Chaplos Restaurant & Bar (Permanently Closed)
925 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Chaplos is far enough removed from downtown’s hubbub that parking isn’t impossible, although the nearby pay lot ends up looking pretty good after a few trips around the block. The glass walled building’s colored lighting shifts along the color spectrum on a sort of timer and the deceptively small entryway reveals a long, L-shaped dining room with Gatsby-esque touches like Tiffany lamps and cloche-hatted women drawn on the windows. Too-loud house music isn’t very Roaring Twenties, but the white table linens and menus pinned to boards evoke the classy (some might say dated) standards of dining appropriate to a supposed West Egg. While Chaplos isn’t a fine dining restaurant, its gaze is quite obviously pointed in that direction.