Celebrating Dive Bars and Hand Rolls
Plus: LV News Briefs, USD Biology Professor Explores Morena (and Linda Vista), USD Grad Student Researches Linda Vista, and Poem about the LV Community Garden is Published
The Linda Vista Update
Steve and I love food celebrations. Doesn’t matter what kind, we are right there. This week, we got lucky. Of course, we will be celebrating the 4th of July tomorrow, but according to the official National Day Calendar, not only is National Hand Roll Day coming up (July 6), but also National Dive Bar Day (7 July). We thought it important that our readers get some guidance on how and where to celebrate the latter two holidays. Therefore, readers get a two-for-one deal in this article. Who doesn’t love a delicious Japanese hand roll? And as for Dive Bars, well, we’ve probably all visited at least one at some point in our respective lives.
Sushi Yorimichi
In honor of Hand Roll Day, we took ourselves to one of our all-time Linda Vista favorite places, Sushi Yorimichi (2405 Ulric Street) to try some hand rolls (also known as Temaki). It was also our good fortune to arrive during Happy Hour which runs from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm each day. Their happy hour menu can be viewed online, but we were fortunate that 6 different hand rolls were on that menu, with resonable prices from $3.65 to $4.15 each, and all of them filled with things we both love and can eat. The restaurant as usual felt very Zen. Although not crowded when we arrived, business picked up considerably as Happy Hour closing neared.
Steve ordered the Yellowtail and California Hand Rolls. I ordered the Salmon (not spicy) and Spicy Scallop (which I asked them to non-spice). Sapporo Draft Beer was at a Happy Hour price of $4.75 so you know who ordered that item.
Service as usual was excellent. As more people arrived and ordered cooked items, the restaurant smelled delicious. The server put the condiments on the table, such as the ginger and wasabi (neither of which Steve eats) and shoyu. Our hand rolls arrived quickly. All of them were delicious. The items were so fresh you could smell the sea. The rice was just right and the avocado, various veggies crisp and brightly colored. We made short work on the rolls and probably could have eaten more, but we exercised restraint. We got off very cheap ($21.00) because the Carnivore Sidekick did not join us. No need to because none of the rolls had meat. We need to do this more often. Remember…National Hand Roll Day is July 6, you have plenty of time to prepare. Go to Sushi Yorimichi or your favorite sushi restaurant and celebrate!
The High Dive Bar
When we were stationed in the Washington DC area, once a month Steve and I and another couple would eat at a different local dive. Usually it was a hole in the wall that still had a reputation for the ‘best” hot dog, chili, or some other delicacy. We had some good meals and a lot of fun, for a really cheap price. Well, with National Dive Bar Day coming up (a day dedicated to celebrating dive bars and their unique culture and atmosphere), we knew we would have to find a dive in which to celebrate. Leave it to Steve to find the High Dive—not too far away in Bay Park. He thought it sounded interesting. We Googled it and found that the name really meant a “high class, upscale” dive bar, and not necessarily what you might have thought when thinking of a typical dive bar (usually know for a “gritty” atmosphere, as well as cheap drinks). We decided to try it anyway even though we were not used to high class dives.
The High Dive is located at 1801 Morena Blvd and is open Monday 9:00 am-11:00 pm, Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday 9:00 am-midnight, Friday & Saturday 9:00 am-1:00 am. Parking is adequate and there are a couple of outside patios and a spacious interior. The day we went it seemed to be dressed up to celebrate the 4th with lots of red, white and blue. We decided to sit outside it was such a beautiful day. The wait staff was very friendly and gave us menus that included breakfast items as well as sandwiches, soups, starters, burgers, desserts and of course alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. They have specials of fried chicken or steak on certain days, and you can view social media for all the latest happenings. Inside and outside there are screens to watch sporting events. They also sell High Dive merch.
I ordered the Mac and Cheese Ballz and Steve ordered the Bay Park Breakfast Burrito and a Modern Times IPA. The service was very good. Our server said the restaurant is about 19 years old although it has gone through several iterations. She said the most popular nights are Steak Night Thursday and Fried Chicken night on Friday although the weekend brunches are popular and their breakfast menu changes every weekend.
When the food came the size of the burrito surprised me. It was humongous. The Mac and Cheese ballz looked like three giant meatballs. The burrito consisted of scrambled eggs French fries, salsa roja, guacamole, sour cream, cheddar and jack cheese. It normally comes with bacon, but Steve had his without. He really enjoyed the burrito as we had come from the gym, and he was really hungry. Even so, he couldn’t eat the whole thing and brought part of it home. He said it was really tasty, had lots of egg, and loved the avocado.
My mac and cheese balls were really good. They were panko crusted and deep fried. They were chock full of mac and cheese and were served with buffalo and ranch dressing for dipping. I ignored the buffalo but enjoyed the ranch. Even so, I could only eat one and brought two home for another meal or two. They were very good and good value for the money.
The ambience at the High Dive was very Tiki bar-ish with several wood carvings of scary faces. The outside was lovely with the bay breeze and views of the trains and trolley rolling by. We checked out the inside and it was very noisy for conversation but outside was quiet. We really enjoyed our lunch.
So, there you have it. Two celebrations of two national days – National Hand Roll Day and National Dive Bar Day, all for the price of one free LV Update.
LV News Briefs:
——Rite Aid Closing: The Rite Aid store located at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center will soon be closing. On July 3, 2025 all prescriptions will be available at the CVS Pharmacy (5644 Mission Center Road # 201) in Mission Valley.
—Parks After Dark program: The popular Parks After Dark program will not be held this weekend due to the 4th of July holiday. The program will resume at the Linda Vista Recreation Center next Thursday July 10 (See below flyer for more details).
—SD Humane Society Prepares: In preparation for July 4th fireworks, SD Humane Society is waiving reclaiming fees through July 8 and providing free micro-shipping through today (Thursday July 3) in order to help dogs reunite with their families.
—Friends of the LV Library: The monthly meeting for the Friends of the LV Library will be held Saturday July 5 at 12:30 pm in the Community Room of the LV Library.
—USD and Wimbledon: The University of San Diego’s top male tennis singles player, rising senior Oliver Tarvet, won his match in the first round at Wimbledon earlier this week. Unfortunately, Tarvet lost to top ranked Carlos Alcaraz yesterday in the second round of play.
—Bayside Community Clean-up: The monthly Bayside Community Clean-up, usually held the first Sunday of each month, will not be held this Sunday due to the 4th of July weekend. Instead, this month’s clean-up will be held Sunday July 13 at 10:00 am. Clean-up volunteers meet in the Linda Vista Library parking lot.
Exploring Morena…and Linda Vista
USD Biology Teacher Featured in Union Tribune
We admit it. Every once in a blue moon the San Diego Union Tribune writes a worthy article about something related to our Linda Vista community and ends up scooping this small but energetic newsletter. The U-T did such a thing this past week by publishing an article that featured Dr. Cawa Tran, an assistant professor of biology at the University of San Diego and a native San Diegan. You can read the article HERE.
In the article, Dr Tran was asked to name different venues of interest located on the USD campus and what the U-T somewhat erroneously stated was in the “Morena” community. I am assuming the mighty SD Union Tribune does not know that most of the Morena area, to include all the venues listed in the article, are actually a part of the greater Linda Vista community. But we won’t quibble about such misunderstandings published by San Diego’s leading newspaper. Instead we want to commend Dr. Tran for mentioning several popular establishments in our LV community to include Home Brew Mart on Linda Vista Road (across the street from USD), The Garten outdoor beer garden/patio area that offers food and drinks from Lost Cause Meadery, Deft Brewery, Oddish Wine, and Pizza Cassette (this venue is indeed located in the Morena area but actually claims for marketing purposes to be located in Bay Park), and Phở Hòa restaurant located at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping center (clearly not in the Morena area). All of these venues have been covered by the Linda Vista Update.
Professor Tran also mentioned two open spaces worth exploring to include “Garden by the Sea” on the USD campus, where you get the best sunset views over Mission Bay, or hiking through Tecolote Canyon.”
Additionally, Dr Tran was asked about the best piece of art work in the area. She focused on “Sea Life on Land” which is “the inaugural exhibit for the Art Meets Science series at USD’s Shiley Center for Science and Technology (on the) second floor. This is the work of Alycia Brewer, an environmental and ocean sciences major, detailing beautiful close-up photographs of intricate morphological structures of different marine invertebrates before you zoom out to get a full view of what actual animal that structure belongs to!”
After reading the article, I paid a visit to the Shiley Center (a beautiful building with panoramic views of San Diego) to check out the art exhibit and see for myself how science and art can intersect in an interesting way. Above is a photo of the exhibit, which has instructions on how to interact with the art piece by pulling back the curtains on the lower row of photos to fully appreciate the detailed structures or surfaces of life forms like marine invertebrates.
We at the LV Update commend Dr. Tran for doing a great job with the U-T of highlighting some of the more interesting aspects of the Linda Vista community (and the Morena area) and the USD campus.
USD Graduate Student Focuses on Linda Vista
One of the great things about having a prestigious academic institution like the University of San Diego (USD) in our community is the positive interaction that sometimes occurs between the two. We see this interaction when a university’s program like USD’s TRIO Upward Bound program serves to help local high school students prepare for college, or when USD students enthusiastically serve as volunteers or interns for local non-profit organizations. Another type of benefit occurs when USD students step off the campus to conduct research in the community—the published research findings can often validate previously considered concepts or lead to new ideas for community members to mull over.
In this regard, a USD graduate student recently spent time conducting research in the Linda Vista community as part of her pursuit of a Masters degree in Peace and Justice. Katelyn Alam just received her Masters degree after completing an honors research project titled “The Path to Peace: Exploring the Structures of Peacebuilding” The research project required her to explore Linda Vista and interview several local residents and employees active in the community. In fact, some of our LV Update readers were interviewed for the project. You can read the entire paper HERE.
As explained in her project’s abstract, the paper aimed to discuss what it “means to peacebuild and what is “at the heart” of peacebuilding. Through storytelling and interviews in the Linda Vista community, this project aims to describe the processes and structures that facilitate, stymie, or prevent peacebuilding at the hyper-local level. This project aims to reflect on the tension within peacebuilding and peace infrastructure through physical spaces, funding and bureaucratic systems, processes of localization, and the creation of community networks.”
The paper defined peacebuilding as the “on-going” and “collective striving for improved conditions.”
We asked Katelyn (an enthusiastic LV Update subscriber herself) a few questions regarding her project. Here is what she had to say.
—How long did it take you to complete this project?
Roughly 5 months, however, I spent a few months before starting interviews planning the project and learning some of the history of Linda Vista.
—What inspired you to write on the subject of peacebuilding in Linda Vista?
Part of my reason for wanting to write on this subject was tied to my larger desire to study peacebuilding in general. In various settings throughout my life, but particularly in Baltimore, I found myself in communities that (from an outside perspective) you could say were overlooked, held deep histories of violence and inequalities. Yet, there were persistent networks of people determined to make their homes better, on their own. I think that being exposed to these spaces, I hold an understanding that part of change comes from our relationships within our communities. So, moving to San Diego and being in Linda Vista, I wanted to learn more about the community and also answer some of my larger questions about “peacebuilding.”
Often, in academic settings, we are learning about big themes and theories of change or how various social changes impact groups of people. While important, I have often felt a disconnect between studying and actually being out in the community and learning from people making their own change. I hold a strong belief that an important part of sustaining social change is relationships between individuals, which is often overlooked in “peace studies.” The communities I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of in Linda Vista deepened my understanding of the importance of community connection.
How was your project received by your USD professor(s)?
Interestingly, I was pursuing this project alongside 3 other students, looking at various elements of international human rights and development. While I originally thought looking at peacebuilding at a community level would have very little overlap with the other students, by the end, we were talking about very similar themes and issues, just on different scales.
—What do you personally like about the Linda Vista community?
I felt like I was always learning something every time I interviewed someone in Linda Vista. I also deeply admire how much work individuals put into their community. I don't think that is something you see everywhere.
—Anything else you would like to add?
I am so thankful for the people who contributed their time to help write about Linda Vista and reflect on peacebuilding. I have learned so much from the Linda Vista Community, and I hope to carry it with me.
***
We at the Linda Vista Update wish to congratulate Katelyn Alam on her earning a Masters Degree, completing her honors project, and focusing her efforts on the Linda Vista community.
The Linda Vista Community Garden
LV Update Poem Celebrated This Week
As our faithful LV Update readers know, our co-editor, Steve, is a poet, among other things. He loves Linda Vista and often writes poems that have significance about our community. He occasionally includes a poem in the LV Update if he deems it worthy of future publication. This has happened on several occasions and recently happened again. His poem “The Linda Vista Community Garden” was originally in the September 19, 2024 edition of the LV Update. He then submitted it for consideration to be included in the San Diego Writers, Ink, Anthology Volume 18, A Year In Ink.
Of over 300 submissions, his was one of 43 selected for publication. This week he had the opportunity to read his poem at the Volume 18 Anthology Reading at the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park. It was a very lovely event and Steve took time to mention how the work of Bayside Community Center had inspired him to write this poem. We were honored that Kim Heinle, Executive Director of Bayside, attended the reading. You can read the poem HERE and subsequently purchase the Anthology from San Diego Writers Ink.
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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting, and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities. We welcome ideas for stories. Let us know about any interesting people, places, or upcoming events.
A great poem, Steve!