3 Months, 3 Openings and 3 New PB Fixtures
Good news comes in three’s, and in this case, get your bellies ready for delicious food and your gullets ready for tasty cocktails. PB welcomes the opening of three unique businesses that will offer great options if you’re looking for a night out, a coffee the next morning or perhaps spring for brunch.
Mavericks is the new club and bar venue that’s going to transform the PB nightlife scene. Second Nature is the new place where you can get a coffee and some food while you’re working, and a drink when your work gets boring. Breakfast Republic makes its way to PB, and owner Johan has added another fantastic breakfast establishment to our neighborhood. Here’s a little bit more about three of PB’s newest fixtures.
1) MAVERICKS
If it’s entertainment you seek, then you might as well live at Mavericks. Seriously, this place has it all. Enjoy Baja inspired food for both lunch and dinner. Have a drink in one of at least four cocktail bars. Enjoy the outdoor space by playing a game, or having a drink by the fire. When day becomes night and the need to dance arrives shake it all the way to the floor at Mavericks night club. Located on Garnet Avenue, this 15,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor venue promises to transform the party scene during both day and night.
It took three long years to develop the concept and build the business that takes the place of PB Bar and Grill. David Cohen combined with the Verant Group’s Mark Cirillo and Eric Lingenfelder to create the place whose name pays homage to California’s biggest break. Mavericks is the perfect establishment for PB.
“We wanted to build a California beach bar,” Lingenfelder explained. “And Pacific Beach encompasses everything we were looking for.”
Lingenfelder knows the neighborhood well, as the Verant Group has operated PB’s Tavern at the Beach for more than 20 years. “We love this community,” he says.
For what they’re bringing to the community, it’s safe to say it loves you back. It’s the type of place that spares no expense, and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to entertaining. If you’ve ever enjoyed the open air and unique spaces of Juniper Ivy and the Kettner Exchange, you’re sure to love the architecture for Mavericks. Bluemotif Architecture, which designed all three of the aforementioned venues, tries to “create a space to be remembered.”
You can see it all for yourself starting Feb. 26 when Mavericks opens to the community and the world. A special event is scheduled for a month later in March, and will include live music and a surprise guest. Better make friends with someone in the industry now, because this promises to be a great party, but it is invite-only. Don’t worry if you don’t make to this party though. Live entertainment will be a staple of Mavericks, including block parties with headline bands and DJ’s on the weekends. With everything that Mavericks offers it’s hard to call it a restaurant, or a bar or a venue. It’s definitely an all-encompassing party zone. —860 Garnet Ave.
2) SECOND NATURE
Second Nature is another venue that offers a lot of what you’re looking for. It serves food, coffee and beer and wine. TV’s show the big game, while the outdoor space is a great place to hangout. The new location, opened on Cass Street, updates and expands on concepts started by the previous business in the same space.
Turquoise Coffee was a popular place to grab a coffee while you’re working, and a beer when work was over. Turquoise closed about a year ago, and while there are many coffee shops in PB to fill the void, the owners wanted to open something fresh and new. That’s when owner Eddie Okino and some others combined with Paul Fatta of Bayside Landing to bring another inside/outside venue to PB.
Eddie dreamed up the remodel over three years ago, and waited for the right time and concept to emerge. Once he found it, he got to work and opened Second Nature on Dec. 28.
Delicious espresso beverages are still on the menu, as are craft beers and wine. But now a new vegan/vegetarian-inspired menu will entice your taste buds. “With all the other options in the community,” Fatta starts, “Eddie wanted to build what would bring business to the community, rather than take away from other businesses in the area.”
If that doesn’t make you want to try Second Nature then I don’t know what will. Eddie identified that he wouldn’t be competing with his neighbors if he offered something different. “North PB is a perfect location for vegan/vegetarian food,” says Fatta.
If you fancy vegan cuisine and are hungry, I recommend one of their Poke Bowls. The Watermelon Poke Bowl is fresh and delicious, and the combination of flavors makes it extremely tasty. I’m not much for taking a vegan-style approach to my meals, but this dish is good. —5026 Cass St. (858) 247-5636. secondnaturepb.com
3) BREAKFAST REPUBLIC PB
Breakfast enthusiasts rejoice as Breakfast Republic’s seventh location has opened in PB. Taking the place of Miller’s Field, this eatery could not be more different than the sports bar that remained open during construction. This establishment offers breakfast seven days a week, which is something owner Johan Engman didn’t see much of when he first arrived in PB.
You might know Johan better from his original restaurant, Fig Tree Café off of Cass Street. Fig Tree Café was meant to fill the breakfast gap that PB use to have. Johan noticed that there were plenty of lunch and dinner spots, and weekend brunch menus were common, but nobody was offering breakfast Monday-Friday. Johan has solved that problem for many neighborhoods including PB, having opened three Fig Trees to go along with the seven Breakfast Republics. He even has plans to open 11 new restaurants in 2018.
“PB checks every single box when looking for an ideal location,” Johan said. He cites the fact that PB is a tourist destination, his restaurant is a block from the beach and there’s a lot of foot traffic off of Mission Boulevard.
Breakfast Republic PB opened quietly on Dec. 16 and Johan is already planning improvements. Do you ever hate having to leave a restaurant because the wait is too long? Well, owners hate it, too, because they’re sending your business elsewhere. But Johan has thought of a solution that is both unique, and fun. He’ll place a mini kitchen in a box car right next to Breakfast Republic. From there, you can enjoy yummy meals served in mason jars. Johan calls it “a taco in a jar,” and recommends having the French toast with chocolate covered strawberries. This box car concept could be open as early as March.
And if that weren’t enough, Breakfast Republic is working on opening a bar on the premises. It’s a bit hush-hush for now, because Johan is still pondering the details. Tasty cocktails combined with an amazing breakfast is the way I’d like to greet every day. If you haven’t stopped by yet get yourself there on your day off and be ready to chow down. —4465 Mission Blvd. (858) 750-2107. breakfastrepublic.com
PB fixtures come and go, and quite unapologetically it’s out with the old and in with the new. For owners, this makes it a very difficult market to thrive in. But for patrons, it means fresh concepts can and do arrive all the time.