Another day, another conundrum. We know that quite a few local covid-19 outbreaks have been traced to restaurants, including no fewer than a dozen clusters in the past month. On the other hand: donuts. Since …

Amid the ever-changing rules about how breweries may do business, at least one positive development remains constant: the ability of breweries to deliver beer directly to consumers’ doorsteps. This regulatory relief has offered an opportunity …

A shudder passed through San Diego’s sandwich-loving community this week when news spread of a suspected arson attempt at San Diego’s old school Italian deli, Mona Lisa Italian Foods. In as perilous a year as …

We were craving a meat and cheese platter but didn’t want to dine in at a restaurant due to the latest coronavirus surge. So I took a look around for take-out options, and saw that …

For 37 years, Masa and Haru Takeda have made and served Japanese tea cakes in their tiny Chula Vista shop, Hogetsu Bakery. Primarily, they offer mochi, the chewy, glutinous rice cakes enjoyed with tea and …

After Black Lives Matter protests appeared demanding social justice and police reform, a number of local breweries voiced support for the effort. Three dozen of them decided to participate in the nationwide Black is Beautiful …

There are a handful of parties grabbing breakfast on the narrow patio of East Village’s location of local breakfast and booze chain, Breakfast Republic. But restaurant dining is kind of nerve-wracking right now, so I …

Ikea, Costco, Lowes. Even during a pandemic they draw throngs of shoppers to their corner of Mission Valley. My car eked along with the slow moving traffic of their massive, shared parking lot, a million …

Homes at end of Oceanside Blvd. claim emergency The city never got approval,” says Mackin. “They just started doing it. These homeowners had carte blanche to put as much rip rap as they wanted on …

“Due to its extremely hot nature, eating a Dave’s Hot Chicken reaper carries with it the potential for certain risks, some of which may be reasonably foreseeable.” So reads the “reaper release,” the liability waiver …

Bridget Connelly lives and surfs in Encinitas, and it was in local waters that she decided to start a hard kombucha company in summer 2018. “Surfing is a lot of the times I feel the …

Though the pandemic continues to disrupt the restaurant industry, it hasn’t stopped the community of 4S Ranch from receiving a significant upgrade at coffee shop. Reigning micro-roaster of the year Mostra Coffee delayed the debut …

Rollercoaster 2020 continues to hammer home the message we have little idea what’s coming next. At this writing, San Diego somehow escaped being one of the 19 California counties the governor ordered or recommended bars, …

Since dining rooms reopened with a ban on re-usable menus, a few of our city’s savvier restaurants have replaced them with tech. Rather than disposable paper menu, they encourage use of blocky, square QR codes, …

There’s something familiar about the creepy clown sitting at the middle table, like I’ve seen him before. I’m pretty sure last I saw him, he was giving off his too shiny, too smiley vibe to …

“Bringing New Orleans to North Park,” says the home page of Louisiana Purchase, and from a kitchen standpoint the University Avenue restaurant did so literally. It recruited chef/co-owner Quinnton Austin from New Orleans, bringing his …

This is usually the time of year to spotlight San Diego’s best outdoor brewery venues. However, in the summer of 2020, that could be just about anywhere. Thanks to some late May regulatory relief by …

Summer is officially here, and even if the experience is going to be a bit different this year, it won’t be for a lack of frozen desserts. I went with a young family to try …

Outdoor dining is set to become the norm this summer: that is, even more so than usual. In a bid to add capacity amid social distancing rules, restaurants are looking to make use of every …

“Veteran owned,” notes an easy-to-miss sign on the Third Avenue storefront of Chula Vista Brewery. In fact, brewery cofounder Tim Parker retired from the Navy at the end of 2019, following two decades of service, …

When 2020 began, I did not expect to spend two and a half months writing about take out and delivery. Since dining rooms re-opened in late May, it’s been fun, and at times felt a …

It was a good night for the restaurants, I have no doubt. On Saturday, June 13, Little Italy closed streets to car traffic and allowed restaurants to extend their seating out onto the asphalt. The …

I’m sitting on the patio of La Jolla bakery and restaurant Sugar & Scribe, marveling at my “full Irish breakfast.” The $16 plate indeed goes the distance: two eggs, a thick slice of Irish bacon, …

Effective tomorrow, Friday, June 12, bars are allowed to re-open in San Diego County, which means brewery taprooms can pour beers again, regardless of whether they serve food. However, beer fans should expect a few …

In the nearly 80-year history of Clayton’s Coffee Shop, it’s never seen times like these. Coronado’s vintage diner was made to be a place where people gathered not just for food, but to listen to …

Dining rooms have returned to San Diego, but that doesn’t mean restaurants don’t still find themselves in a sort of pandemic limbo. As social distancing restrictions remain, most traditional restaurants can’t seat enough of diners …

When Carlsbad beer brand Rouleur Brewing Company opened its doors in spring 2017, owner and brewer Rawley Macias shared three goals he wanted his business to meet by the end of its third year. And …

I’m witnessing something this week I never imagined I’d see: local restaurants, already hurting due to the covid-19 shutdown, are openly promoting other restaurants. It’s due to the fact that injustice against African-Americans is on …

At a nearby table, a group of young women are discussing the weekend protests, which saw thousands of San Diegans demonstrate against police brutality. Primarily they express concern the message of peaceful protestors could be …

Forty years ago this year, Zvika and Debi Akin put their initials together to open D.Z. Akin’s, the San Diego region’s foremost Jewish restaurant, delicatessen, and bakery. Originally a small counter shop, the business expanded …

The past ten weeks have been a roller coaster ride for the San Diego beer industry, as abrupt public policy shifts due to coronavirus have kept breweries and fans on their toes. Every individual beer …

There was bound to be some awkwardness. The ‘rona closed restaurant dining rooms more than two months ago, and if the intervening weeks taught us anything, it’s to be leery of human contact. The government …

At noon on Thursday, May 21, for the first time in more than two months, Mike Hess Brewing opened its North Park, Imperial Beach, and Ocean Beach taprooms to customers, allowing them once again to …

It will be interesting to see what it’s like to hang out at Solomon Bagel Company. North Park’s newest donut and bagel destination has been open a few weeks, only since the shutdown started. So …

I have to be honest: I did not expect to find myself ordering from Madison on Park during this shutdown. The University Heights restaurant has much going for it, but near the top of the …

Last week, following ten months of development, Scripps Ranch hard kombucha maker JuneShine launched a new product line: JuneShine 100. Finishing at 100 calories and one gram of sugar per 12-ounce can, the diet-friendly drink …

As afternoon temperatures pushed 90 last Wednesday, ice cream fans lined up in Mission Hills to be among the first to get scoops from Mr. Trustee, the neighborhood’s newest ice cream shop. Like me, they …

The jacaranda blossoms have made their spring return to the trees out front, in striking purple contrast to the pale green A-frame that has been home to Influx Café for 18 years. And for the …

We’ve seen a number of restaurants successfully pivot in the covid era, whether they’ve transformed into on-site groceries or added family combo meals to the menu. Escondido’s premier fine dining restaurant has found another way …

Rock music should have been what drew me to Metl Bar & Restaurant. That’s the new mantle of the Gaslamp space previously called The Hopping Pig. New ownership gave it a rock bar revamp late …

Counted among the world’s top amateur brewers, national and state homebrew champion Nick Corona has steadily worked toward opening his own brewery, somewhere in North County. He came close on locations in San Marcos and …

The first time I ate at Surf & Soul Spot, it was operating as a pop-up restaurant, serving fried fish and soul food select days per week at a church banquet hall in the southeast …

Call me optimistic, but I still believe food has the power to bring people of the world together, even if the times call for us to maintain a certain distance. Under normal circumstances, restaurants serving …

The slow end of the Kalasho regime At a city council meeting in September Elia spoke publicly to Kalasho: “Ben, you need help. It hurts me to see fellow Chaldeans spiral like this. It might …

In March, to mark their fifth anniversary, Ike and Yulia Gazaryan decided to renew their vows with a small event where they originally wed: at their Pushkin Russian Restaurant & Bar. With the pandemic and …

I’m not saying we jinxed it, but San Diego sports were enjoying an uncommonly good year before all sports were canceled due to coronavirus. Aztecs basketball started 26-and-0 and figured to make noise as a …

It was about three years ago next weekend that I got my first taste of the Corazon de Torta food truck. It was parked towards the back of the Reader’s Tacotopia taco festival, but buzz …

Throughout most of the county, weekly farmers markets were initially shut down on March 13, while the first rounds of covid-19 restrictions were put in place. Though many of the markets have re-opened in April, …

Whether for work, fun, or plain hunger, I reckon I’ve tried a good six or seven hundred San Diego restaurants over the years. But at remarkably few can I claim to know the whole menu. …

On El Cajon Boulevard, just about the point North Park becomes University Heights, the new taproom for Serpentine Cider was originally slated to open this weekend (2311 El Cajon Boulevard). The coronavirus had other ideas. …