City Heights Stories
When Jacob T. came outside from his Kensington home on October 16, ready to go to work, he found his truck smeared with what appeared to be mud. After a …
In recent months, stolen pets and bizarre pet theft incidents have stirred up communities on both sides of the San Diego and Tijuana border. Local internet groups and social media …
In the early hours of October 13, a quiet neighborhood along Marline Avenue in El Cajon was jolted awake by fire trucks and first responders. 911 Video News was among …
“Excuse me, I have to put this fire out,” says Joseph Bursey, the doorman at The Tower Bar. I see he’s being literal as I nosily follow him to the …
City Heights Stories
When San Diegans don't have parking spaces on our city streets — many, out of desperation, resort to playing games and being sneaky. Street parking spaces throughout San Diego County were already scarce. But now, after …
On February 15, the El Cajon Police Department announced that they've received more than 60 reports in 90 days of Kia and Hyundai cars either being stolen or broken into and damaged. The distress calls …
The aftermath of the recent storms and floods is still festering within our countywide ecosystem; it will be part of the county's estimated $14 million mitigation of risks related to invasive agricultural pests and diseases."We …
The last Friday night of 2023 saw a fab event at Black Cat Bar, because That Beatles Cover Band provided the entertainment. Black Cat Bar is located at 4246 University Avenue. It was established in …
You are more likely to be murdered by someone you know than by someone you don’t. The latest FBI statistics show that fewer than 10% of the 20,000 people who were murdered in the United …
A party of ten sits down at the next table, just after my first slurp of broth from the boat noodle soup, and right before the fish platter arrives.PlaceSo Saap4134 University Ave., San DiegoI’ve been …
On November 29, a person driving a white Toyota Prius crashed into the Tower Bar in City Heights. The 90-plus-year-old punk rock concert venue was struck so hard that the bar inside moved a couple …
An affordable housing project in City Heights is facing pushback from an environmental group for its use of natural gas systems, which the city plans to phase out in new buildings.Last week, the planning commission unanimously approved …
Video:Paris Express three color dessertAt last, I stop avoiding the chè ba màu. I’ve been eyeballing this “three color dessert” for years, having encountered it in bánh mì shops all around town. Though I’ve flirted …
I should probably have picked up a pack of smokes for this one, because I could hear the echoes of San Diego’s punk past as it enthusiastically got the band back together for My Town …
On Wednesday, June 14 the city of San Diego's audit committee will have discussed a new 54-page report on infrastructure projects that affirms what some have said all along about the proposed Fairmount Fire Station. …
I’ve always imagined the Til-Two Club as the kind of haunt where you might have found the late author Charles Bukowski buzzing around. If he dressed in black leather and lived in San Diego when …
People get attached to their favorite dim sum. That’s certainly one reason many San Diegans who seek out the dim sum experience are happy to drive to the Convoy District to seek out their favorite. …
San Diegans are switching to mopeds and motorcycles for transport to work to deal with California's highest gas prices in the U.S. and limited street parking throughout the county. But as more locals purchase or …
Between 2016 and 2020, San Diego County saw a 92% increase in methamphetamine-related deaths. According to the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office, many of those deaths occurred in people over the age of 45. My …
My plan for the day had been to check out a roast duck shop I wanted to write about, one that recently opened up in the suburbs. But first, my wife insisted, I needed to …
KAHLEE I rock a dark hoodie when I walk these streets. A scribe with streaks, no heat. My steps discrete. Brass knuckles for these suckas with beef. I need graffiti in cities surrounding me to …
Is San Diego finally becoming more of a breakfast taco town? Nobody’s suggesting that tacos haven’t long been a part of San Diego’s balanced breakfast. They may not be what middle America would call breakfast …
A clatter against the window of my second-story room in Golden Hill awoke me. Then, shouts. What the hell? “Eh, Miguel.” “Miguelito.” “Barba de Chivo, levántate, cabrón.” Only Rodolfo called me Barba del Chivo, followed …
Editor’s Note: Aphorisms be damned, we judged Adam Gnade’s book by its cover, which was designed to look like something you’d find in the dollar paperback box in a used bookstore, complete with water stains …
In the middle of February, the Reader got word regarding an upcoming rally at Teralta Park in City Heights. Kwame from the San Diego branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) wanted to …
In the days before Covid, piano virtuoso Irving Flores was one of the busiest cats in town. “Yes, I was playing every day,” recalls Flores. “But, just like that, it all collapsed from all that …
Night has clanged down on City Heights like an emergency curtain at a movie theater. It’s easy to get lost in this gloom once you’re out of the #7 bus, but, just past Happy Bubbles …
San Diego’s active Haitian Pastor Johny (sic) Oxeda has a new weapon: his food truck. He uses it to reach out to his flock, to give them a taste of home. Also, to spread Haitian …
“We got a tiii-iip!” sings out the cashier, after the customer at the front of the line drops cash in the jar. “We got a tip!” sings back the makeshift kitchen crew, in unison and …
Major nonprofit thrift stores in San Diego have been around for decades. Then along came Covid and took its toll. Two longtime San Diego Rescue Mission thrift stores (North Park and City Heights) closed down. …
Jerk chicken, goat curry, oxtail, brown stew. Having spent fifteen years sampling dishes from at least that many Jamaican restaurants, I’ve come to view these as staples of the island cuisine built upon the pleasures …
On April 25, at about 11:30 p.m., a man wearing long dark shorts, a white-black-and-gray striped tank top, and a black-colored baseball cap entered Cam Pascale's City Heights home — uninvited. "This is where he …
In the last two weeks, Azalea Park locals were surprised yet thankful for the city's recent repairs of their Columbine and Pepper cross streets. "That street [area] has been bad since we moved here in …
What I considered a failure of April weather, my wife took for an opportunity to visit a tried and true staple for lunch. So with gray clouds firmly fixed over a cool, windy City Heights, …
I'm not sure which happened first. Did we drive into City Heights because we had a craving for egg rolls? Or did the urge arise because we realized how close we already were to Á …
A feeling of déjà vu struck John Sears and perhaps his two mules when county sheriffs recently escorted them out of the Poway city limits. "It was about a week ago," Sears said to me …
On January 5, Sand One pulled into an undisclosed Tijuana strip mall where a questionable "doll" is depicted on an eyelash extension salon's signage. She activated her phone's camera, then zoomed into the doll's larger …
Tender shredded beef birria, swimming in reddish brown broth that leaves an orange ring ‘round the edges of the Styrofoam cup containing it. That’s the Tijuana-style specialty of National City’s 664 TJ Birrieria. But it’s …
I got lucky this time: there were only two people in line. It would still take five or six minutes to reach the front, but considering the near 30-minute wait I found on my last …
Brendan Boyle began his vinyl education while working at a record shop in Sacramento. Following that, he went solo and spent about ten years selling vinyl online. The combined experiences gave him a 20-year education …
Ricky Schmidt, bassist of local band Hey, Chels — comma included — never expected a giant German stinky dog to cross his path. But life is full of surprises. “Day two [of the tour] took …
You won’t see it from the street. Samarkand Uzbek Café has an El Cajon Boulevard address (4201 B, El Cajon Boulevard, City Heights), but when we pulled up for dinner, the building was dark. We …
In the city’s quest for park space, mid city neighborhoods Kensington, Normal Heights and City Heights are among the least served, according to the San Diego Foundation’s 2010 Parks for Everyone report. The report defines …
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 …
Stay-at-home orders may keep us from going out to restaurants, but it doesn’t mean they can keep us from trying new things. Early on during this age of social isolation, my cravings went for the …
It's everywhere, taking over like the weeds it's meant to kill. Now glyphosate, the bestselling weedbuster of all time, has become a pest. "Everybody in this room has glyphosate and other components in Roundup in …
How many times can you drive past a donut shop without going in? That’s the question I ask myself in the waning moments of 2019, as I once again roll past the little pink shop …
For a restaurant in City Heights, FireBirds Chicken has come up a lot in local foodie conversations over the past three weeks; especially surprising because that’s about how long the place has been open. There’s …
I’m up near Euclid, on University. Looking round, choosing the place that’s gonna fill my belly. Ethiopian? Cambodian? Mexican? Chinese? I swear. This underrated neighborhood has just about any food you could ask for. At …
Martial arts instructor Matt Armstrong and his “Trash-Vengers” crew picked up thousands of pounds of trash from their Azalea Park streets and canyons in the last couple of years — free of charge. On June …
On August 2, Steve Taylor direct messaged me a link to a YouTube video titled Scoot Safe – Emergency Physicians’ Tips for Electronic Scooter Riders. “Dang, they gotta commercial for kids,” he said. “Notice the …
A mile east of all the beer Stacy Keck tells me she can’t function at 6 am. So we decide to meet instead at 8:30, and she gives me an access code so I can …