The new project will replace longtime Bellamy's restaurant at 417 West Grand Avenue, which will remain open through the end of 2026 before closing for an approximately four- to six-week renovation. Grand Restaurant Group Chef Partner Alex Carballo told the San Diego Union-Tribune the team is targeting a late-winter opening for Bangers, providing substantially more detail about the project since SanDiegoVille first reported on it last week.
The forthcoming restaurant was initially quietly revealed in a Union-Tribune feature on Bent's approach to smoking food, which noted that after stepping away from the punishing restaurant grind and spending time consulting and running barbecue pop-ups at Aero Club, Bent was opening Bangers in the Bellamy's space. Now, Grand Restaurant Group has confirmed the transition and outlined an ambitious concept combining barbecue, cocktails, live music, sports and family-friendly entertainment.
The restaurant's name plays on the phrase "that's a banger," referring to either a great song selected by a DJ or a standout dish, Carballo explained. But Bangers will also embrace the more literal interpretation by making and smoking its own sausages.
The project reunites two longtime friends and collaborators. Carballo, who spent years as one of San Diego's better-known restaurant consultants before joining Grand Restaurant Group as chef partner last year, has previously hired Bent for menu-development work and described him to the Union-Tribune as both "a great chef" and "a good barbecue dude."
Bent, however, says Bangers will represent a deliberate departure from the highly specific Sonoran barbecue that defined his former restaurant Papalo. Instead, the new menu will center around Southwestern barbecue with California influences and touches of Northern Mexican flavor, providing a more recognizable framework while retaining Bent's distinctive cooking style.
"The Sonoran items were very specific and maybe a little heavy and hard for people to get their heads around," Bent told the Union-Tribune. "I think Southwestern barbecue makes more sense for the story we're telling."
Bent said he has learned to better balance his own creative instincts with what diners actually want, describing the evolution as understanding the public's tastes and "not being so punk rock."
Traditional barbecue staples will anchor the menu, but Bent also intends to experiment with less conventional cuts including picanha, tri-tip, skirt steak, hanger steak and chuck steak. Roasted pork shoulder, which he says has previously been particularly popular with diners, is also being considered. The menu remains in development and is expected to evolve through months of tastings before opening.
The restaurant itself will operate primarily as fast casual. Guests will order smoked meats, sandwiches, appetizers and sides at a counter before taking a number to their table, while a separate takeout window is also planned. Those wanting traditional table service will be able to sit at either of the restaurant's two bars.
Grand Restaurant Group beverage director Sean Ward is developing a full cocktail program expected to include approachable classics such as New Orleans-style Hurricanes and frozen "slushie" cocktails.
Bangers will also be considerably more than a barbecue counter. The restaurant is planned with approximately 44 indoor seats and another 86 seats on Bellamy's expansive 4,200-square-foot rear patio. The outdoor space will feature a large stage with an oversized LED video screen, televisions for sports, cornhole and other activities, while a dedicated game room is being developed for children. Live music is initially expected five nights per week.
For Bent, the project marks another significant chapter in a culinary career that has been both highly acclaimed and unusually nomadic.
Bent, a San Diego native and Art Institute of California graduate, spent years working through some of the region's better-known kitchens before establishing himself as a chef in his own right. His early résumé included Tender Greens, Tiger!Tiger!, Puesto, Carnitas' Snack Shack and Brian Malarkey-associated restaurants including Searsucker. In 2015, he joined Puesto as sous chef at The Headquarters.
His education extended well beyond San Diego. Bent spent time cooking at Alice Waters' legendary Chez Panisse in Berkeley and in 2017 landed a coveted position at René Redzepi's Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum after reportedly contacting Redzepi directly through Instagram. During the same period, he also worked with chef Luis Arellano at Enrique Olvera's Criollo in Oaxaca while developing a Mexican-focused restaurant project back home.
That project became Lola 55. Bent joined owner Frank Vizcarra as executive chef and partner in the ambitious East Village taqueria, helping develop its menu and concept before the restaurant opened in 2018. Lola 55 quickly distinguished itself from San Diego's crowded taco field with mesquite-grilled meats, non-GMO corn tortillas made throughout the day and unusually elaborate compositions more closely resembling composed restaurant dishes than conventional street tacos.
During Bent's tenure, Lola 55 earned Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand recognition, an award reserved for restaurants offering particularly strong food at comparatively accessible prices. Bent's public profile expanded further in 2021 when he defeated celebrity chef Bobby Flay on Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay.
By the following year, however, Bent parted ways with Lola 55 without explanation and pursued the opening of his own concept. That decision launched what would become a winding journey through multiple versions and locations of his barbecue ambitions.
The first iteration, Papalito, opened in 2022 inside Little Thief wine bar in North Park. Bent described the restaurant as a sandwich-oriented precursor to Papalo, a larger concept built around Sonoran barbecue and flavors of the desert Southwest. A separate Papalo location was initially planned for South Park as part of Bock Bar, but that project never materialized. Papalito itself ended its North Park run in 2023, and Bent shifted the barbecue operation downtown.
Papalo next became the food component inside ModBom Cocktails, a sprawling East Village bar that replaced Amplified Ale Works near Fault Line Park. That partnership lasted only about six months before Bent removed Papalo from the business despite what SanDiegoVille previously reported was a multi-year contractual arrangement.
ModBom itself collapsed shortly afterward and closed in fall 2023. Former employees later accused ModBom ownership of failing to provide W-2 tax forms, while vendors alleged unpaid invoices and questions were raised about gratuity payments. Those accusations concerned ModBom ownership rather than Bent, whose Papalo operation had already separated from the business before the bar closed.
Bent then moved Papalo again, taking over the former Boss Bird Kitchen space in downtown La Mesa in November 2023 and finally establishing the concept as a standalone restaurant. There, his unusual approach began receiving national attention.
Rather than attempting to reproduce Texas, Carolina or Kansas City barbecue, Bent described Papalo as "Sonoran" barbecue inspired by the scents and landscape of the Sonoran Desert. Meats were seasoned and smoked with herbs, woods and flavors drawn from Northern Mexico, the American Southwest and Bent's broader culinary background. A 2024 Houston Chronicle feature described Papalo as one of the more creative interpretations of barbecue its writer had encountered, highlighting dishes including sage-rubbed pork shoulder, mole barbecue chicken, cherry-glazed pork ribs and herb-smoked beef.
The concept appeared poised for expansion in late 2024 when Bent announced a partnership with City Tacos founder Gerry Torres. Torres was expected to become the majority owner, providing Papalo with purchasing power, distribution infrastructure and potential access to new locations around San Diego County, but the partnership ultimately failed to fully materialize.
Papalo closed its La Mesa restaurant later that year, and Bent told SanDiegoVille he planned to operate short-term residencies and concentrate on catering while searching for another permanent home. Torres proceeded with plans to repurpose the La Mesa location for a different restaurant rather than continuing the Papalo brand.
In the period since, Bent has remained active through consulting, special events and barbecue pop-ups, including appearances at Aero Club and participation in a 2025 carnitas cook-off at Carnitas' Snack Shack. He has also increasingly used social media as a platform for blunt restaurant-industry commentary about food costs, labor, ownership and the realities of operating restaurants.
The posts have reinforced a public persona considerably less polished than the typical chef marketing machine. Bent has rarely seemed particularly interested in pretending the restaurant industry is easier, more glamorous or more rational than it actually is. His own comments about Bangers suggest that while some of that edge remains, his approach to creating restaurants has evolved.
After years of what Bent previously described as 100-hour work weeks, he stepped away from restaurants for approximately three months before shifting toward consulting and pop-ups. Bangers now gives him something he has repeatedly pursued but struggled to maintain for long: a substantial permanent platform for his barbecue, this time backed by an established restaurant group and developed alongside a longtime collaborator.
Carballo has been reevaluating Grand Restaurant Group's portfolio since joining the company last year. He recently transformed the group's underperforming Alejandra's into Nómada, repositioning the restaurant with a more casual, affordable and family-friendly approach.
A similar calculation appears to be driving the Bellamy's transformation. Carballo told the Union-Tribune that downtown Escondido's restaurant market has shifted away from fine dining toward breweries, bars, burgers and more casual concepts. The impending closure of Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens could also leave an opening for other Escondido restaurants to capture customers seeking large, social dining and entertainment spaces.
Bellamy's has occupied 417 West Grand Avenue since 2012 and has long been one of downtown Escondido's more established full-service restaurants. Rather than immediately disappearing, it will continue operating through the end of this year before the property is converted into Bangers.
The renovation will include the installation of meat smokers and a wood-fired grill, transforming the longtime sit-down restaurant into a far more casual food-and-entertainment destination.
Grand Restaurant Group is owned by Sandra DiCicco-Bonar and her daughter, Chief Operating Officer Gianina Pickens, with Carballo serving as chef partner. The San Diego-based hospitality company also operates Nick & G's in Rancho Santa Fe and Nómada.
For Bent, Bangers appears increasingly likely to represent something more substantial than another iteration of Papalo. Rather than transplanting the Sonoran concept again, he and Carballo are building a broader Southwestern barbecue restaurant intended to appeal to families, sports fans, music crowds and barbecue enthusiasts alike.
Whether it finally becomes the lasting version of Bent's years-long barbecue ambitions remains to be seen, but considerably more of the plan is now clear.
Bangers BBQ is anticipated to open in early 2027 at 417 West Grand Avenue in downtown Escondido. Bellamy's will remain open through the end of 2026 before undergoing an approximately four- to six-week renovation.
Originally published on August 13, 2026. Information regarding Bangers Barbecue first reported by Caron Golden for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Updated August 20, 2026, with additional details reported by Pam Kragen for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
