After receiving word from patrons and employees that downtown San Diego's The Owl Drug Company Social Eating House was shuttering after weekend service (they did close Sunday around noon until this morning), ownership informed us today that they were back to regular business hours.
After offloading 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 Los Angeles. 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 housed a central bar, multiple dining areas and boasted a heavily plant-based dining menu.
In mid-January 2019, The Bell Marker restaurant became The Owl Drug Company, named in homage to the drugstore that long occupied the Colonel Fletcher Building at the corner of Broadway and 6th Avenue. The brewery portion continued to be called The Bell Marker, managed by Regnery with brewmaster Ignacio Cervantes leading production, and Yanow's Artisanal Brewers Collective maintained some degree of ownership and control over the beer side of the business. The restaurant operations were in the hands of new partner, Jason Kong, a former hotel manager for Starwood Hotels. Little changes were made except for the addition of karaoke.
Apparently, Owl Drug Company management announced to staff on Saturday that it would be their last weekend in business, opened for the FIFA Women's World Cup game on Sunday morning, then closed in the early afternoon with many believing the restaurant was done for good. Well, we received word today that they were open and back to regular hours and that it was all "a rumor." We have received word that Yanow's Artisanal Brewers Collective no longer has anything to do with the project. We reached out to Owl Drug to find out more information about the previously announced closure to staff, why the change of heart and the status of the brewing component and will update this post when they respond.
The Owl Drug Company is located at 602 Broadway in downtown San Diego and is open from 11am to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11am to 2 am on Friday, 10am to 2am on Saturday, and 10am to midnight on Sunday. For more information, visit owldrugco.com.
This is a developing story: We will update this post as we learn more.
In mid-January 2019, The Bell Marker restaurant became The Owl Drug Company, named in homage to the drugstore that long occupied the Colonel Fletcher Building at the corner of Broadway and 6th Avenue. The brewery portion continued to be called The Bell Marker, managed by Regnery with brewmaster Ignacio Cervantes leading production, and Yanow's Artisanal Brewers Collective maintained some degree of ownership and control over the beer side of the business. The restaurant operations were in the hands of new partner, Jason Kong, a former hotel manager for Starwood Hotels. Little changes were made except for the addition of karaoke.
Apparently, Owl Drug Company management announced to staff on Saturday that it would be their last weekend in business, opened for the FIFA Women's World Cup game on Sunday morning, then closed in the early afternoon with many believing the restaurant was done for good. Well, we received word today that they were open and back to regular hours and that it was all "a rumor." We have received word that Yanow's Artisanal Brewers Collective no longer has anything to do with the project. We reached out to Owl Drug to find out more information about the previously announced closure to staff, why the change of heart and the status of the brewing component and will update this post when they respond.
The Owl Drug Company is located at 602 Broadway in downtown San Diego and is open from 11am to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11am to 2 am on Friday, 10am to 2am on Saturday, and 10am to midnight on Sunday. For more information, visit owldrugco.com.
This is a developing story: We will update this post as we learn more.
