Consortium Holdings hospitality group will bring its modern Japanese izakaya concept Underbelly to the University of California San Diego campus later this year.
In fall 2019, San Diego's ever-expanding Consortium Holdings hospitality group (also known as CH Projects) unveiled the $2 million, 14,000 square-foot third location of Soda & Swine on the University of California San Diego campus in the space occupied by Porter's Pub for more than two decades. Since then, CH rebranded the original Soda & Swine concept in Normal Heights to become Fortunate Son Chinese restaurant and shuttered the Liberty Station location after a 5 year run. With the company continually updating their locations, in 2021 they decided to abandon the Soda & Swine brand and reconceptualized the UCSD space to become Uncle Italian, serving a menu centered around Detroit-style pizza and East Coast-style Italian comfort food dishes.
Uncle Italian was short lived, and Consortium Holdings will soon transform the expansive campus bar to become the third San Diego location of Underbelly Japanese restaurant. Started on the corner of Kettner & Fir in San Diego's Little Italy in late 2011, Underbelly offers a menu centered around ramen noodle soups, steamed buns, and Japanese-inspired small plates. The restaurant eventually launched an offshoot in North Park in 2014. For the UCSD location, dubbed Izakaya Underbelly, expect an ambiance decked out in neon lights with an expanded menu to include Japanese entrees and Katsu sandwiches, as well as a full bar with cocktails, beer, wine, sake and a large variety of Japanese whiskey.
Consortium Holdings hospitality group was founded in 2007 by San Diego native and UCSD alumni Arsalun Tafazoli, and the company now has nearly 20 bars & restaurants dotted around central San Diego County. Earlier this week, news broke that the company was in the process of taking over the 15-year-old Starlite in San Diego's Middletown neighborhood.
Underbelly UCSD is expected to open this October at 105 Eucalyptus Grove Lane in San Diego's Torrey Pines area. For more information, visit godblessunderbelly.com.
