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

Whole Foods opens 7th Ave Pub

Grocery store enters the craft beer bar fray with a surprisingly respectable mini-tavern.

To the best of my knowledge, the Hillcrest Whole Foods (711 University Avenue) is the first grocery store in these parts with a bar inside. The store’s University Ave facade used to be reserved as a dining area for customers who had bought food from the cafe in the store. It had Wifi, a plus, but was always a shade grubby and neglected. After a short brown-paper phase, the store renovated the dining area. They installed a bar and cleaned things up to the extent that it looks objectively good in there. Christening it “the 7th Ave Pub” doen’t show heaps of creativity, but it’s at least functional.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/22/49856/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/22/49857/

Being a large and powerful company, Whole Foods spared no expense in outfitting and staffing the new pub, which is open every day from 11AM-9PM. All the equipment gleamed and a small handful of combination bartender/servers relayed orders to the grocery store’s kitchen via walkie talkie. Beer and wine stayed in the $7-$10 range and the menu didn’t stop at predictable reds and whites, no less than three distinct rosé wines by the glass marked the chalkboard menu on the pub’s east wall! The tap handles lined up behind the bar featured myriad San Diegan brewers, and a few choice beers from far and wide.

The big thing at 7th Ave Pub is that diners can get the food brought to them, plated and ready to eat, instead of having to go through the checkout process. The menu drew heavily from Whole Food’s extant cafeteria, with things like the sushi rolls and pizzas making a direct transition. For all the bar bites, the prices stayed under ten bucks. The food is of a kind with the Whole Foods’ deli, so anybody who likes the deli food will be happy in the pub. The kicker is, despite its enormity, Whole Foods does a good job with prepared foods. Better than lots of restaurants, even. Much as it pains me to endorse a grocery store as a cool new pub, there’s no denying the operation’s strengths. 7th Ave Pub is a good place to grab a bite to eat and a drink.

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

Previous article

Quill & Arrow Law is Saving Drivers Around California with Lemon Law

Next Article

A rope course designed to resemble the Giant Dipper at Belmont Part

Maruta Gardner Playground - a parent's playground

To the best of my knowledge, the Hillcrest Whole Foods (711 University Avenue) is the first grocery store in these parts with a bar inside. The store’s University Ave facade used to be reserved as a dining area for customers who had bought food from the cafe in the store. It had Wifi, a plus, but was always a shade grubby and neglected. After a short brown-paper phase, the store renovated the dining area. They installed a bar and cleaned things up to the extent that it looks objectively good in there. Christening it “the 7th Ave Pub” doen’t show heaps of creativity, but it’s at least functional.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/22/49856/

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/22/49857/

Being a large and powerful company, Whole Foods spared no expense in outfitting and staffing the new pub, which is open every day from 11AM-9PM. All the equipment gleamed and a small handful of combination bartender/servers relayed orders to the grocery store’s kitchen via walkie talkie. Beer and wine stayed in the $7-$10 range and the menu didn’t stop at predictable reds and whites, no less than three distinct rosé wines by the glass marked the chalkboard menu on the pub’s east wall! The tap handles lined up behind the bar featured myriad San Diegan brewers, and a few choice beers from far and wide.

The big thing at 7th Ave Pub is that diners can get the food brought to them, plated and ready to eat, instead of having to go through the checkout process. The menu drew heavily from Whole Food’s extant cafeteria, with things like the sushi rolls and pizzas making a direct transition. For all the bar bites, the prices stayed under ten bucks. The food is of a kind with the Whole Foods’ deli, so anybody who likes the deli food will be happy in the pub. The kicker is, despite its enormity, Whole Foods does a good job with prepared foods. Better than lots of restaurants, even. Much as it pains me to endorse a grocery store as a cool new pub, there’s no denying the operation’s strengths. 7th Ave Pub is a good place to grab a bite to eat and a drink.

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

Felix's BBQ: Eat your tomatoes - green

Next Article

First look at Rred Wine Bar

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