The culinary landscape of downtown San Diego is in the midst of a transition. We recently announced that Dick's Last Resort closed after 25 years in business. Hooter's is in the process of selling after a nearly two decade tenure in the Gaslamp. And the latest news is that both Dining On Fifth restaurant groups's La Fiesta and neighboring Ocean Room, which both quietly shuttered last month, have been sold and will be turned into American Junkie, a bar/restaurant concept with locations in Orange County.
Both La Fiesta, which opened in 1999, and Ocean Room, which debuted in 2004, are owned by George Georges' Dining On Fifth company, which also owns Chianti Restaurant and the now-shuttered Urban Bar & Grill. Chianti is still operating under normal business hours and seemingly has no plans on shutting down. We reached out to the company for comment but have yet to hear back.
American Junkie is a modern sports bar/lounge/restaurant that currently has locations in Hermosa Beach and Newport Beach, with former outposts in Chicago and Scottsdale that have since been sold. The restaurant offers a modern American tavern menu, with frequent nightly specials and happy hour and the usual gastropub menu items like wings, nachos, sandwiches, sliders, burgers, hot dogs, pizza, etc. (see below). Other locations of American Junkie are known to offer a DJ-fueled, club-like atmosphere late night on weekends. American Junkie San Diego is anticipated to open as early as March 2017.
For more information on American Junkie San Diego, visit americanjunkiesd.com, follow on Facebook, and check out the below menu from the Hermosa Beach location.