San Diego’s bar-and-restaurant map is being redrawn in real time, and some very recognizable spaces are suddenly in play. Check out this snapshot of 21 notable San Diego County hospitality spaces currently on the market for sale or lease.
Below is a snapshot of 20 notable San Diego County hospitality spaces currently on the market, listed by their former or current concept, location, and the opportunity being presented.
Camino Riviera (2400 India Street, Little Italy) - The space most recently occupied by Camino Riviera on India Street in San Diego’s Little Italy is now being marketed as one of the most significant bar and nightlife opportunities to hit the neighborhood in years, following the permanent closure of the Riviera Maya–inspired concept in late September 2025. Camino Riviera opened in 2021 after SDCM Restaurant Group founder Matt Spencer acquired and reimagined the longtime El Camino cantina, transforming it into an immersive, DJ-driven indoor-outdoor venue that quickly became a destination for late-night crowds and touring talent. Despite a devoted following, the business faced regulatory headwinds in 2024 tied to patio entertainment restrictions, and its sudden closure came as a shock to regulars. Compounding the impact was the earlier shuttering of Wilma’s Carousel Bar, Camino’s neighboring sister concept, which lasted just seven months before SDCM pulled the plug, leaving two adjacent nightlife spaces dark in a district where vacancies of that scale are rare. Industry chatter now suggests Wilma’s former space may already be spoken for, with persistent rumors circulating that San Diego dining behemoth Consortium Holdings is taking control of the Carousel Bar footprint, though no formal announcement has been made.
By contrast, the Camino Riviera property itself is actively listed for sale by Location Matters as a turnkey bar, restaurant, or entertainment venue, offered at $795,000 plus rent, and anchored by assets that are nearly impossible to replicate in Little Italy today. The offering includes a rare 2am Type 47 liquor license with an entertainment permit, a retractable-roof indoor-outdoor layout spanning roughly 3,000 square feet plus a 2,000-square-foot enclosed patio, and extensive infrastructure investments made over the past five years, including a premium Hestan kitchen, high-end bar systems, and state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and DJ equipment. According to the listing, the venue averaged approximately $4.1 million in annual revenue between 2022 and 2024, underscoring both its prior performance and the high barrier to entry for comparable nightlife concepts in the walkable Little Italy core, where new liquor-licensed entertainment venues are effectively prohibited. With a four-year lease term remaining and two five-year options, the space is being positioned as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for an operator capable of navigating Little Italy’s regulatory landscape while capitalizing on a fully built-out, late-night-ready venue - at a moment when the neighborhood’s nightlife future appears to be consolidating rather than expanding.
That prominence is now being leveraged in a new listing by Urban Property Group, which is offering approximately 3,026 square feet of second generation restaurant space on the ground floor with ceiling heights approaching twenty five feet and roughly forty eight feet of frontage facing Petco Park. The space is described as fully built out for restaurant or bar use, with an existing kitchen and bar infrastructure in place, and is being marketed as a rare opportunity to secure a highly visible location inside Park at the Park, an area that benefits from Padres home games, concerts, festivals, and daily foot traffic from nearby residences and offices. Lease terms and pricing are listed as negotiable, reflecting both the premium nature of the site and the evolving redevelopment of Gallagher Square, which has undergone significant upgrades and now hosts large scale events throughout the year. With more than two thousand residential units already in the immediate vicinity and thousands more under construction or in planning, the availability of space within the Simon Levi Building represents a rare opening in one of downtown San Diego’s most tightly held hospitality corridors, offering the next operator a chance to inherit both the visibility and the expectations created by two of the city’s most recognizable bar concepts.
Caffe Calabria (3933 30th Street, North Park) - The longtime home of Caffe Calabria on 30th Street stands as one of the most culturally and commercially significant restaurant properties in San Diego’s North Park, tying together decades of neighborhood history with a rare real estate opportunity that has now hit the market. Founded by Seattle native Arne Holt after he moved to San Diego in the early 1990s and famously could not find a proper latte anywhere in town, Caffe Calabria began humbly as an espresso cart at Grossmont Hospital before evolving into a full scale Italian influenced coffeehouse, roastery, and community anchor that helped catalyze North Park’s transformation from a struggling commercial corridor into one of the city’s most celebrated dining neighborhoods. Holt’s obsession with European coffee culture, precision roasting, and authenticity shaped not just Calabria’s espresso program but also its physical space, which became a gathering point for locals, creatives, and restaurateurs long before North Park’s current boom, with Holt often credited as one of the earliest dominoes to fall in the district’s revival alongside places like The Mission.
After more than three decades of operation and influence, the iconic former bank building that housed Calabria is now listed for sale as a trophy asset by Next Wave Commercial. Priced at $6.3 million and marketed as a once in a generation opportunity to plant a flag at the intersection of 30th Street and University Avenue, this area is widely regarded as the epicenter of North Park’s dining and nightlife scene. The property includes approximately 15,690 square feet spread across a 6,620 square foot ground floor, a 2,450 square foot second level, and a full basement of equal size, with soaring ceiling heights, exposed brick and concrete, a wood truss roof, two story rear patio, sidewalk seating, and a parklet, all wrapped within zoning that allows for significant redevelopment or continued hospitality use. Importantly, the sale includes a full Type 47 liquor license with 2am hours, dramatically increasing the site’s value and flexibility for a future operator seeking to open a signature restaurant, bar driven concept, entertainment venue, or hospitality headquarters in one of the most supply constrained submarkets in the county. Positioned directly across from Leila Mediterranean and surrounded by some of San Diego’s most acclaimed restaurants, coffee shops, and bars, the former Caffe Calabria building is being pitched as both an owner user opportunity and a long term investment play, carrying not just the physical infrastructure for a major concept but also the intangible weight of legacy in a neighborhood where history, foot traffic, and cultural relevance still matter.
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Dreamboat & Vulture (4608-4610 Park Boulevard, University Heights) - The striking two story building on Park Boulevard in University Heights, went on the market just months after opening, has become the latest flashpoint in San Diego’s increasingly uneasy restaurant real estate landscape. The property is home to vegan sister concepts Dreamboat Diner and Vulture, which debuted in May and June 2025 respectively after a painstaking five year renovation led by owner Kory Stetina and designed by New York based Home Studios. The project was conceived as one of the city’s most ambitious plant-based dining investments, pairing a retro inspired daytime diner and coffee shop downstairs with an avant garde, reservation driven vegan supper club and bar upstairs, all positioned directly beneath the iconic University Heights sign at one of the neighborhood’s most visible intersections. Despite early buzz, dramatic interiors, and industry pedigree that includes a partnership with Arsalun Tafazoli of Consortium Holdings outside of his CH Projects portfolio, the realities of the current market appear to be catching up quickly.
A Retail Insite listing published in November shows the fully renovated 4,460 square foot building available for sale as a turnkey restaurant asset, touting two separate kitchens, common restrooms, dual premium sound systems, minimal on site parking, and flexibility for either a single flagship operator or dual concepts under one roof. The listing emphasizes the pristine 2025 buildout, high end finishes, upstairs space suitable for private dining or alternative uses, and zoning that allows for continued restaurant operation in a dense, affluent corridor bridging North Park, Hillcrest, and University Heights. The timing of the sale is impossible to ignore. After acquiring the property during the pandemic and investing years into redevelopment, the decision to market the building before the concepts have reached their first anniversary underscores the mounting pressure facing even well capitalized, design forward restaurants. In October, the Dreamboat and Vulture team publicly acknowledged tougher than expected conditions in a candid social media post that stopped short of announcing closure but made clear the financial strain of operating in today’s environment. While the listing itself does not signal an imminent shutdown and both restaurants remain open, it introduces multiple possible outcomes including a sale to an owner user who keeps the concepts intact, a new operator bringing different brands into the space, or a full reset that treats the building as a rare turnkey restaurant shell in one of central San Diego’s most competitive submarkets.
Shores Diner (105 Eucalyptus Grove Lane, UCSD) - The restaurant space now occupied by Shores American Diner on the University of California San Diego campus carries one of the more turbulent recent operating histories of any high-profile food-and-beverage location in San Diego County, making its appearance as a current for-sale listing particularly striking. The building most famously housed Porter’s Pub from 1993 until 2015, when the longtime campus fixture closed and the lease was later awarded to Consortium Holdings, led by UCSD alumnus Arsalun Tafazoli. Consortium embarked on a costly and prolonged redevelopment of the roughly 14,000-square-foot venue, first opening Soda & Swine in 2019 after a reported $2 million buildout, only to abandon the concept within two years. What followed was a rapid-fire sequence of rebrands that struggled to gain traction in the campus environment, including Uncle Italian in 2021 and a neon-heavy Underbelly location in fall 2022, neither of which survived a full academic year. In early 2024, the space finally stabilized under new operators when Dirty Birds co-founder Adam Jacoby and operating partner Paul Cagnina took over the lease and opened Shores American Diner, positioning the concept as a student- and faculty-friendly all-day diner with breakfast, comfort food classics, desserts, and alcohol service.
Despite the apparent operational reset, the underlying real estate has now surfaced as a second-generation restaurant opportunity being marketed by Next Wave Commercial, with an asking price of $199,000 for the fully fixturized premises, which includes an expansive bar, equipped kitchen, dining room, exclusive patio, and access to shared event space within the UCSD Student Center. The offering highlights a Type 41 ABC license, existing FF&E, and what brokers describe as a “simple conversion” opportunity for an experienced operator, all set within one of California’s most captive dining markets. UC San Diego enrolls more than 43,000 students, employs over 40,000 faculty and staff, and sees approximately 50,000 people on campus daily, many of whom remain on site throughout the day due to housing density, transit access via the Blue Line trolley, and restrictions on freshman car ownership. With on-campus student housing projected to grow significantly by 2030 and faculty and staff representing a third of daily campus headcount with higher disposable income, the listing underscores the long-term upside of the location—while its recent history serves as a reminder that even prime, high-traffic institutional sites can prove challenging without the right concept and operational fit.
Good Enough Cocktail Club/Basta (555 West Date Street, Little Italy) - The former Basta space within Piazza della Famiglia in San Diego’s Little Italy presents an unusual and closely watched listing, given that the location appears, at least on paper, to be simultaneously spoken for and publicly marketed. The 1,646-square-foot restaurant and cocktail bar space with an additional 700-square-foot patio was most recently home to Basta, the short-lived Italian wine bar concept from Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien and Grit & Grain Collective, which replaced Graze in 2024 before abruptly closing earlier this year alongside the sudden shutdown of the Little Italy Food Hall across the piazza. In August 2025, we reported that Tiger Hospitality’s Berke Bakay had taken control of the Basta space for the launch of Good Enough Cocktail Club, a hi-fi–inspired neighborhood cocktail bar operated day to day by Same Same founders Mike Mayaudon and Shawn Seaman, while Bakay simultaneously assumed the lease of the shuttered food hall directly across from Piazza della Famiglia for a full-scale redevelopment. That project, now underway, is being redesigned by BASILE Studio and is expected to reopen with multiple new food vendors and an indoor-outdoor bar concept in early 2026.
Against that backdrop, the appearance of the Basta space as an active “for lease” listing through Location Matters has raised questions within the local hospitality community, with some industry observers speculating that Tiger Hospitality may be operating under a short-term or preferential arrangement designed to keep the piazza active, animated, and revenue-generating during the food hall’s renovation period. The listing itself markets the space as a turnkey restaurant opportunity in one of Little Italy’s most trafficked locations, highlighting its proximity to Ironside, Morning Glory, and the twice-weekly Little Italy Mercato, as well as its ability to host large-scale events on Piazza della Famiglia. Rent is listed as negotiable, and the space is described as clean, modern, and easily adaptable, though the broader context suggests the availability may be more nuanced than a traditional vacancy. Whether the listing reflects a true opportunity for a new long-term tenant or a temporary marketing posture while the adjacent food hall transformation take shape remains unclear, but the situation underscores how tightly controlled and strategically managed prime Little Italy real estate has become as operators and landlords work to balance redevelopment timelines with maintaining constant foot traffic and district momentum.
The Cottage Encinitas (127 North El Camino Real, Encinitas) - The Encinitas location of The Cottage, the longtime breakfast and brunch institution with roots in La Jolla, is now being marketed for takeover while remaining open for business at 127 North El Camino Real, marking a notable shift for one of North County’s more recognizable daytime dining concepts. Founded in La Jolla in 1985 by Nanci Long and later expanded under owners Jason Peaslee and Bernardo Kanarek, The Cottage brought its familiar menu of comfort-driven breakfast and lunch fare to Encinitas in 2022, positioning itself within the Encinitas Village Shopping Center, a high-traffic retail hub anchored by multiple grocery stores, including a top-performing Trader Joe’s. After roughly two years in operation, the Encinitas outpost is now being offered as a fully built-out restaurant opportunity by Location Matters, signaling a strategic repositioning rather than an immediate closure.
The 3,500-square-foot space includes a modern, recent buildout with a fully fixturized kitchen and a sizable outdoor patio, allowing a new operator to step into a turnkey environment without the delays and costs associated with ground-up construction. The offering includes a Type 41 ABC license, permitting beer, wine, and spirits service both indoors and on the patio, and is structured with approximately 11 years remaining on the lease at an all-in monthly rent of $17,000, providing long-term stability in one of North County’s most supply-constrained retail corridors. Priced at $275,000 for the business assets, the listing is positioned to appeal to operators seeking immediate entry into Encinitas with an established footprint, strong surrounding demographics, and built-in daily traffic, whether through continuation of a breakfast-forward concept or a reimagined use of the space. While The Cottage brand continues to operate the restaurant during regular business hours, the listing underscores the ongoing recalibration taking place among even well-known San Diego dining institutions as operators reassess growth, footprint, and long-term positioning in an increasingly competitive market.
Cabo Cantina (1050 Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach) - The former Cabo Cantina space on Garnet Avenue in San Diego’s Pacific Beach has emerged as a notable restaurant vacancy, though new information suggests the site may be far less turnkey for nightlife operators than its physical buildout initially implies. Cabo Cantina, which operated at the address for nearly two decades after opening in 2006 under Sunset Restaurant Management Group, officially ended its run in February 2025, closing one of Pacific Beach’s longtime party oriented Mexican restaurant and bar concepts along Garnet Avenue. While the 3,600 square foot space retains a usable bar area, full size kitchen with hood and grease trap, outdoor patio, and five on site parking spaces, sources familiar with the closure say Cabo Cantina sold its full Type 47 liquor license to the nearby Pacific Beach location of The Crack Shack after shutting down. That transfer significantly alters the economics of the site, as any incoming operator seeking to run a full bar would now need to independently acquire a liquor license in Pacific Beach, a coastal market where licenses are scarce, expensive, and often tied up in long term operations. Without an existing Type 47 attached to the premises, the space is effectively limited to beer and wine service unless a buyer is willing to navigate the secondary liquor license market or secure a rare transfer, a reality that can deter bar focused concepts and materially reduce overall site value.
Franco Realty Group is currently marketing the property as a relet opportunity with negotiable lease terms under a triple net structure, emphasizing its high visibility to more than 30,000 cars per day, its open floor plan, and zoning flexibility that allows for a range of retail or restaurant uses beyond nightlife. Still, in a neighborhood where alcohol driven concepts have historically powered some of the highest sales volumes, the absence of a full liquor license reshapes the pool of viable tenants and helps explain why the space remains available despite its prime Garnet Avenue frontage and deep operating history as a bar.
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Breakfast Republic (3685 Fifth Avenue, Hillcrest) - The former Breakfast Republic space in Hillcrest has now transitioned from a quiet closure into a high profile mixed use real estate opportunity, underscoring the broader retrenchment of Rise and Shine Hospitality Group as its once aggressive expansion strategy continues to unwind. The Hillcrest location, which opened in late 2021 inside the long vacant former Tractor Room, shut down without formal announcement in June 2025, joining a growing list of Rise and Shine concepts that have disappeared across San Diego County in recent years. That list includes Breakfast Republic outposts in La Jolla and Carmel Valley, Fig Tree Cafe in Mission Valley, a reworked East Village location, and earlier closures such as El Jardin, Como Ceviche, and the short lived Breakfast Company flagship in North Park. While founder Johan Engman built a national reputation on rapid brand scaling and heavy media attention, the Hillcrest closure added fuel to criticism that the group expanded faster than it could sustainably operate, particularly as labor costs, rent, and competition intensified. The Fifth Avenue shutdown came amid growing scrutiny of the brand following health related enforcement issues at its Pacific Beach and North Park locations and has left locals questioning whether Rise and Shine is now in contraction mode rather than growth.
The property itself is now being marketed by Next Wave Commercial as a rare Hillcrest mixed use asset available for sale or lease, combining a fully built out restaurant and bar with two renovated residential units above. The offering includes approximately 1,800 square feet of interior restaurant space paired with roughly 1,500 square feet of front and rear patio areas and an additional three room office, creating a flexible footprint well suited for a neighborhood driven concept or hospitality operator looking for outdoor seating capacity. Two one bedroom apartments, each currently leased and generating income, can either remain tenant occupied or help offset ownership costs for a buyer. The site sits on a roughly 5,000 square foot lot zoned CC 3 10 and is surrounded by significant residential growth, with more than 1,000 new apartments planned or under construction in the immediate area. A Type 47 full liquor license is available separately, adding further value for operators seeking late night or bar driven programming in a corridor already anchored by concepts like Hash House, Cocina de Barrio, Bahn Thai, and Commons Stock. With a sale price of $2.35 million and lease terms offered as negotiable, the former Breakfast Republic location now stands less as a symbol of brunch brand fatigue and more as a reset opportunity in one of San Diego’s most vibrant and fast densifying neighborhoods, where the next operator may benefit from both built in foot traffic and a community increasingly hungry for something new and locally rooted.
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A Little Moore Cafe (698 North Coast Highway 101, Encinitas) - The Leucadia restaurant space on North Coast Highway 101, most recently occupied by the revived A Little Moore Café, has re-entered the market carrying both the emotional weight of a beloved neighborhood institution and the unresolved legal baggage of its short-lived comeback. Originally reopened in January 2025 by Encinitas natives and longtime friends Andy Vasquez and Deon Dickey after they acquired the brand and intellectual property from former owners Chang and Misan Han, the return of A Little Moore Café was framed as a community-driven effort to preserve a local breakfast icon that had lost its original lease in 2023. The partners salvaged vintage booths, stools, and décor from the original location, rebuilt the space from the ground up inside the Shatto Building along Highway 101, and relaunched with a menu blending classic diner fare and modern brunch offerings, with plans for beer, wine, and mimosa service. Less than a year later, the café shuttered without a public farewell, and subsequent reporting revealed that the closure followed a bitter fallout between the owners that has since spilled into civil court. According to filings in Vista Superior Court, Vasquez and Dickey, who formed an LLC in March 2023 and reopened the café under a formal operating agreement that also included the Winter family trust, are now suing one another amid allegations of improper removal as manager, failure to follow governance procedures, withheld credentials, unpaid seller-financed obligations totaling $175,000, and claims of defamatory statements made to employees and the landlord.
With the business closed and the dispute unresolved, the fully built-out restaurant is now being marketed by Next Wave Commercial as a turnkey opportunity, offering approximately 1,325 square feet of interior space plus a 780-square-foot patio, a brand-new kitchen, all furniture, fixtures, and equipment, and a Type 41 ABC license included in the sale. The lease carries base rent of $7,825 per month with roughly three years remaining and a five-year renewal option, while the asking price is set at $325,000. Brokers are pitching the property as a rare plug-and-play café or fast-casual opportunity along one of North County’s most coveted coastal corridors, citing Leucadia’s high-income demographics, limited restaurant inventory, and sustained foot traffic along Highway 101. Still, the listing also stands as a cautionary tale: even in one of San Diego County’s most desirable dining neighborhoods, nostalgia, community goodwill, and fresh buildouts can be quickly undone by internal conflict and the unforgiving economics of modern restaurant operations, leaving behind a pristine space for the next operator to inherit.
Flap Your Jacks (3020 University Avenue, North Park) - The former home of Flap Your Jacks in San Diego’s North Park has now officially entered the commercial market, marking the end of a distinctive five and a half year run for one of the neighborhood’s most unconventional brunch concepts and opening the door for a new operator to take over a highly visible, fully built out restaurant space just steps from the district’s busiest intersection. Flap Your Jacks launched in March 2020 under brothers Ilan and Marcos Wornovitzky alongside hospitality veteran Raul Esses, debuting just days before pandemic shutdowns began, yet managed to survive and ultimately thrive through years of uncertainty by leaning into its interactive do it yourself pancake model that allowed guests to cook custom pancakes on tabletop griddles. The 4,200 square foot restaurant quickly became known for its playful design, including an art installation of hundreds of suspended spatulas, a mezzanine level for large parties, and a syrup dripping facade that turned the building itself into a recognizable North Park landmark. Beyond pancakes, the restaurant built a broad brunch audience with chilaquiles, Benedicts, sandwiches, cocktails, vegan and gluten free options, and fresh juices, making it a popular destination for families, celebrations, and weekend crowds.
After announcing a sudden closure in late September 2025, the space is now being offered for lease by Next Wave Commercial as a second generation restaurant opportunity spanning approximately 5,098 square feet plus a sidewalk patio, with ceiling heights reaching 25 feet, a full kitchen, extensive ventilation infrastructure, and all existing furniture and equipment available for use by an incoming tenant. The offering also includes access to a full Type 47 liquor license available for purchase, significantly increasing the appeal for operators seeking to open a bar forward or nightlife driven concept in one of San Diego’s most competitive dining corridors. Adding further flexibility, the listing includes a bonus adjacent suite at 3018 University Avenue of roughly 709 square feet that could support a second concept, private dining room, bar extension, or sublease opportunity. Positioned half a block from the intersection of 30th Street and University Avenue and surrounded by some of the city’s most acclaimed restaurants, bars, and retailers, the former Flap Your Jacks building represents a rare chance to step directly into a freestanding, modern restaurant footprint in the heart of North Park, a neighborhood where demand for turnkey hospitality space continues to far exceed supply.
Sandpiper (2259 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla Shores) - The prime La Jolla Shores restaurant space is once again coming to market following the impending closure of Sandpiper Wood Fired Grill & Oysters, marking the latest chapter in a high profile but challenging address just blocks from the beach. Sandpiper, operated by George Hauer and chef partner Trey Foshee of the acclaimed George’s at the Cove, closed on November 1 after a four year run that followed the earlier demise of Galaxy Taco in the same footprint. Galaxy Taco, launched in 2015 with national attention for its house made masa program and ambitious culinary vision, never gained lasting traction in La Jolla Shores, and Sandpiper was introduced in 2021 as a more neighborhood focused California grill centered on oysters and a wood burning hearth. Despite strong culinary credentials and the reputation of its ownership team, Sandpiper struggled to overcome the realities of the location, which sits slightly removed from the heavier pedestrian flow of La Jolla Village, and the decision not to renew the lease had been circulating within the industry for months. Foshee has pushed back on the narrative of failure, noting that the lease ran through the end of the year and that personal milestones and long term lease commitments factored into the decision, while emphasizing the operational successes, workforce development, and survival through the pandemic.
With Sandpiper’s exit, the fully renovated space is now being marketed by Capital Growth Properties as a rare turnkey restaurant and bar opportunity in one of San Diego’s most affluent coastal neighborhoods. The listing highlights approximately 4,775 square feet of interior space plus a furnished outdoor patio, a Type 47 full liquor license included, and a modernized buildout with high end finishes and a fully equipped kitchen featuring extensive cooking infrastructure. The property is offered for lease or sale at a negotiable price, with rental terms also negotiable plus expenses, and includes all owned furniture, fixtures, and major equipment, excluding the prior brand and menu. Positioned on the main entrance into La Jolla Shores and surrounded by beachgoers, hotels, and local retail, the offering is pitched toward experienced hospitality operators seeking a plug and play venue in a notoriously supply constrained coastal submarket. While the address carries the weight of two ambitious concepts that failed to fully connect with diners, it remains one of the most compelling restaurant opportunities near the beach, and its availability once again raises the question of what concept might finally crack the code at this highly visible but historically challenging La Jolla Shores location.
Hive Sushi (1065 14th Street, East Village) - The longtime East Village home of Hive Sushi Lounge has officially entered a new phase after the restaurant closed following a 24 year run, opening the door for a significant restaurant real estate opportunity in one of downtown San Diego’s fastest densifying corridors. Hive Sushi first opened in 2000 under founder Milos Jahudka, initially operating as a drum and bass lounge before evolving into a well regarded Japanese restaurant that, for more than a decade, was widely considered one of the neighborhood’s most reliable sushi destinations. In late 2021, Jahudka sold the business to the ownership group behind nearby Social Tap Eatery, and while Hive continued operating under the same name, the area around it began changing rapidly with an explosion of new residential towers, student housing, and mixed use development tied to Petco Park and San Diego City College. The restaurant ultimately closed in October 2024, thanking patrons for decades of support and marking the end of an era for a space that had become deeply woven into East Village nightlife and dining culture. In its final chapter, the restaurant also served as the home base for pop up concept Omakase By Ambrely, a high end tasting experience led by Chef Ambrely Ouimette, formerly of Sushi Bar ATX in Austin.
With Hive shuttered, the property at 1065 14th Street is being marketed by Next Wave Commercial as a fully built out sushi restaurant and lounge available for sale or lease, offering approximately 3,000 square feet of interior space plus a sidewalk patio in a location surrounded by thousands of existing and planned residential units. The offering includes all existing furniture, fixtures, and equipment such as a full bar, refrigeration, and kitchen infrastructure, and features a flexible layout with two storefronts including a corner entrance and a secondary entrance on C Street that could support dual concepts with a shared kitchen. A large rear prep area provides additional adaptability for alternative uses, catering operations, or reconfiguration. While the space previously operated with a full liquor license, it is currently unlicensed, with brokers advising interested parties to inquire directly regarding ABC options. The property is zoned CCPD ER and sits directly across from San Diego City College, placing it in front of roughly 15,000 students and faculty, while also benefiting from nearby developments that will soon bring thousands more residents within walking distance. Offered at a sale price of $1.7 million or a lease rate of $7,900 per month plus NNN, the former Hive Sushi Lounge now stands as a rare second generation restaurant opportunity in East Village, where the next operator will inherit not only a turnkey buildout but a location positioned at the center of downtown San Diego’s ongoing residential and commercial transformation.
Corazon del Barrio (2186 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan) - The former home of Corazon del Barrio is on the commercial market, marking a significant inflection point for one of Barrio Logan’s most culturally relevant live music and nightlife spaces of the past decade. Long known as a community anchored venue hosting local and touring acts, DJ nights, and neighborhood driven events, Corazon del Barrio played a meaningful role in shaping Logan Avenue’s evolution from an overlooked industrial strip into a legitimate nightlife corridor. The space is now being marketed by Fine Properties International as a former bar and drinking establishment relet, signaling a clean break from its prior identity and opening the door for a new operator to redefine the address.
According to the listing, the roughly 2,700 square foot ground floor space is fully built out for bar or restaurant use, featuring high ceilings, a spacious open layout, and a Type 41 ABC license already in place, allowing immediate beer and wine service without the delays and expense of new licensing. The property sits along one of Barrio Logan’s busiest corridors, with strong walkability, near freeway access, and surrounding amenities that continue to draw both locals and destination traffic tied to Chicano Park, nearby breweries, and the area’s growing reputation for music forward concepts. Lease terms are listed as negotiable under a triple net structure, with pricing referenced at approximately $2.90 per square foot, positioning the space as a rare opportunity to step into a proven nightlife footprint without starting from scratch.
Enlitenment ( 827 Fifth Avenue, Gaslamp) - The former home of Enlitenment on Fifth Avenue in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter has reentered the commercial market, capping a turbulent and short lived chapter for a highly ambitious restaurant and nightlife concept that once promised to bring a zen inspired Asian fusion experience to one of downtown’s most heavily trafficked corridors. Enlitenment was launched by first time restaurateur Carmen Lindinger, who took over the prominent Fifth Avenue space previously occupied by Urban Bar and Grill and Inka’s after extensive travel throughout Asia inspired a vision blending modern minimalism with traditional Asian design elements. When it debuted in mid 2024, the concept featured a striking interior complete with an indoor zen garden, swing seating, lantern lit sunken tables, and a front sidewalk patio designed to draw in Gaslamp foot traffic, alongside a menu of Asian fusion dishes such as bao bun tacos, satay inspired sandwiches, and bulgogi marinated steak, paired with craft cocktails, yuzu accented old fashioneds, matcha pina coladas, and boozy boba teas. The project also teased an eventual basement speakeasy component, signaling aspirations beyond a standard bar and restaurant. However, just weeks after opening, the business was overshadowed by serious legal issues when Lindinger was criminally charged following an alleged assault on a consulting chef, an incident that reportedly left the victim with severe injuries including fractured ribs and a punctured lung. The highly publicized case brought abrupt scrutiny to the operation and effectively stalled the momentum of a concept that had barely found its footing.
The space is now being marketed by Next Wave Commercial as a second generation restaurant and bar opportunity encompassing approximately 4,400 square feet on the ground floor with an additional roughly 3,000 square feet of basement storage space that includes refrigeration, offering substantial back of house capacity for a high volume operator. The listing highlights an open floor plan, existing kitchen infrastructure with hood, an outdoor sidewalk patio, and a functional layout that could be adapted relatively easily for a new hospitality concept. Positioned directly on Fifth Avenue, the Gaslamp Quarter’s primary nightlife artery, the property benefits from proximity to the San Diego Convention Center, Petco Park, and thousands of nearby hotel rooms, as well as the forthcoming Campus at Horton development that is expected to further increase daytime and evening traffic in the area. With rent listed as negotiable and brokers emphasizing the simplicity of conversion for an experienced operator, the former Enlitenment space now stands as a high profile but cautionary opportunity, offering prime location and scale while carrying the recent history of a concept whose rapid rise and equally rapid unraveling underscore the volatility of opening ambitious nightlife driven restaurants in downtown San Diego.
Black Market Bakery (4686 30th Street, North Park) - The former home of Blackmarket Bakery in San Diego’s North Park is now on the market following the abrupt closure of the once beloved bakery, marking the end of the brand’s physical presence in Southern California and opening the door to a highly coveted café opportunity in one of the city’s most competitive dining corridors. Blackmarket Bakery officially shut down its North Park location in early September 2025 after customers were met with a handwritten notice announcing an early closure and a permanent shutdown the following day, a move that came just weeks after the company closed its Oceanside and Costa Mesa shops and filed for Chapter Eleven bankruptcy protection in federal court. Founded by CIA trained pastry chef Rachel Klemek, the brand built a loyal following with nostalgic baked goods like house made Pop Tarts, croissant breakfast sandwiches, and its signature two tone chocolate chip cookies, with the North Park café serving as the final holdout after years of regional expansion.
The space itself had long been considered prime real estate, offering nearly three thousand square feet when including its expansive outdoor seating area and benefiting from constant pedestrian traffic along one of North Park’s busiest commercial stretches. According to a new listing from Next Wave Commercial, the property is being offered as a turnkey café and bakery opportunity with an asking price of one hundred seventy five thousand dollars, and includes all owned furniture, fixtures, and equipment, along with a newly available lease for the incoming operator. The layout is described as efficient and fully equipped, with a large patio that significantly enhances its appeal in a neighborhood where outdoor seating remains a major draw. While no official successor has been announced, industry chatter suggests that a prominent local restaurant group is already circling the address, underscoring the continued demand for well positioned hospitality spaces in North Park despite the volatility that has claimed even well known brands. The closure of Blackmarket Bakery represents a dramatic fall for a company that was expanding not long ago, but the listing ensures that its former café will quickly move into a new chapter, likely with an experienced operator eager to capitalize on a location that remains one of the most visible and desirable corners in San Diego’s dining landscape.
Lemonade (3958 Fifth Avenue, Hillcrest) - The former Hillcrest home of Lemonade on Fifth Avenue is now being offered as a prime restaurant opportunity following the closure of the Los Angeles–based comfort food chain’s nine-year run in the neighborhood. Lemonade, founded in 2008 by chef Alan Jackson and Ian Olsen, built its reputation around a modern fast-casual model emphasizing seasonal, California-inspired comfort dishes served cafeteria-style, and expanded into San Diego in 2015 with locations in Hillcrest and later Westfield UTC. While the La Jolla outpost remains open, the Hillcrest restaurant shuttered in August 2024, leaving behind a highly visible, purpose-built space along one of the city’s busiest dining corridors.
The roughly 2,790-square-foot restaurant is now being marketed for lease by Location Matters, with a layout still configured for high-volume fast-casual service, including stainless steel cafeteria counters, floor-to-ceiling front windows, and prominent signage opportunities along Fifth Avenue. According to the listing, the space remains in excellent condition and includes a fully fixturized kitchen outfitted with a hood system, pizza oven, multiple prep and wash stations, walk-in coolers, and ample storage, making it especially attractive to operators looking to avoid a costly buildout. With rent listed as negotiable, the offering positions the former Lemonade space as a flexible entry point into Hillcrest for fast-casual, café, or streamlined full-service concepts seeking strong pedestrian traffic, dense surrounding residential demand, and immediate visibility in one of San Diego’s most competitive restaurant districts.
Belching Beavery Brewery Tasting Room (4223 30th Street, North Park) - Belching Beaver’s North Park tasting room remains open for now, but the writing is clearly on the wall as the iconic corner building has hit the market for lease, underscoring the brewery’s intent to exit the space rather than reinvest in it. According to the listing by Urban West Ventures, the 5,900 square-foot building, which includes an additional 1,600 square-foot fenced outdoor patio, is available either as a full single tenant opportunity or subdivided into suites. The property is one of North Park’s most recognizable commercial landmarks, anchored by the massive “Greetings from San Diego” mural at the intersection of 30th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, and is outfitted with features that make it unusually flexible for hospitality use, including two built out bars, four restrooms, glass roll up garage doors, exposed wood ceilings, 20 foot warehouse style ceiling heights, gas service, and 600 amp three phase power.
The space was purpose built to house a brewery tasting room and coffee roastery, meaning much of the expensive infrastructure required for alcohol service is already in place, which only amplifies the significance of Belching Beaver’s decision not to renew its lease. Publicly, the company has cited parking reductions tied to bike lane installations as a key factor in its eventual departure, while privately, the listing makes clear that the landlord sees far broader potential for the site as a restaurant, bar, distillery, gallery, or creative concept surrounded by thousands of nearby residents and new mixed use developments. While Belching Beaver has stated it is actively searching for another North Park location and plans a farewell celebration at some point this year, the availability of this building for the first time in over a decade signals a major shift for one of the neighborhood’s early craft beer anchors, and positions this corner as one of the most consequential restaurant and bar vacancies to emerge in North Park in years, regardless of exactly when the brewery ultimately turns out the lights.
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Freds Mexican Cafe (2470-2474 San Diego Avenue, Old Town) - The former Fred’s Mexican Cafe space in Old Town is now formally on the market, and the listing clarifies just how ambitious and complicated any replacement deal was always going to be after a Tacos El Franc takeover failed to materialize. Marketed by Retail Insite, the property at encompasses roughly 9,590 square feet within an 11,997 square foot building, making it one of the largest single restaurant footprints in Old Town, complete with a large open covered patio for outdoor dining and a basement level that includes a second kitchen, a rare and operationally significant feature in a tightly regulated historic district. The space is fully built out as a second generation restaurant and café, with zoning that allows food and beverage use, and it also offers flexibility to split off a highly visible 1,956 square foot front dining room as a standalone retail or light food concept, a detail that suggests ownership is prioritizing optionality over a single marquee tenant after the collapse of the rumored deal.
The scale, layout, and infrastructure explain why Tacos El Franc was reportedly interested in the first place, as the venue aligns with its high volume operating model, but they also underscore why inserting a Michelin recognized street taco brand into Old Town was always going to be a delicate fit, both politically and operationally. With rent listed as available upon request, lease terms negotiable, and availability projected within thirty days, the listing now positions the former Fred’s as a blank slate for a deep pocketed operator willing to navigate Old Town’s tourism driven economics, preservation scrutiny, and city oversight. What remains clear is that replacing a 25 year institution like Fred’s is not simply a matter of plugging in another Mexican concept, and the sheer size and complexity of the space may ultimately narrow the field to only a handful of groups capable of executing without repeating the missteps that stalled the previous would be takeover.
Cass St. Bar & Harry's Taco Club (5049 Newport Avenue, Ocean Beach) - The collapse of Cass Street Bar and Harry’s Taco Shop in OB was not just conceptually idiotic, it was made even more indefensible given how strong the underlying real estate actually was, which makes the failure sting that much harder. This was a highly visible Newport Avenue storefront in the heart of Ocean Beach with heavy daily foot traffic just a block from the beach, a full restaurant buildout, bar infrastructure, and a layout that could have supported a genuinely neighborhood driven concept tailored to OB’s fiercely independent culture. Instead of respecting the asset, the operator torched it by forcing in a Pacific Beach bar clone and a redundant taco concept that directly cannibalized his own business at Mike's Taco Club across the street. According to the listing, the space was fully built out for restaurant use, offered solid street presence, and sat on one of OB’s most commercially viable stretches, meaning the location itself was never the problem.
The problem was the astonishing lack of judgment layered on top of it. Replicating a PB neighborhood bar in Ocean Beach was already bad enough, but doing it while planting Harry’s Taco Club directly across from Mike’s Taco Club, which itself is a thinly veiled Oscar’s Mexican Seafood knockoff, crossed from poor strategy into outright self sabotage. Customers were essentially asked to choose between the same tacos sold by the same owner on opposite sides of the street, while OB regulars watched yet another outsider try to impose a foreign identity on their neighborhood. We warned the owner, clearly and repeatedly, that this was one of the dumbest ideas I had ever seen in San Diego hospitality, and he did it anyway. The result was not surprising. It was inevitable. This was a prime restaurant space wasted on ego, laziness, and a complete misunderstanding of place, and the listing that follows only confirmz the obvious truth that the real estate deserved far better than the catastrophically bad decisions made inside it.
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619 Spirits (3015 Lincoln Avenue, North Park) - The longtime home of 619 Spirits in North Park is now being offered for sale, marking a significant moment for a San Diego craft spirits pioneer as the company prepares to relocate and dramatically expand elsewhere in the neighborhood. Founded in 2012 by Nick Apostolopoulos, 619 Spirits helped define the modern era of urban distilling in San Diego, operating for more than a decade out of its compact Lincoln Avenue space after successfully pushing for changes in California law that allowed distilleries to host tasting rooms, sell bottles directly to consumers, and operate full bar and food programs. That regulatory shift turned the original North Park location into far more than a production facility, evolving it into a beloved neighborhood bar and restaurant known for cane sugar based vodka, inventive infusions, and a hyper local beverage philosophy that relied exclusively on Southern California spirits. As Apostolopoulos now pursues a major relocation to a much larger El Cajon Boulevard site through a community backed investment campaign, the original Lincoln Avenue property has emerged as a rare turn key distillery and restaurant opportunity in the heart of North Park.
According to the Next Wave Commercial listing, the freestanding building totals approximately 2,477 square feet plus patio space, with a functional sit down restaurant and bar layout, all existing furniture, fixtures, and equipment included in the sale, and approved patio expansion plans that transfer with the leasehold. The asking price is listed at $215,000, with rent set at approximately $8,000 per month plus expenses, and a remaining lease term of three years with extensions available. Surrounded by some of North Park’s most in demand dining and nightlife destinations, including Leila, Happy Medium, Encontro, and Part Time Lover, the property offers a plug and play opportunity for an experienced operator looking to step into a proven hospitality footprint in one of San Diego’s most competitive restaurant corridors. While the listing is being marketed confidentially, the transition reflects a broader evolution for 619 Spirits as it outgrows its original home, leaving behind a space deeply woven into North Park’s craft beverage history and positioning a new operator to inherit a location that helped shape the city’s distillery friendly landscape.
Taken together, these listings paint a clear picture: San Diego’s hospitality market is not collapsing, but it is recalibrating. Operators are shedding underperforming locations, landlords are repositioning legacy spaces, and brokers are offering some of the most coveted restaurant real estate in the region to the next generation of concepts.
For chefs, restaurateurs, and hospitality groups willing to navigate rising costs and shifting consumer behavior, this moment represents one of the most opportunity-rich windows San Diego has seen in years.
For chefs, restaurateurs, and hospitality groups willing to navigate rising costs and shifting consumer behavior, this moment represents one of the most opportunity-rich windows San Diego has seen in years.
Originally published on January 14, 2026.
