Little Italy Food Hall & Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy Both Up For Sale In San Diego's Little Italy

January 30, 2024

San Diego's six-year-old Little Italy Food Hall and neighboring Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy are both up for sale in Little Italy.

In 2018, Mike DiNorcia's Grit & Grain Collective teamed up with Internet celebrity Sam "The Cooking Guy" Zien and opened the 4,685 square-foot Little Italy Food Hall within Piazza Della Famigliain the heart of San Diego's Little Italy. Over the course of its six year run, the modern food hall has housed a hand-picked lineup of six vendors that has included Sam The Cooking Guy's Not Not Tacos, SamBurgers and CooCoo's Nest, as well as Ambrogio15, Wicked Maine Lobster, and others, all complimented by an Italian-inspired cocktail bar. In early 2020, Little Italy Food Hall ownership expanded into the space directly across Piazza Della Famiglia and opened Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy, a wine-focused restaurant and bottle shop. 
Mr. and Mrs. The Cooking Guy inside Graze By Sam.
Both the Little Italy Food Hall and Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy are now listed for sale by local commercial real estate company Location Matters. The asking price for the asset sale is $595,000, which includes the combined 6,331 square-feet of interior space between the two locations, plus a full liquor license and fixtures. The rent on the spaces is listed as $42,200 per month plus expenses and maintenance.

In addition to the Little Italy Food Hall and Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy, Grain & Grit Collective also has ownership interests in Carnitas Snack Shack and Broken Yolk Cafe brands. At one point, the company with Sam The Cooking Guy were planning to open a full-service restaurant at the former Buster's Beach House space in Seaport Village but ultimately backed out of the project, and the building is now slated to house a location of Los Angeles-based, tavern-style sports bar concept Cork & Batter.

Little Italy Food Hall and Graze By Sam The Cooking Guy continue to operate under normal hours at 550 West Date Street in San Diego's Little Italy. For more information, visit littleitalyfoodhall.com and grazebysam.com.