New York City-based Prince Street Pizza and Los Angeles' 78-year-old Irv's Burgers are both opening locations in San Diego's Pacific Beach.
We reported last week that year-old Mission + Garnet food hall in Pacific Beach had shuttered all but one of its six onsite eateries. The reason for the shake-up is the food hall is transitioning from operating all the onsite restaurant stalls to subleasing most of the space to another operator. Although Early Bird Breakfast Burritos is allegedly staying onsite, the rest of the building will be taken over by Lawrence Longo, who will open branches of NYC's famed Prince Street Pizza and Los Angeles's iconic road stop Irv's Burgers.
Prince St. Pizza was founded in 2012 by father-and-son owners Frank & Dominic Morano. The authentic NYC slice shop concept has since expanded with a handful of branches sited in Los Angeles, as well as locations in Miami, Las Vegas, Toronto, and a pizzeria in downtown San Diego that opened in early 2023. Prince Street Pizza offers a menu of "Neapolitan-style" round pies and "Original SOHO Square" pizzas, including their iconic Spicy Spring with fra diavolo sauce, fresh mozzarella, spicy cupping pepperoni and Pecorino Romano cheese.
Founded along Route 66 in West Hollywood in 1946 as Queen's Burgers, Irv's Burgers came to being when Irv Gendis purchased the business in 1970. In 2000, Sonia Hong and her family took over ownership of Irv's Burgers, but following a series of setbacks closed the eatery in 2018. In 2022, Lawrence Longo, a food entrepreneur who made a pit stop at the burger spot years prior while on a mission to eat a burger everyday for 365 days, bought the then-shuttered eatery and reopened it. Longo has since opened several additional locations of the historic burger haunt. Irv's serves a simple menu of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, fries, and shakes.
Early Bird Breakfast burritos will reportedly move to the space last occupied by Spitfire Tacos within Mission + Garnet. The rest of the former Denny's building will be renovated and occupied by Irv's Burgers and Prince Street Pizza.
Both Prince Street Pizza and Irv's Burgers are expected to open this summer at 4505 Mission Boulevard in San Diego's Pacific Beach. For more information, visit princestreetpizza.com and irvsburgers.com.
