Golden Hill’s Birria El Rey is the best kind of taco truck. There are only a few tables on a sidewalk next to a parking lot and laundromat, but what they lack in seating, they more than make up for with outrageously decadent birria tacos, chilaquiles, fries, and even ramen. Birria is what chef and owner Cristian Marin Vazquez specializes in and what he says the people want.
Luckily, we’ll get plenty more once he moves a block away to the former Krakatoa spot at 1128 25th Street in Golden Hill this summer.
“I think in three months, it should be ready,” he says during our conversation this month, adding they’re just waiting for final permits and the ABC license. He pauses for a moment and reflects on what that means. “I started selling birria only on Sundays with only a small pot of birria. In three years, I have my restaurant almost ready.”
Courtesy of Birria El Rey
Vazquez formally trained at Culinary Art School in Tijuana before working around San Diego at places like Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. Once the pandemic hit, however, he found himself unemployed and ready to try something new. He decided to launch a birria pop-up in Golden Hill on Sundays despite hospitality coming to a screeching halt early in 2020.
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“I wasn’t getting any income, so I said, ‘This is my time to try to do something,’” he says. He calls that period of uncertainty scary, but a chance to do what he always wanted to do—open his own restaurant and stop working for someone else. “If I hadn’t lost my job, I wouldn’t have done anything,” he says. But his bet paid off—fast.
“People started to like the birria, so I decided to do it on Saturday,” explains Vazquez. “Then people seemed to like it a lot. So I decided to open from Tuesday to Sunday.” He’s been selling his food as fast as he could make it ever since and had been looking for a place to expand his burgeoning birria empire. When Krakatoa ceased operations in 2022, he knew it was the right spot to develop while maintaining close ties with the Golden Hill community.
The new spot will have the same favorites, plus a few more. Vasquez says he will add menudo and more proteins to the menu, like beef and chicken, as well as beer and lots more seating. “I’m gonna have some more space to create more things with birria,” he promises. Once he can open, daily hours will run from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (The original location at 1015 25th Street is still open.)
But Vasquez is looking ahead even further. “I want to go further north to open up more birria places,” he says. But in the future, I want to open a breakfast restaurant. That’s my dream after I open a couple more restaurants with birria.”
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Breakfast? I wonder. Why?
“I love breakfast,” he says with a laugh. If you eat a good breakfast in the morning, the rest of the day will be good.”
Courtesy of Golden Coast Mead
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Golden Coast Mead Joins Cardiff Farmers Market
It wasn’t until 2016 that California beverage alcohol makers with Type 84 permits were allowed to “offer instructional tasting events to consumers” at farmers’ markets under Assembly Bill 774. Golden Coast Mead immediately seized the opportunity, pouring at markets in Otay Ranch, North Park, Vista, Poway, and Hillcrest. Now, they’ve added Cardiff Farmers Market to their rotation every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the MiraCosta San Elijo Campus at 3333 Manchester Avenue.
“We’ll be able to pour customers three one-ounce educational tasters, and sell bottles to-go of our organic honey-based, regenerative, Southern California-style, refreshing, sometimes tart, enlivening, all-natural, no preservatives or artificial ingredient added meads,” says Golden Coast founder Frank Golbeck. Mead is much more complex than its “just honey wine” reputation, he adds. “The bees have to visit over two million flowers to make one pound of honey, [and] our bottles have a half pound of honey in each one. That means there are over one million flower visits in each bottle. If there are one hundred sips in a bottle, that’s 10,000 flower visits in one sip,” he explains. “Pretty inspiring, beautiful stuff if you ask me.”
Courtesy of Schmackary’s Cookies
Beth’s Bites
Goodbye Starbucks, hello Amoré Caffe! The corner of Robinson and Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest’s busy thoroughfare is keeping coffee on the menu but kicking corporate chains to the curb. Husband-and-wife-owned Amoré is slated to open sometime in late summer or fall 2024.
(Cue Cookie Monster voice) COOKIES ARE COMING! Schmackary’s, the New York City-based cookie franchise with ties to Broadway, will open its first San Diego location sometime this year. We don’t know much, but we know there will be cookies.
On Sunday, April 28, the first Cocktail Championship Block Party kicks off at 1 p.m. with 21 bars in the mix, including Rustic Root, Union Kitchen & Tap, The Deck at Moonshine Flats, Lumi, and more. Plan to rideshare and drink plenty of water—tickets include 21 mini cocktails (Egad!)
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Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Four suspects were behind bars Friday for allegedly beating a man to death two months ago during a fight at Linda Vista Park.
Arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder in connection with the violent death of 59-year-old Ruben Rimorin were Juan Garcia Alavez, 21, Juan Manuel Lopez, 26, Brian Reyes, 20, and Franklin Joseph Tuell, 21, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Rimorin was found gravely injured about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 18 on a sidewalk in the 6800 block of Osler Street, just west of the park, SDPD Lt. Chris Tivanian said. Paramedics tried in vain to revive the victim before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
It remains unclear what sparked the deadly fight.
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The suspects were being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
National City’s Pepper Park can soon expand in size by nearly 50%, thanks to a ruling this week by the California Coastal Commission to approve the National City Balanced Plan.
The approval of the plan at the CCC’s Wednesday meeting, developed by the Port of San Diego, means that not only will the popular park have the ability to increase in size, big changes are coming for commercial, recreation and maritime uses on the National City bayfront.
“We are grateful to the California Coastal Commission for its support of the National City Balanced Plan,” said Danielle Moore, chair of the Board of Port Commissioners. “The progress we have made has been anchored in tireless collaboration with the community, business leaders and, of course, the city of National City. It’s about bringing more recreational opportunities to the bayfront while also streamlining and strengthening maritime operations, and we are eager to bring these projects to life.”
Other components of the balanced plan include:
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Realigning Marina Way to serve as the buffer area between commercial recreation and maritime uses
The closure of Tidelands Avenue between Bay Marina Drive and West 32nd Street, and West 28th Street between Tidelands Avenue and Quay Avenue, around six acres, to increase terminal efficiency by eliminating redundancies
The development of a recreational vehicle park, tent sites, cabins and the “ultimate development of up to two hotels with up to 365 rooms, as well as dry boat storage,” a port statement read
A connector rail project to connect the existing rail and loop track located on the National City Marine Terminal to additional rail car storage spots at the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe National City Yard east of the National Distribution Center
The Board of Port Commissioners must accept the CCC’s certification, then the port and city can begin the process of completing the above projects.
“I am proud of the work we have done to help create a lasting legacy for National City, the Port of San Diego, and the entire region,” said Port Commissioner GilAnthony Ungab. “Nearly a decade in the making, this plan balances the interests of the community and many other stakeholders, addresses public access, maritime, and recreation uses, and expands waterfront access in my community.”
The National City Bayfront is 273 acres of waterfront land and 167 acres of water, and includes the National City Marine Terminal, Pepper Park, Pier 32 Marina, the Aquatic Center and pieces of public art.
Mayor Todd Gloria announced an initiative Wednesday intended to expand housing options in neighborhoods by integrating small-scale residences such as townhomes, rowhomes and cottages into an area’s existing character.
The Neighborhood Homes for All of Us initiative is also intended to support community land trusts — nonprofit organizations that acquire land to create permanent affordable housing.
“Since Day 1 of my administration, I have been focused on building more homes that San Diegans can actually afford — and getting them built faster,” Gloria said at a news conference Wednesday. “‘Neighborhood Homes for All of Us’ is the latest piece of that puzzle. This innovative program will break down the barriers that have gotten in the way of building the type of housing that I believe is ideal for young families and first-time homebuyers for whom the dream of homeownership has long felt out of reach.”
Around 80% of land zoned for housing in the city is restricted to single-family homes, which continue to increase in price, Gloria said. And a significant portion of new housing being built consists of apartment buildings with primarily studio and one-bedroom units, leaving working-class families fewer and fewer options for homes.
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Neighborhood Homes for All of Us is intended to increase the housing supply and allow community land trusts to keep housing affordable in disadvantaged communities for low- to middle-income families.
“San Diego is an incredible place to raise a family, and more families need the opportunity to do that in San Diego’s existing, highly desirable single-family neighborhoods where their kids can learn and play in a great community,” City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum said. “But today, that comes at a price that is out of reach for too many. Integrating more options for families requires careful and thoughtful planning, with input from existing and future community members across the city, to ensure these new home opportunities for San Diego’s families are built in ways that best enhance and benefit San Diego’s amazing neighborhoods.”
The initiative will roll out in two phases. In the first phase, beginning this week and continuing through next summer, San Diegans can help determine what the neighborhoods can look like. The public will be able to see renderings showing small-scale neighborhood homes within San Diego’s existing communities, along with new regulations that “provide a clear pathway for building these homes,” according to a statement from Gloria’s office.
Phase 1 will also include an open house and ways for the community to provide feedback and concerns.
Phase 2, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will be for city staff to develop regulations allowing for the building of more neighborhood homes in a way informed by the public feedback.
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The initiative is partly funded through a Regional Early Action Planning grant from the San Diego Association of Governments.
