officially opened for business — an opening that resonates in urban culture as …
Last August, HG Fenton's turnkey brewhouse division Brewery Igniter announced plans to convert a former North Park strip club into a trio of small breweries, and in February West Coaster magazine reported the first tenant …
Thorn Street Brewery is taking steps to become the first brewery in the country to package a beer flavored with marijuana. The microbrewer debuted its OG HighPA last month in its North Park tasting room, …
It pays to play well. Even if there aren’t many people there to see you. “The other day I went to the Ché Café and there were, like, ten kids there,” says singer/songwriter/guitarist Vic Fuentes …
Toots and the Maytals have been coming around for so long now that news of their arrival is taken in stride, much like the way one might embrace a change of season or impending weather. …
There’s a new shop in North Park called California Tap Room, and it makes excellent use of water, yeast, and grain. But maybe not the way you’d expect. This tap room isn’t specifically in the …
Its large, painted outside wall says Coffee + Flowers, but inside the storefront on the southwest corner of Texas and University there are actually two distinct businesses: Communal Coffee and Native Poppy flower shop. "In …
On June 2 in front of Vons in North Park, at 30th Street and Howard, a paid signature-gatherer stood next to a sign. It read: "Please sign the new Comic-Con petition." Reader contributor Dryw Keltz …
While the long-delayed renovation of the historic F.W. Woolworth Co. building at 3067–3075 University Avenue still has no start date, the developer is constructing apartments behind that building. Built in 1949, the Streamline Moderne structure …
Since I live in the area and regularly “research” craft beer, I probably visit North Park’s Bottlecraft shop more than the average customer. While the Venissimo counter has been selling globally sourced cheeses out of …
There’s a an artistic universe squeezed into a little gallery space tucked between a residential home and a tattoo parlor on the eastern edge of North Park. The space is called Teros Gallery, the same …
A group of North Park residents will have another chance in court to show that fast-food company Jack in the Box illegally rebuilt a restaurant against current zoning regulations. On May 23, appellate judges from …
In 2012, Utah’s happy hour ban went into effect, adding that state to a short list of others that consider special prices on alcoholic drinks a source of great social harm. Later that year, Hurricane …
Brewery anniversaries are getting bigger this year, and it has everything to do with a new state law. Effective January 1, AB 776 permits breweries to sell beer "on property contiguous and adjacent to its …
Nada Surf first gained national recognition in 1996 when the video for their song “Popular” went into heavy rotation on MTV. As a result, the group toured their debut album, High/Low, heavily, but when it …
They got older. And as a band, they got better. But, where does Nada Surf fit into the bigger picture today? There’s good argument that Nada Surf is a one-hit wonder. Lightning struck only once …
New Zealand brewery Garage Project began distributing to San Diego for the first time last month, offering local beer fans a new glimpse of the emerging Kiwi craft brewing scene. This may be welcome news …
The Schizophonics blast the compilation Hardcore Matinee wide open with a two-minute scree of post-punk rock violence called “Red Planet,” which sets the tone for the 21 original tracks to follow from hometown artists such …
Years living around Golden Hill has gotten me familiar with Panchita’s Bakery. I knew the Mexican bakery had a couple of other locations around town, so when I noticed a new one open in North …
For the past three years or so, ChuckAlek Independent Brewers has been producing beer in small batches out in Ramona. During that time, occasional kegs would make it into central San Diego, but the nanobrewery …
Belching Beaver Brewing has been in serious expansion mode this spring. In March, the company more than quadrupled its capacity by moving in to a 30-barrel production brewery in Oceanside. Meanwhile, its original 15-barrel Vista …
“That would be the goal that I’d like to achieve. Longevity.” Brendan Boyle bought Folk Arts Rare Records from the owner/founder, Lou Curtiss, who was an old man at the time of the sale. Boyle …
Third Eye Blind took six years between their last album, Ursa Major, and their new platter, Dopamine, owing in large part to leader Stephan Jenkins’s struggles with writer’s block, a problem he tried to cure, …
North Park residents will soon get a lot of twinkle in their eyes, thanks to $5200 in “community programs and services” funding from the city. The San Diego City Council on March 15 passed (as …
The first time I heard about the San Diego Association of Governments’ plans to significantly change the street alongside my house was at a planning-group meeting — for a different community. I was stunned for …
Home-delivery service has become one of the tech industry's fastest growing sectors, and while its primary focus has been restaurant-prepared meals, beer and liquor are increasingly on the agenda. Over the past several months, several …
Some people know Davit Buck for fronting such wild and woolly local bands as Jack Septic, Bad Apples, Mother Russia, Subterranean Horses, Mother Bitch, and John Wayne Gacy Daycare. The only band name that caused …
No one has wanted to see the Media Arts Center’s Digital Gym make a bigger name for itself than I. (It’s the only gym you’ll ever see me set foot in.) There’s not enough space …
Covenant Presbyterian Church of San Diego Membership: 150Pastor: Patrick KingAge: 34Born: ChicagoFormation: Wheaton College, Chicago; Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, ALYears Ordained: 4 San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to preach? Pastor …
A few months ago, I started hearing about breweries adding a new alternative to growlers in their tasting rooms: giant beer cans. Basically, a beertender fills a topless 32-ounce can straight from the tap. Then, …
Dear Hipster: I grew up in North Park in the late ’70s, and I went to Alice Birney Elementary School. Since I lived in North Park before it was cool, does that make me an …
Droning sounds start to build before The 1975 came onstage at 9 p.m. Shrieks from fans filled my ears as the frontman, Matthew Healy, came out with his bandmates. It felt as if I was …
Considering that his band’s set list included songs with titles like “Marijuana” and “Bales of Cocaine,” you’d think that Jim Heath would have had some pretty crazy stories of debauchery on the road to share …