Just months after The Friendly team announced plans to open B’s Bodega next door to its original North Park restaurant, the project has hit a significant change of course. SanDiegoVille has confirmed that the concept will not open as previously planned at the neighboring unit on 30th Street previously occupied by Gluten Free Baking Company, and both the future of that space and the bodega project are uncertain.
What happens next is considerably less certain. The approximately 1,000-square-foot space at 4594 30th Street, immediately adjacent to the original The Friendly, is still expected to eventually become a new hospitality concept, but plans remain in flux and no replacement has been finalized or announced.
Meanwhile, there have been serious discussions about resurrecting the B’s Bodega concept elsewhere with chef Rob Brouillard involved and possibly a different partnership structure. Those conversations remain preliminary, however, and there is currently no confirmed new location or opening timeline.
The development represents the second abandoned restaurant concept announced for the same North Park storefront in less than three years. The space was originally slated to become Ophelia’s Raw Bar, a French-inspired oyster, seafood and champagne bar announced in 2024 by late The Friendly founder Brandon Zanavich and Chef Joey Quinton. Plans called for a tiny, unconventional neighborhood restaurant inspired by European seafood bars, but the project never came to fruition.
Following Zanavich’s unexpected death in May 2025 at only 41 years old, the future of the space understandably changed. Earlier this year, Brouillard revealed that Ophelia’s had officially been abandoned of that unit and a completely different project was being developed in its place: B’s Bodega.
The New York City-inspired neighborhood deli was envisioned as an extension of The Friendly’s famously straightforward approach to food, offering breakfast sandwiches, hot and cold deli sandwiches, chopped cheese, beer, wine, coffee and snacks. Like The Friendly, modifications weren't going to be part of the equation.
More importantly, the concept carried significant emotional meaning. The “B” in B’s Bodega was a tribute to Zanavich, known simply as “B” to many of his friends and colleagues. Although the specific concept had not been planned by Zanavich before his death, Brouillard previously told SanDiegoVille that it was intended as a way to continue his friend’s legacy.
“We all miss Brandon every day,” Brouillard told us when the project was announced in March. “This bodega is a way for us to keep his legacy going.”
At the time, Brouillard said he had partnered with one of The Friendly’s original investors to develop the restaurant and was bringing chef Derek Daniels aboard to help create the menu. Brandon James Keeper, formerly of Wavy Burger, was also expected to assist with management. The restaurant was targeting a September 2026 opening. Those plans are no longer moving forward as originally envisioned.
Exactly what ultimately occupies the storefront is still being determined, and it appears several moving pieces surrounding the project have yet to settle. Likewise, while the B’s Bodega name and idea could potentially resurface at another San Diego location, discussions remain too early for a new iteration to be considered definite. For now, the one certainty is that the originally announced B’s Bodega will not open next door to The Friendly on 30th Street.
The Friendly itself is unaffected by the change and continues operating its original North Park restaurant, The Friendly Tavern farther north on 30th Street and its Kearny Mesa location.
The original restaurant has become one of San Diego’s defining neighborhood eateries since Zanavich opened it in 2018. Its intentionally uncomplicated Dirty Flat Top cheeseburger developed an almost immediate cult following, and The Friendly eventually became as much a gathering place for members of San Diego’s restaurant industry as a destination for diners.
That history also makes the fate of the neighboring storefront particularly interesting. What was once supposed to become Zanavich’s Ophelia’s Raw Bar, and later a bodega created partly in his honor, is now awaiting a third vision. SanDiegoVille will update the story once plans for the North Park space or a potential new home for B’s Bodega become clearer.
Originally published on August 24, 2026.
The development represents the second abandoned restaurant concept announced for the same North Park storefront in less than three years. The space was originally slated to become Ophelia’s Raw Bar, a French-inspired oyster, seafood and champagne bar announced in 2024 by late The Friendly founder Brandon Zanavich and Chef Joey Quinton. Plans called for a tiny, unconventional neighborhood restaurant inspired by European seafood bars, but the project never came to fruition.
Following Zanavich’s unexpected death in May 2025 at only 41 years old, the future of the space understandably changed. Earlier this year, Brouillard revealed that Ophelia’s had officially been abandoned of that unit and a completely different project was being developed in its place: B’s Bodega.
The New York City-inspired neighborhood deli was envisioned as an extension of The Friendly’s famously straightforward approach to food, offering breakfast sandwiches, hot and cold deli sandwiches, chopped cheese, beer, wine, coffee and snacks. Like The Friendly, modifications weren't going to be part of the equation.
More importantly, the concept carried significant emotional meaning. The “B” in B’s Bodega was a tribute to Zanavich, known simply as “B” to many of his friends and colleagues. Although the specific concept had not been planned by Zanavich before his death, Brouillard previously told SanDiegoVille that it was intended as a way to continue his friend’s legacy.
“We all miss Brandon every day,” Brouillard told us when the project was announced in March. “This bodega is a way for us to keep his legacy going.”
At the time, Brouillard said he had partnered with one of The Friendly’s original investors to develop the restaurant and was bringing chef Derek Daniels aboard to help create the menu. Brandon James Keeper, formerly of Wavy Burger, was also expected to assist with management. The restaurant was targeting a September 2026 opening. Those plans are no longer moving forward as originally envisioned.
Exactly what ultimately occupies the storefront is still being determined, and it appears several moving pieces surrounding the project have yet to settle. Likewise, while the B’s Bodega name and idea could potentially resurface at another San Diego location, discussions remain too early for a new iteration to be considered definite. For now, the one certainty is that the originally announced B’s Bodega will not open next door to The Friendly on 30th Street.
The Friendly itself is unaffected by the change and continues operating its original North Park restaurant, The Friendly Tavern farther north on 30th Street and its Kearny Mesa location.
The original restaurant has become one of San Diego’s defining neighborhood eateries since Zanavich opened it in 2018. Its intentionally uncomplicated Dirty Flat Top cheeseburger developed an almost immediate cult following, and The Friendly eventually became as much a gathering place for members of San Diego’s restaurant industry as a destination for diners.
That history also makes the fate of the neighboring storefront particularly interesting. What was once supposed to become Zanavich’s Ophelia’s Raw Bar, and later a bodega created partly in his honor, is now awaiting a third vision. SanDiegoVille will update the story once plans for the North Park space or a potential new home for B’s Bodega become clearer.
Originally published on August 24, 2026.
