Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
Sometime in 2018 or 2019—he’s not sure exactly which—Brandon Rodgers called Eric Brandt. At the time, Rodgers was chef de cuisine at Benu, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. He’d also done stints at The French Laundry and In Situ at SFMOMA and represented the US at the Olympics of culinary competitions, the Bocuse d’Or, where he initially met Brandt in 2007.
“He said, ‘Have you ever thought about doing a fast casual burger joint?’” recalls Brandt. “I’m like, ‘Brandon, you just got three Michelin stars. What are you thinking about a burger joint?’ And he’s like, ‘It would be the best burger joint in the world.’”
The pair percolated over the idea and decided to try it, first as a concession concept at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert in 2021 and then at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in 2023. But winning the Avocado Cup Culinary Competition at the inaugural Del Mar Wine + Food Festival last year convinced them to turn it into a full-fledged restaurant, with Brandt as owner/CEO and Rodgers as co-founder and chef.
“When we won that, it was kind of like, ‘All right, we probably better do a brick and mortar,” laughed Brandt
Tanner’s Prime Burgers, a brick-and-mortar restaurant, officially opens this Friday, April 19 at the Freeman Collective in Oceanside. The 2,000-square-foot space will feature inside and outside seating and will use 100% USDA prime-grade beef supplied from Brandt Beef, Brandt’s family ranch, which has operated in the Imperial Valley since 1945.
“This whole concept is about the beef,” explains Rodgers, adding that they will make every item on the menu with Brandt’s beef, from the bacon to the ice cream. But with burger in the name, it’s still definitely the star of the show. “We have one burger. You can get a single, or you can get that double,” he says. “We want to keep it simple and do it right.”
But it will be the details that set them apart. The cheese is more than just cheese—it’s a unique aged cheddar that melts like American cheese, created especially for Tanner’s by Eric Greenspan from cheese company New School. Nearby, Artifex Brewing will brew the Tanner’s Lager and Tanner’s IPA. Honey for their sweet tea comes from Avery Girl Honey, another family-owned company near Brandt’s ranch. Even their Tanner’s Prime Hot Sauce is homemade, made with a 14-day fermented chile mash and blended with vinegar.
Other menu items include options for kids, like a slider or all-beef hot dog, fries that come plain, cheesy, or “dirty” with beef tallow, a juicy, rich beef flavor rendered from beef fat. Yes, it’s decadent. But it’s outrageously delicious, and what Brandt says makes their ice cream extra creamy.

“That creaminess from the beef tallow just holds—it can be a hot sunny afternoon, and it doesn’t melt all over you,” he laughs, pointing to their Fatty Patty, which is a scoop of the beef tallow ice cream sandwiched between two homemade chocolate chip cookies. “You can’t leave without trying a Fatty Patty.”
Rodgers and Brandt’s commitment to using as much of the animal as possible goes beyond the food. They also incorporated it into the design by Michael Francis, principal at SAINT (Studio for Architecture and Interiors), who used Brandt leather to create red leather barstools in the dining area. Rodgers says they took inspiration from fast-casual places like Chipotle and Shake Shack for a “functional, but simple” interior where people can get unpretentious food that will still knock their socks off.
Rodgers says the potential to captivate even more people by elevating a classic dish was a huge reason he left a three-star kitchen. “As a Michelin-starred chef, you’re preparing the best 40 meals a night, max,” he says. “What an opportunity to be able to try to prepare a burger that someone’s had 1,000 times, and try to serve that to 1,000 people a day. If you could touch 1,000 people versus 40 people a night, for me, that’s a great feeling.”
After April 19, Tanner’s will be open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. The duo says they’ll see how it goes, but future locations are not off the table. “I’m focused on one, [but] Eric is focused on 21,” Rodgers jokes. Brandt agrees but says getting this off the ground has been an incredible journey already.
“I get chills thinking about the fact that we’re actually opening our first brick-and-mortar,” he says, recalling that prescient phone call from years ago. “This is a toast and a cheers to that call.”
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SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
When John Resnick opened Campfire on a quaint little street in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016, some locals weren’t sure what to think. The coastal enclave wasn’t exactly awash in innovative, chef-driven establishments, so it was a shock to see the dining room consistently full. Early on, one woman wondered aloud to Resnick, “Where did all these people come from?”
It’s a moment he remembers vividly. “I was struck by her statement, because I think she was surprised that so many other people in Carlsbad were there,” Resnick says.
The rest of the culinary world would take some time to catch up to what was happening. In 2019, when Michelin expanded to rate restaurants throughout all of California—not just the San Francisco area—Addison was the only one in San Diego to earn a star. But since emerging from the pandemic, the region’s food scene has grown dramatically. Driven by outstanding farms, ingredients, a bumper crop of talented chefs, and a G.D.P. approximately the size of New Zealand or Greece, San Diego County has become one of America’s most underrated dining destinations.
Campfire’s octopus, chorizo, and celery-root entrée.
Gage Forster
Perhaps no single restaurant is a better emblem for this shift than chef William Bradley’s Addison, which opened in 2006. After landing his first star, Bradley knew he wanted more. To get them, he transformed his French-leaning fare to serve what he calls California Gastronomy, which combines the cultures of SoCal with impeccable ingredients and wildly impressive techniques, prizing flavor over flair. Michelin responded, awarding Addison a second star in 2022, and making it the first Southern California three-star restaurant just a year later. The accolade has created a halo effect, attracting culinary tourists from around the world.
Berry beet tartlets at San Diego’s three-star stalwart Addison.
Eric Wolfinger
“Earning three stars forces the global dining community to pay attention to a place that may not have been on their radar before,” says chef Eric Bost, a partner in Resnick’s four Carlsbad establishments.
Resnick recruited Bost, who spent time at award-winning outposts of Restaurant Guy Savoy, to run Jeune et Jolie, which he led to a star in 2021. They’ve since taken over an old boogie-board factory down the street and converted it to an all-day restaurant and bakery, Wildland. The space also hosts an exquisite tasting-counter experience called Lilo, which was given a Michelin star mere months after opening in April 2025. And as Resnick and Bost grew their successful Carlsbad operation, chef Roberto Alcocer earned a Michelin star for his Mexican fine-dining spot Valle in nearby Oceanside.
The stylish tasting counter at Michelin one-star Lilo in Carlsbad.
Kimberly Motos
About 25 miles to the south, another affluent coastal community is going through its own culinary glow up. In La Jolla, chef Tara Monsod and the hospitality group Puffer Malarkey Collective opened the stylish French steakhouse Le Coq. Chef Erik Anderson, formerly of Michelin two-star Coi, is preparing to launch Roseacre. And last year, Per Se alums Elijah Arizmendi and Brian Hung left New York to open the elegant tasting-menu restaurant Lucien, lured by the ingredients they’d get to serve. “A major reason we chose San Diego is the quality and diversity of the produce,” Arizmendi explains. “San Diego County has more small farms than anywhere else in the U.S., and its many microclimates allow farmers to grow an incredible range of ingredients year-round.”
Wildland’s spicy Italian sandwich.
Gage Forster
Chef Travis Swikard has also been a tireless advocate for the region’s ingredients since he returned to San Diego, his hometown, and opened Mediterranean-influenced Callie in 2021. There’s no sophomore slump with his latest effort, the French Riviera–inspired Fleurette in La Jolla, where he’s serving his take on classics like leeks vinaigrette and his San Diego “Bouillabaisse” with local red sheepshead fish and spiny lobster. Its food is bright, produce-driven, and attentive in execution, while the dining room maintains a relaxed and unpretentious style of service. And Swikard sees that approach cohering into a regional style with a strong network of professionals behind it.
“It’s really nice that we are developing our own identity, not trying to be like L.A. or any other market, just highlighting what’s great about the San Diego lifestyle and ingredients,” he says. “Similar to New York, a chef community is starting to develop where chefs are supporting each other. There is a true sense of pride to be cooking here.”
Top: In La Jolla, Lucien serves ocean whitefish with tomatoes turned into concasse, sabayon, and other expressions.
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