Hillcrest Stories
Business leader Johnathan Hale has no comment about the no-bid contracts for his business.
New York gets most of the good bagel press, but in my travels the bagel culture that’s made the most lasting impression belongs to Montreal. The denser wood-fired bagels trade a hint of salt for …
A plan to install dedicated bicycle lanes to Uptown communities of Mission Hills, Hillcrest, and Bankers Hill and close University Avenue to traffic in an attempt to make Uptown more pedestrian-friendly has divided the community …
Anna didn’t get her wish. She wanted to write her doctoral dissertation on punctuation in Emily Dickenson’s poems but couldn’t. So she wrote on how John Keats punctuated his. Bathsheba Doran’s Kin begins with Anna’s …
Human rights activists and gay and lesbian advocacy groups are urging appellate court judges to overturn a previous court's decision to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit brought by Will Walters, a gay man who was arrested …
When it comes to meat, I like it lean — no chewy gristle, no greasy globules of fat, I just want that succulent muscle. Meat-wise, I’m a bad foodie — I prefer filet mignon over …
I learned my lesson the hard way about eating in, rather than taking food to go, at the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious deli that is jokingly named for its entrance, Big Front Door (and also for its titillating …
Revivals, the nonprofit thrift store at 1644 University Avenue in Hillcrest, will close down on February 28. It will not be relocating. Opened February 7, 2011, by Desert AIDS Project (D.A.P.) in Palm Springs, Revivals …
The RadioShack Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will result in store closings across the U.S. The company has posted a “potential store closure list” that includes nine stores in San Diego and the surrounding metro area. …
Last summer, Stefan Reisch was driving west on the I-8 near Waring Road at 9:30 in the morning when it hit. "I thought, Are you having a stroke? But that couldn't be,” he says. "So …
No theatrical enterprise is risk-free. But staged readings come close. They’re low-priced, come-as-you-are, one-night-only affairs. And actors can read plays too expensive to mount otherwise. Staged readings also have an added bonus — a “what …
“This place is old-fashioned, like a Cairo café. We don’t do loud music and DJs.”
Does anyone remember when “bubble tea” was the new hotness? The raging popularity of milk tea loaded with swollen tapioca balls created a niche market overnight, and opened the gate for a bubble bubble, so …
When I hit up Great Maple, on the easier-to-park side of Hillcrest, it's usually mid-morning and I have two items on the brain: salad and doughnuts. I don’t even look at the menu anymore. Rather …
Brazilian cuisine receives little exposure in the US. Churrascaria restaurants, like Rei do Gado and Fogo de Chao, contribute to the popular image of South American carnivorism, where diners disappear beneath mountains of roast meat. …
Being a fan of pork, passing by a restaurant called the Whole Hog was bound to stir up some cravings. The place practically sits in the middle of the intersection of Robinson Avenue and Park …
The city is getting ready to spend $280,000 for “artwork design, fabrication, and installation” to decorate the soon-to-be constructed Hillcrest and Mission Hills library. “The budget is all-inclusive and must cover all costs associated with …
By definition, staged readings are not reviewable. They have no set, little lighting, few rehearsals. They’re actors seated behind music stands reading a play, maybe a bottled water to one side, maybe a costume that …
Cardiff-based East Coast Pizza’s Hillcrest location is up and running regular hours now, including moderately late-night service (till 2:30 a.m.) on Fridays and Saturdays. ECP closes before midnight other days, but being able to get …
San Diego is known for its great weather, beaches, and craft beer. I think we need to add another item to that list — thrift stores. From the row of resale shops in Hillcrest on …
There's a shortage of parking in some San Diego communities and the city's community parking district program isn't much help addressing that shortage. In a recent audit, the city auditor's office found holes in the …
Yes, Tortas and Beer has killer sandwiches ($5-$7). Pitching superlatives isn’t my style (though fellow local critic Michael Gardiner thinks the house special Cubana sandwich is a contender for best sandwich on the planet, loaded …
Is the San Diego Police Department's policy of cracking down on scantily clad partygoers at San Diego's annual gay pride parade while refusing to do the same at beaches and during the Over the Line …
While a previous written statement on the front door of Harvey Milk's American Diner indicated it was closed for reorganization, that's not likely to happen. One of the Hillcrest restaurant's three partners, Frank Lechner, refused …
Upstart company of young veterans seeks to make the classics new and the new into classics, starting with Henry V.
Somebody pulled a burrito switcheroo in Hillcrest. 86 Sloppy’s Burritos, sub Bearito Republic. Allegedly, Sloppy’s owners decided to move to Utah, and the Bearito crew flipped the place over and changed up the concept, albeit …
Log on to SanDiegoPride.com for "the ultimate guide to San Diego pride parties and events." Log on to SDPride.org for all official news and announcements from the nonprofit in charge of organizing the annual gay …
Membership: 185 Pastor: J.D. McQueen Age: 31 Born: Peoria, Ill. Formation: Eureka College, Eureka, IL; Nashotah House Theological Seminary, Nashotah, WI Years Ordained: 6 San Diego Reader: What is your favorite subject on which to …
Like Franz Xavier Kroetz’s Request Concert, in which a woman spends a wordless evening at home, Chloe Moss’s This Wide Night narrows the field of view. Often nothing happens, or Marie’s shabby London studio apartment …
RadioShack Corporation's September 11 announcement of second-quarter financial results strongly suggested that store closings are coming. Joseph C. Magnacca, chief executive officer, said the company “may need additional capital.” Magnacca also announced possible “debt restructuring” …
As far back as I can recall, every restaurant at 3739B 6th Ave — across from the Rite Aid — has been Japanese. I used to order from the "American Favorites" list back when it …
Things sure have changed in the pot world over the past 45 years. In college, in order to score a joint, one had to have a friend who had a friend who had a friend …
The Hillcrest Business Association's job as administrator of the local business improvement district is clear: improve the business district. In order to continue to do so, staff is proposing to change the bylaws. The proposed …
1290 University Avenue has been a half a dozen restaurants in as many years, but the current business has a thing or two going for it. Cali O Burgers takes the basic In n Out …
When I think of my ideal food day in San Diego, it doesn’t involve heavy white linens, maître d’s, or putting on a suit and tie. Maximum dining enjoyment in my laidback hometown comes from …
Everyone should try Social Experiment’s Negroni in the Rye ($10) at least once. Hints of spicy rye whiskey hang out behind a veil of bitter Campari and Nonino, served with a twist of lemon on …
I've encountered a few hybrid lunch dishes before: the taco salad, the ramen burger, the teriyaki burrito. Not many have attempted to straddle three different concepts at once. I found one in Hillcrest: a pizza …
The Hillcrest Community Foundation, the group in charge of collecting donations for Hillcrest's Pride Flag monument, may soon be the subject of an investigation by California's attorney general's office. According to an email obtained by …
After a protracted remodel, Kato Sushi Hillcrest (a spin-off of the original PB restaurant) opened in time for Pride. The budget-minded sushi joint replaces the failed Pita Jungle, which had already sunk a surprising sum …
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of tossing back a few cocktails at this 50-some-year-old Fifth Avenue landmark knows that a large part of the appeal comes from its shadowy interior lined with red Naugahyde booths. …
The former Kelly's Treasures antiques and collectibles store at 801 University Avenue in Hillcrest is closed, and a sign says it's under renovation by AK Pro Construction Co. of Torrance. It will become a Japanese …
The Hillcrest Business Improvement Association has been forced to rescind what has been an effective method at keeping whistleblowers or other non-desirables from becoming a member or joining its board. That strategy? Rewrite the bylaws. …
The first time I saw him he was stumbling out from behind a bush near the Starbucks on University Avenue telling anyone who would listen that it was his birthday and he was 60. He …
The evangelical Shadow Mountain Community Church of El Cajon now occupies the Grace Campus at 3844 Georgia Street in Hillcrest, the former site of Grace Baptist Church. Pastor David Jeremiah's views are similar to the …
Making a sandwich from three ingredients takes a lot of brass. But mostly it takes three pretty terrific ingredients, and clearly one of them is going to be bread. So what do you get when …
The San Diego City Council on May 20 unanimously accepted $10 million from two donors ($5 million each) to complete funding for the long-overdue Mission Hills/Hillcrest Branch Library. The San Diego Public Library Foundation had …
Artist Louiegee “Strider” Faustino hides his work for you to find. In a scavenger hunt he calls “The Lost Cause,” he has a populist vision of an art that is for everyone, can be seen …
My wife is vegan. Actually, she’s a vegetarian who doesn’t eat dairy. Since she has long ago made peace with the fact that I don’t care what I put in my body, we get along …
Fosca blazes with such fervor that her fierce, unconditional devotion appears grotesque.
Some of the best shopping found in Hillcrest begins on the 3800 block of Fifth Avenue and runs through the 3900 block of Fifth. On that stretch you will find Buffalo Exchange, Lost and Found, …
A group of labor and environmental activists gathered Wednesday morning, April 23, outside the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest to kick off a campaign in support of Propositions B and C, which will be put …
San Diego Fire Station 5 at University and Ninth avenues, is small, has asbestos, and is understaffed, but it still shoulders a full load. Placed into service in 1951, the Hillcrest station serves an area …