Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A Proper Brunch: Proper Gastropub

I'm not a brunch person, and I almost never drink Bloody Marys (unless I'm in Las Vegas, where Bloody Marys are practically a food group). But Saturday I found myself enjoying both at Proper Gastropub in the East Village.

Proper Gastropub, part of the Wine Steals empire, is located in a restored 1912 building along a pedestrian alley off J Street, between 7th and 8th.

They've been serving brunch on Saturday and Sunday for "a couple of months", according to our server. Saturday's drink offering is a half price Bloody "Queen" Mary ($5), Sunday's brunch features endless Mimosas for $10. It's served on the upstairs deck, overlooking Petco Park.

I order the B"Q"M, and John gets a Flying Dog Raging Bitch IPA ($6/20 oz). Our server says they're out of the IPA, but he'll check the downstairs bar, and quickly returns with our drinks, the IPA is there.

My Bloody Mary has visible hunks of black pepper and horseradish floating in it, a good thing, and a large skewer with a pickled onion, grape tomato, pepperocini, and a piece of sausage, topped with the Union Jack. Cute. It's a good, strong drink, with enough spice to clear my caffeine-deprived head.

We have just enough time to enjoy our drinks and chat with our server a bit when our food arrives. I'm having the Chilaquiles ($9), white corn tortilla chips, topped with spicy ranchero sauce, red onion, two over-easy eggs, cojita cheese, and sliced avocado.

The chips are not at all greasy - fresh and crisp where they're sticking out, tender and yummy where the ranchero sauce and perfectly cooked runny egg yolk gets to them. There are lots of pieces of softly cooked sliced garlic and jalapeño throughout the sauce, and a hint of a warm, slightly sweet spice I can't identify. The cotija cheese provides plenty of salty, sharp balance to the rich egg and avocado. I clean my plate so well that our server observes, "I can tell you didn't like that."

John ordered the Gastro Chips ($10), Kennebec potato chips (fries), braised meat and sauce of the day (today it's duck), a shower of cheddar and gruyere cheese, chive garnish.

It's Proper's riff on carne asada fries, and it's delicious. Fries are standard cut, hot and crispy, there's a huge portion of duck, with tender, juicy chunks under the cheese and lots of frizzy burnt ends where the broiler hit it. There's no visible sauce, but the duck juice provides plenty of moist goodness.

I steal as many pieces of it as I can before John pulls the plate out of my reach. It's a large portion, we end up taking enough home to make a nice side dish with dinner.

Proper Gastropub 795 J Street San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 255-7452 http://propergastropub.com/

Hours: Monday 4:00pm-10:00pm Tuesday Closed Wednesday Closed Thursday 11:00am-11:00pm Friday 11:00am-1:00am Saturday 11:00am-1:00am (brunch served till 2:00pm) Sunday 10:00am-9:00pm (brunch served till 2:00pm)

Credit cards accepted

Children's menu available ($5.50, under 12)

Need to know: Proper Gastropub is on the pedestrian walkway off J Street, near Petco Park (between 7th & 8th).

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy

I'm not a brunch person, and I almost never drink Bloody Marys (unless I'm in Las Vegas, where Bloody Marys are practically a food group). But Saturday I found myself enjoying both at Proper Gastropub in the East Village.

Proper Gastropub, part of the Wine Steals empire, is located in a restored 1912 building along a pedestrian alley off J Street, between 7th and 8th.

They've been serving brunch on Saturday and Sunday for "a couple of months", according to our server. Saturday's drink offering is a half price Bloody "Queen" Mary ($5), Sunday's brunch features endless Mimosas for $10. It's served on the upstairs deck, overlooking Petco Park.

I order the B"Q"M, and John gets a Flying Dog Raging Bitch IPA ($6/20 oz). Our server says they're out of the IPA, but he'll check the downstairs bar, and quickly returns with our drinks, the IPA is there.

My Bloody Mary has visible hunks of black pepper and horseradish floating in it, a good thing, and a large skewer with a pickled onion, grape tomato, pepperocini, and a piece of sausage, topped with the Union Jack. Cute. It's a good, strong drink, with enough spice to clear my caffeine-deprived head.

We have just enough time to enjoy our drinks and chat with our server a bit when our food arrives. I'm having the Chilaquiles ($9), white corn tortilla chips, topped with spicy ranchero sauce, red onion, two over-easy eggs, cojita cheese, and sliced avocado.

The chips are not at all greasy - fresh and crisp where they're sticking out, tender and yummy where the ranchero sauce and perfectly cooked runny egg yolk gets to them. There are lots of pieces of softly cooked sliced garlic and jalapeño throughout the sauce, and a hint of a warm, slightly sweet spice I can't identify. The cotija cheese provides plenty of salty, sharp balance to the rich egg and avocado. I clean my plate so well that our server observes, "I can tell you didn't like that."

John ordered the Gastro Chips ($10), Kennebec potato chips (fries), braised meat and sauce of the day (today it's duck), a shower of cheddar and gruyere cheese, chive garnish.

It's Proper's riff on carne asada fries, and it's delicious. Fries are standard cut, hot and crispy, there's a huge portion of duck, with tender, juicy chunks under the cheese and lots of frizzy burnt ends where the broiler hit it. There's no visible sauce, but the duck juice provides plenty of moist goodness.

I steal as many pieces of it as I can before John pulls the plate out of my reach. It's a large portion, we end up taking enough home to make a nice side dish with dinner.

Proper Gastropub 795 J Street San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 255-7452 http://propergastropub.com/

Hours: Monday 4:00pm-10:00pm Tuesday Closed Wednesday Closed Thursday 11:00am-11:00pm Friday 11:00am-1:00am Saturday 11:00am-1:00am (brunch served till 2:00pm) Sunday 10:00am-9:00pm (brunch served till 2:00pm)

Credit cards accepted

Children's menu available ($5.50, under 12)

Need to know: Proper Gastropub is on the pedestrian walkway off J Street, near Petco Park (between 7th & 8th).

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Eat Around the World at Hanna's Gourmet

Next Article

Bloody good bloody mary at The Hills

La Mesa pub does brunch right
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader