University Heights Stories
Under the spell of ayahuasca, it’s not uncommon for people to see apex cat predators. One friend told me that during her session, she kept seeing jaguars. As for me, …
Many uptown inhabitants feel left out of community planning, which is now represented by Uptown Planners, a group whose voting members are mostly homeowners. The San Diego City Council’s land …
I booked 6:30 reservations for two at Madison on Park Boulevard. I had decided to ask a date out for the evening, and to my amazement, she had accepted. Our …
Considering the array of idiosyncratic treats on the menu of Hatsuzakura, I’ve ordered the boring stuff.PlaceHatsuzakura2123 Adams Ave., San DiegoThis occurs to me as I watch a batch of emerald-green …
University Heights Stories
This lowly but common part of every city’s infrastructure, as the National Association of City Transportation Officials so eloquently states on its website, plays “a vital role in city life. As conduits for pedestrian movement …
Several dozen community members gathered in front of 4350 Cleveland Avenue (at Meade) in University Heights on Saturday April 15, to protest the pending 49-unit, eight-story “affordable housing” building slated for construction on the quiet …
A note from the editor: This week, we present the second of the two entries to last year’s writing contest that investigated the long-ago murder of a young woman in San Diego. Once again, the …
Like other sentimental San Diegans I was disappointed when I learned that the Red Fox Room was being booted from its home in the Lafayette Hotel — a space that it had occupied for half …
It is known that, since the day it opened, University Heights restaurant Madison on Park has been one of the best places in the city to start, finish, or spend your evening. Especially when said …
On August 1, the City Council approved Mayor Todd Gloria’s Build Better San Diego, an initiative that will improve services and infrastructure in lower income communities. Last summer, the city took action on parks. This …
The first time he knocked, my wife and I were brainstorming dinner ideas. He must have approached cautiously, or the creaky porch would have given him away. As it was, our conversation choked to a …
There are a lot of used-to-be’s on El Cajon Boulevard. The now-gentrified corner at Utah used to be a mattress store. The Red Fox Room used to be on the south side of the street. …
Digging concurrence Unfortunately have to concur with most of the digs (“The internet writers gang up on San Diego,” Cover Stories, January 19). Born in MA, grew up in NC, have lived in LA (total …
It’s a Saturday night in University Heights, and groups of friends are pouring into Park & Rec. Busy bartender Alex Rodriguez is slinging cocktails left and right, keeping pace with the crowd as they order …
Legendary El Cajon Boulevard has had a checkered past since its early days, when it was once the major East-West highway (CA 80) into San Diego. It consisted of car dealerships, motels, shops, and eateries …
Even though there’s a CVS Pharmacy in North Park (3151 University Ave.) and another in Hillcrest (313 E. Washington St.), the company wants another one. This time it will open in University Heights, as part …
Danny Kuehner Madison 4622 Park Boulevard University Heights “What’s your most interesting drink?” I ask Danny Kuehner, bartender for Madison in University Heights. His answer, the Queen of Crowns, does not disappoint, in part because …
On June 2, the San Diego Police Department Facebooked a photo of a stolen red moped. "A community member notified us of a man parking a moped and then running away, which [the man who …
It’s kind of surprising that I haven’t written before about Bahn Thai. I’ve been eating at the University Heights restaurant since it opened, going on ten years ago, and I’ve returned often. The most likely …
A synthetic voice answered the phone of Fortunate Son, the new Chinese food spot opened by Consortium Holdings, in the Adams Avenue property where the restaurant group used to operate Soda & Swine. Sounding like …
For most of the 27 years Pete Soto has operated his food cart, Brooklyn Dogs, he’s done so by the Civic Center. But since the pandemic has thinned out both foot traffic and the lunch …
We showed up to Stella Jean’s with a couple of kids in tow, having promised ice cream cones. But this was a month ago, and University Heights’ resident small batch ice cream shop wasn’t serving …
I’m witnessing something this week I never imagined I’d see: local restaurants, already hurting due to the covid-19 shutdown, are openly promoting other restaurants. It’s due to the fact that injustice against African-Americans is on …
So last week, when the governor said “Restaurants can open,” did he mean like straightaway? “Let’s go see,” I say to my Scottish friend Annie. “Och,” she says. “Yer bum’s oot the windae!” Translation: You’re …
I have to be honest: I did not expect to find myself ordering from Madison on Park during this shutdown. The University Heights restaurant has much going for it, but near the top of the …
I feel the now familiar tinge of fear as I leave my apartment and get into my car, parked out front. Especially since the governor ordered Californians — all 40 million of us — to …
Forced out but not outfoxed One of the oldest restaurants in San Diego, going back to the 1950s, is The Red Fox Steakhouse and Piano Bar on El Cajon Boulevard in the historic Lafayette Hotel. …
Once upon a time I lived in University Heights, less than a block from the truncated corner where Mission Avenue crosses Alabama Street at an odd angle. That’s how I came to know about Mystic …
There’s nothing wrong with drinking beer in a warehouse tasting room, per se, but each year a handful of breweries embrace the idea that San Diego’s best beer lifestyle requires great outdoor drinking venues. Here …
New Zealand hops have been very much a part of San Diego’s beer lore since Alpine Beer Co. introduced Nelson IPA in 2004. The Nelson Sauvin hop used to brew that beer was just one …
I admit it: I love buffalo-style chicken strips, but not the wings so much — too much work getting out all the meat. I’ve previously satisfied my jones at Epic Wings and Things, a locally-based, …
I was driving past Big Front Door the other day when it hit me: that's not where Big Front Door should be. But it's really close. Two months ago, the six-year-old sandwich shop moved one …
University Heights residents are divided on the highest, best use for the joint-use park that is the playground for Alice Birney Elementary School. Neighborhood dog lovers have been letting as many as 30 of their …
Turns out, I’ve been ordering cashew chicken all wrong. I’ve been doing so since my picky teens, when I was the opposite of an adventurous eater at Chinese and Thai restaurants. Probably for that reason, …
It was my wife’s birthday and I was on a quest: To find a really superlative chocolate croissant. Here’s the backstory: We got engaged in Paris back in 2000, and one of the other highlights …
Let’s just call this what it is: a golden era for ice cream in San Diego. Made from scratch ice cream parlors have been opening up left and right this year, and the latest neighborhood …
Layla and her kids are impressed with the recent renovation of their Adams Recreation Center Park on Adams Avenue (between I-805/I-15) — in Normal Heights; they’ve been hanging out here for over three years. “They …
One of the oldest restaurants in San Diego, going back to the 1950s, is The Red Fox Steakhouse and Piano Bar on El Cajon Boulevard in the historic Lafayette Hotel. It’s an old-school steakhouse, and …
Two planning groups that share Park Boulevard as a boundary formed a task force to look at the historic district on Park between Upas St. and Robinson street, one that the city’s historic resources board …
“Confused?” asks the web site for An’s Dry Cleaning. A fair question, considering An’s is an ice cream shop. Better than that, it’s a small batch gelato and sorbet shop, devoted to local sourcing, freshness, …
The birth rate of suckers “born every minute” seems at times to keep pace with their rising desperation to find reasonable rent. Recently, at Twiggs Coffee House on Park Boulevard in University Heights, conversations have …
Back in 2011, the city got things moving to begin the Georgia Street Bridge reconstruction in North Park. Simon Wong Engineering, now Kleinfelder, received an amended agreement from the San Diego City Council, boosting their …
I like making a dinner out of happy hour or, as the French would say, making un apéro dînatoire. That is, to sip, socialize, graze on a variety of offerings over time, and leave content …
In December it was announced that Nati’s Mexican Restaurant in Ocean Beach was sold and would close for renovations and remodeling. On December 13th, Nati’s co-owner Dennis Kerr issued a press release, saying, "It is …
Computer theft tracked to Mission Valley hovel.
At around 11 p.m. on Monday, October 30, Tommy Sayles headed out to walk his dog in front of his apartment on Kansas Street in University Heights. He quickly stumbled upon a crime in progress. …
Since everything from scoops of ice cream to the NFL has become politicized, it was only a matter of time before San Diego’s cocktail scene stepped into the arena. Thus, Madison on Parks’ Impeachmint. Bar …
“Two months ago, while I was walking my two dogs by the Adams Recreation Center park,” Frank said. “A black homeless [looking] guy flicked his cigarette on the street. He [then] said, ‘What you lookin’ …
Is there an expiration date for a soft opening? A soft open is when a restaurant opens to the public for a trial period before declaring itself officially ready for business. Ostensibly, it gives a …
If there’s one thing in this ever-changing world I can rely on, it’s the menu at Parkhouse Eatery. The place that was serving up avocado toast long before it was a thing is also home …
"Messy Hair, Don’t Care.” That’s what the back of this girl’s T-shirt reads. I can just see her and her boyfriend through the leaves of the grape bower. They’re chowing, chatting, cooing, billing. But actually …
"Yesterday, a woman parked her white Prius right there [in front of my house],” said Steve from University Heights, “then started to cut my succulents (with a pruner), and left. That’s stealing!” Steve, 67, is …