National City Stories
In the last three months, cars and semis have rolled over in San Diego County and just across the border.The most recent spill happened on September 29, when a car …
If the scent of lumpia and the thump of bass-heavy rap tracks about Filipino culture caught your attention while driving along the 805 or 54 freeways recently, you were within …
As more cities get tough on homeless living outside, sharpening their codes to keep people from "camping" in public places, others feel forced to do the same to ward off …
Video:FEAST!: Jomaru Korean Hot Pot offers three meals in oneOur server takes one look at me and decides I will need a bib. What she hands me is more like …
National City Stories
Philippine-born Ditas Yamane ran for a seat on National City’s City Council in 2010 and 2020 and for mayor in 2018, as well as for other offices over the years. But getting elected (despite having …
As the national cannabis holiday of April 20 passed over the weekend, Sessions by the Bay, a soon-to-be National City cannabis consumption lounge and dispensary, is one day closer to opening in the fall of …
Of the five port cities, only National City has no access to the bayfront.That issue, along with ethics reform, are part of a bill introduced in February by Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-San Diego. Assembly bill …
St. Matthew’s Episcopal ChurchContact: 521 E 8th St., National City 619-474-8916 www.stmatthewsnatlcity.orgMembership: 200 (Attendance: 40-60)Pastor: Father Roberto MaldonadoAge: 65Born: Manati, Puerto RicoFormation: University of Puerto Rico; Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico; Palmer Theological Seminary, St. Davids, …
San Diego's ban on camping on public property, which went into effect last summer, may have pushed more unsheltered people into National City. While the evidence is mostly anecdotal, National City officials have used it to …
The county's 60-day ban on evictions and rent increases after historic flooding in January ends this month, while uncertainty lingers.National City officials voted 3-2 last week to continue to rely on the existing county ordinance, …
February 2 was a cold Friday night in Little Italy. But the B-Side Players turned on the heat at the Music Box for their 30th anniversary celebration. I can remember three good things that happened …
“Stew,” says Kevin.“Pupusa,” I say.“Stew,” says Diane.“Pupusa,” I say. “Come on! There’s a Salvadoreno joint just around the corner.”“Pinoy stew!” says Kevin. “Used to have it off-base at Subic Bay. PI.”“PI?” says Diane.“Philippine Islands,” I …
National City on Monday declared a state of emergency following rains so severe, water and mud surged into apartments on Highland Ave., forcing tenants into hotels.It began with a storm on January 22 that dropped …
At the end of August, the median sale price for a single-family home in National City stood at $670,000. That’s up more than $30,000 over the last year, but then, August was also the month …
This has to be the most salad I’ve ever eaten at a mall. I’ve walked a couple circuits around the food court of Plaza Bonita, the big shopping center at the border of Chula Vista …
I belly up to the bar inside the dimly lit barroom of the Fraternal Order of Eagles community center in National City and order a five-buck bottle of Pacifico. Only three other souls share the …
On May 11, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services will end the Covid public health emergency. But the bureaucratic behemoth is a slow-footed beast; John Q. Public knows the pandemic ended some time …
Aahh! San Diego pupusas. And I mean San Diego, the Central American beach twenty-six klicks south of San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. ’Twas there I first ate that country’s national food, the pupusa, introduced …
Bepul Kicks, a sneaker and fit shop in National City’s Westfield Plaza Bonita, has become command central for local hip-hop artists such as 22Gfay and Lil Weirdo. “Most of the time, my gear is in …
Decisions do not come easy inside National City’s Market on 8th. A year since the food hall opened, its vendors have proven themselves masters of temptation. Would you rather indulge in the rich pork bone …
Over the top burgers probably make up the biggest draw to Funky Fries & Burgers. A bacon cheeseburger topped with mac n cheese ($13.50) first lured me in, when I was specifically searching for out …
There’s Thai and there’s Thai. You have Thai down south near Malaysia, where we’re talking fish, thick curries, coconuts. Up north, far from the sea, near the mountains of Laos and China, we’ve got freshwater …
Market on 8th, National City's sprawling food hall that opened almost a year ago in its emergent downtown, is growing. While its flagship brewery, Novo Brazil, is leaving, the goal is to make way for …
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 …
Music worth saving History, geopolitics, and social sciences are my fields, but as a young boy growing up on Long Island, I was the organist of our parish and even joined the AFM in my …
Trinity Lutheran Church Contact: 7210 Lisbon St., San Diego 619-262-1089 www.tlcsd.org Membership: 100 Pastor: Richard Stark Age: 57 Born: National City Formation: San Diego Police Academy; Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO Years Ordained: 10 (deacon); …
Honestly, I walked up through Old Town without a lot of hope. These have been tough days, specially for Congress, and I don’t mean DC. I’m talking about the Cinderella street, the one that always …
Say what? As my 929 stretch limo (read: bus) hauls me through National City, we pass a big ol’ sprawling furniture place that I remember used to take up most of the block here at …
It was the heart-shaped pizza that brought me to Paradise Valley, a southeastern San Diego neighborhood roughly at the halfway point between National City and Spring Valley. Aside from single-family homes and apartment complexes, there …
“Chubby, round, and very pretty.” That’s how Google translates gordita redondita y bien bonita, the Spanish words written in pink neon on the wall of Barrio Donas. The shop’s name itself translates to “neighborhood donuts,” …
National City has set five new business fees for commercial cannabis businesses, which will take effect in February. The total, about $11,000, is somewhere in between the fees charged by Chula Vista, its neighbor to …
The vibe is feeling real along 8th Street, National City, as we circle the block to find parking. I’ve been hearing for nearly two years now about this aspirational project coming together: a public market, …
One of National City's last open space parcels will make room for a used car dealership, displacing a homeless camp and endangered birds that depend on the wetland habitat along the Sweetwater River. Over the …
You know it’s corporate from the come-ons they have on the wall. “Handcrafted taste and flavor.” “Amazing experiences make for unforgettable moments.” “Every handcrafted piece of Bonchon chicken starts your experience.” I get it. Terms …
Other than the word sushi itself, there’s usually not much to learn about a sushi restaurant by looking at its name. Sometimes, if there’s a Japanese word, you can run it through an online translator …
I am sitting, staring like a stunned ox. “I told you it was real,” says Sully. My buddy and I are sitting here, under tents, a stone’s throw from the 805, on Plaza Boulevard in …
Tuétano is the Spanish word for marrow, and bone marrow has a lot to do with the success of the San Ysidro taco shop, Tuetano Taqueria. Since opening in 2018, it’s been written about in …
There’s a conspicuous cocoa flavor running through the green mint ice cream, it’s nearly as rich as the chocolate chips scattered throughout. But behind the frozen dessert’s sweetness lurks the tonic burn of alcohol. Because …
A year ago, as National City began drafting its first ordinance to allow commercial cannabis, the city council even voted to include consumption lounges. Until then, the city was hardly at the forefront of cannabis …
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 …
A mid-year crime report for National City includes a new type of service call. Since March, about 225 calls to police were made under the new code for things like neighbors not wearing face masks …
Colin Jones, local slinger of blues shot through with ’90s rock — or is it the other way around? — picks up music, and influences, on the fly. But from his peripatetic childhood, he’s used …
Argentina? El Salvador? Empanadas? Pupusas? What’s the difference? I’m wandering, wandering, and wondering as I wander. I’ve just come down from City College. Had this crazy notion that their cafeteria might be open. What I …
National City – a Mayor Daley-type political machine To the south of San Diego, within range of the shadows cast by the Coronado Bridge, lies National City. Frequently described as the “backlot" of San Diego, …
San Marcos City Manager Jack Griffin begins his annual June letter to the mayor and city council, “It is kind of my pleasure to submit the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Operations and Maintenance Budget.” That “kind …
“My husband is a meat guy, and this month we went for nine days without eating meat.” Melissa and her two boys, who look about seven and nine, are waiting at the Olivewood Gardens produce …
Call me optimistic, but I still believe food has the power to bring people of the world together, even if the times call for us to maintain a certain distance. Under normal circumstances, restaurants serving …
In recent years, National City has made it a little harder to open a regular bar while making it a lot easier to open a craft brewery. The changes began long before. When the city …
Lincoln Acres doesn't want to be National City. But sitting on the edge of a growing urban area means sooner or later, Starbucks is coming. To the county, it's a good time to "measurably reduce" …
San Diego beat its 2020 goal for slashing greenhouse gases by two years. But tucked in its climate action plan is one key strategy that barely budged. Boosting the tree canopy by 15 percent. Not …
I sip my Kyoto Summer. I look down. A steamed burger? It comes out blanched, like a ghostly version of America’s favorite sandwich, but stuffed with a golden-crumbed chicken slab, Swiss cheese, and kimchi, and …
National City voters will decide in March if a new ordinance banning the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits should be overturned. Like a state law that took effect this year, the city's ban …