Early Summer 2021: more new “upper middle” to high end places:
1. Dona’s Mexican restaurant is great, reminds me of high-end hipster foodie places in Mexico proper. They just get everything right, and are much better than Nati’s (which they replaced) in food and general environment.
2. Breakfast Republic – high end breakfast isn’t my thing, but family and friends report good things. Really nice decor. I liked the old tenant better, called Warehouse, but they never caught on.
3. Holding Co – A stunning third floor roof deck about a 90 second walk from the sand. The food is good too.
4. Dirty Birds – More of a restaurant and less of a bar than the PB location, good food and service and somewhat less crowded than other places.
5. Mad Muncheez – Gourmet grilled cheese place. Too heavy for me to go regularly, but I tried them once and it was great. This trend started in SF so I include this as gentrification even though their prices are pretty low. Cute story as well, a young couple started with farmer’s market stands and saved up for years to get a real location.
6. Blue Water Grill – Ocean-front outdoor patio seating and giant fresh-caught grilled fish tacos, as well as raw fish to cook at home. I have been here 20+ times and it is always very good.
7. Ocean Beach Meat Co. – A full service butcher shop in a large gun-renovated spot on Newport. Have a look online: https://www.obmeatco.com/
8. It’s Raw – The most authentic poke place I have been to, and I go to a lot of places. Actual Hawaiians own and operate it. They keep it simple with only four meats, raw tuna and salmon, cooked pork and shrimp.
