Golden Road Brewing co-founder and craft beer loyalist Tony Yanow's first venture in America's Finest City turned out to be short-lived. The Bell Marker, which opened less than a year ago in downtown San Diego, has been transferred to new management, who is in the process of rebranding the restaurant portion of the concept into The Owl Drug Company Social Eating House.
After selling his Los Angeles-based Golden Road Brewing to Anheuser-Busch InBev in September 2015, Harvard graduate Tony Yanow went on a bar building and buying spree across LA. Yanow has long owned Mohawk Bend in Los Angeles' Echo Park and Tony’s Darts Away in Burbank, but in 2017 his Artisanal Brewers Collective purchased at least a half-dozen popular LA bar spaces for future beer bars or brewpubs. On January 22, 2018, Yanow opened The Bell Marker at the downtown San Diego space that previously housed The Beer Company.
The Bell Marker, named after the mission bell markers found along the historic El Camino Real, offered an ambitious on-site brewing operation led by former Pizza Port brewer and native San Diegan Noah Regnery. The expansive space also houses a central bar, multiple dining areas and boasted a heavily plant-based menu.
Owl Drug Company sits at 602 Broadway in downtown San Diego and will be undergoing tweaks to interior design and menu over the next couple weeks leading up to a grand opening announcement. For more information, visit owldrugco.com.
The Bell Marker is now in the process of being rebranded into Owl Drug Company, a concept that pays homage to the drugstore that long occupied the Colonel Fletcher Building at the corner of Broadway and 6th Avenue. The restaurant operations are now in the hands of new partner, Jason Kong, a former hotel manager for Starwood Hotels. Although the name has changed, patrons will not see many other differences other than slight interior alterations, menu modifications and daily karaoke nights. The business is still operating under regular hours in a "soft opening" phase. The brewery is still being managed by Regnery with brewmaster Ignacio Cervantes leading production. Based on the lack of changes on the brewing side of the operation and other public records, Yanow's Artisanal Brewers Collective maintains some degree of ownership and control over the business.
Owl Drug Company sits at 602 Broadway in downtown San Diego and will be undergoing tweaks to interior design and menu over the next couple weeks leading up to a grand opening announcement. For more information, visit owldrugco.com.
