After years of anticipation and construction delays, chef Phillip Esteban’s Wildflour restaurant in Liberty Station has ended its run only a year after finally opening, with the space now undergoing a remodel tied to a new operating partner and an incoming steakhouse concept.
The restaurant at 2690 Historic Decatur Road in Liberty Station’s Arts District had recently appeared inactive on reservation platforms and "temporarily closed: on Yelp, prompting speculation that the concept had closed entirely. At the same time, online chatter began circulating about a new concept called Grandson Steaks opening at the same address.
When contacted by SanDiegoVille, Esteban said Wildflour has not permanently closed but is temporarily shut down while the restaurant undergoes renovations tied to a new partnership with the steakhouse. Semantics abound, the reality is Esteban's California delicatessen is no more.
“We have a new operating partner,” Esteban told SanDiegoVille, adding that the steakhouse concept is affiliated with that partner and that the new restaurant is expected to open on March 21 following a light remodel.
The quick turnaround is notable given how long the project took to reach opening day in the first place. Wildflour had been publicly discussed for several years and was originally anticipated to debut well before 2025 as construction delays repeatedly pushed back the timeline. By the time the restaurant finally opened in Liberty Station earlier in 2025, it had already been framed as one of Esteban’s most ambitious independent projects.
The large-format restaurant was designed as an all-day concept combining bakery, deli counter, coffee program, cocktails, and dinner service inside a renovated Barracks 19 space with extensive patio seating. Given the size of the buildout and the fact that the restaurant has been operating for less than a year, the need for a remodel so soon after opening raises questions about how dramatically the concept may be changing as the new partner steps in.
The restaurant at 2690 Historic Decatur Road in Liberty Station’s Arts District had recently appeared inactive on reservation platforms and "temporarily closed: on Yelp, prompting speculation that the concept had closed entirely. At the same time, online chatter began circulating about a new concept called Grandson Steaks opening at the same address.
When contacted by SanDiegoVille, Esteban said Wildflour has not permanently closed but is temporarily shut down while the restaurant undergoes renovations tied to a new partnership with the steakhouse. Semantics abound, the reality is Esteban's California delicatessen is no more.
“We have a new operating partner,” Esteban told SanDiegoVille, adding that the steakhouse concept is affiliated with that partner and that the new restaurant is expected to open on March 21 following a light remodel.
The quick turnaround is notable given how long the project took to reach opening day in the first place. Wildflour had been publicly discussed for several years and was originally anticipated to debut well before 2025 as construction delays repeatedly pushed back the timeline. By the time the restaurant finally opened in Liberty Station earlier in 2025, it had already been framed as one of Esteban’s most ambitious independent projects.
The large-format restaurant was designed as an all-day concept combining bakery, deli counter, coffee program, cocktails, and dinner service inside a renovated Barracks 19 space with extensive patio seating. Given the size of the buildout and the fact that the restaurant has been operating for less than a year, the need for a remodel so soon after opening raises questions about how dramatically the concept may be changing as the new partner steps in.
Wildflour’s positioning as a “California delicatessen” also raised eyebrows among some longtime Liberty Station regulars because the concept opened directly across Historic Decatur Road from Con Pane Rustic Breads & Café, one of San Diego’s most respected and long-running artisan bakeries and delis. Con Pane has operated variations of its bread-driven café concept for more than two decades and is widely credited with helping define the kind of California-style deli and bakery Wildflour appeared to be chasing. For some observers, launching a similar concept within steps of such an established local institution felt less like a bold culinary statement and more like an unusually direct attempt to compete with a neighborhood original.
Esteban, a San Diego native, built his reputation working in several prominent kitchens, including David Chang’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York, Nine-Ten in La Jolla, and with local hospitality group Consortium Holdings, where he contributed to menu development for high-profile restaurants such as Born & Raised, Ironside Fish & Oyster, and Craft & Commerce. In recent years he has focused on building his own collection of restaurant concepts through his Open Gym hospitality umbrella, including the Filipino comfort food brand White Rice.
However, that expansion has not come without setbacks. Several White Rice locations that opened during the brand’s growth phase, including branches in National City, Liberty Station and Linda Vista, have since closed, leaving the Normal Heights White Rice Bodega as the concept’s primary standalone location. Against that backdrop, the swift reset at Wildflour represents another unexpected pivot for a project that had been promoted as a long-developing flagship restaurant.
Wildflour was located at 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Suite B, in San Diego’s Liberty Station Arts District. Grandson Steaks will soon open in the space. For more information, visit grandsonsteaks.com.
Esteban, a San Diego native, built his reputation working in several prominent kitchens, including David Chang’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York, Nine-Ten in La Jolla, and with local hospitality group Consortium Holdings, where he contributed to menu development for high-profile restaurants such as Born & Raised, Ironside Fish & Oyster, and Craft & Commerce. In recent years he has focused on building his own collection of restaurant concepts through his Open Gym hospitality umbrella, including the Filipino comfort food brand White Rice.
However, that expansion has not come without setbacks. Several White Rice locations that opened during the brand’s growth phase, including branches in National City, Liberty Station and Linda Vista, have since closed, leaving the Normal Heights White Rice Bodega as the concept’s primary standalone location. Against that backdrop, the swift reset at Wildflour represents another unexpected pivot for a project that had been promoted as a long-developing flagship restaurant.
Wildflour was located at 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Suite B, in San Diego’s Liberty Station Arts District. Grandson Steaks will soon open in the space. For more information, visit grandsonsteaks.com.
Originally published on March 12, 2026.
