Fun Restaurant Venue Opens in Clairemont
Plus: LV News Briefs, LV Community Garden Update, OASIS Classes Offered, LV Multi-Cultural Parade/Fair Coming, and High Tech Trash Bin Options
The Linda Vista Update
The restaurant scene in San Diego always seems to be in a state of flux. Restaurants come and go with regularity. At least that means we can keep finding new places to write about, but we are sad when an establishment closes.
This week while shopping at Sprouts on Genesee Avenue, we discovered some of the new establishments in that mall are now open. We recognized this immediately when we saw the sign “Finally Open” above a place called Best Pizza and Brew. It seemed like an omen, so we decided to go there for dinner. We discovered they have 8 locations in the San Diego area, and this is their latest. They have been in San Diego since 2013 and have become very popular because of their good food, good service and a welcoming environment according to their webpage.
When we entered, we sensed a good vibe with lots of diners even though they are newly opened which made me think these folks may have previously tried one of their other locations. The restaurant has a large bar, indoor and outdoor dining and a counter where you order your food. They have an extensive menu which consists of appetizers, salads, of course pizzas of many types—both whole and by the slice— sandwiches, and desserts. They also have combos like slices and salad, or slices and a pint. Detroit style pizza, chicken fajita pizza and about 20 other pizzas you can view online are enough to make your head spin. Although we didn’t order any alcohol, it looks like they have a great selection of craft brews.
They did not have a lot of non-meat selections, but fortunately they had two different pizza slices that looked interesting. Goat cheese pesto, and best white. We ordered one of each. We also ordered buffalo cauliflower which at $8.95 seemed like a good deal. And the person behind the counter assured me when I asked her, that the sauce was mild. The pizza slices are $4.50 for a nice sized piece, and the slices are showcased on the counter, so you know just what is available.
We grabbed a table and waited for our order. We checked out the area and it was very bright and airy. There were families and couples sitting inside and outside and at the bar. When our food was delivered, the server told us they have been open 3 weeks.
Steve took the best white which contained rosemary, garlic oil, spinach, ricotta, caramelized onions, roasted garlic and provolone and mozzarella cheese. It was thin crust and both slices arrived hot. Steve liked the different flavors and felt one slice was plenty along with the appetizer we ordered. My slice had basil pesto with sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, pine nuts, mozzarella and provolone cheese, topped with fresh basil. Those who read this column know how much I love basil, so this slice was great for me. It was delicious.
The buffalo cauliflower arrived, and it looked beautiful. At first taste it became obvious to me that the server’s idea of mild and mine are vastly different. Even Steve found it spicy but managed to eat a few florets. After one, and a glass of water, I was finished so we asked for a box to take the rest home where I planned on removing some of the sauce. The server told me I could have asked for the sauce not to be put on, or to ask for BBQ sauce, so I will know next time, because BBQ cauliflower is one of my favorite things. Steve ate the remainder for lunch the next day.
I really liked this restaurant, and they should do well at that location. The staff were very friendly and helpful and energetic. They seem to really want to please the customers. Give it a try. I think you will enjoy your visit and have fun trying to decide what kind of pizza to order.
LV News Briefs:
—Upcoming LV Library Activities: The Linda Vista Library is offering the following class. The public is invited to attend:
Mad Science Show: Spin, Pop, Boom: Saturday, April 19 2:00 pm. Join us for this action-packed science show! Explore physical and chemical reactions using fire, foam, and music. Experience endothermic reactions that produce shivering results and exothermic reactions like elephant toothpaste.
—Earth Day in Mission Valley: Mission Valley, an open-air shopping center (mission-valley.com), will host a day dedicated to sustainability, community, and education during an Earth Day-themed event on Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Guests will enjoy an Earth Day Sustainable Market, open throughout the event in the NOVO Brazil Court, that features local vendors specializing in upcycled, recycled, and eco-friendly products. Check out all the details by clicking HERE on a related article from sdnews.com.
—USD Baseball: The University of San Diego Toreros baseball team plays a three-game home series against the University of Portland beginning tonight at 6:00 pm, followed by a Friday game at 6:00 pm and a Saturday game at 1:00 pm. Upon the completion of the Saturday game, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt on the field and a chance to meet the players. This is an important series for USD. The Toreros are currently in 3rd place in the West Coast Conference, while Portland is in 2nd place.
—Sports4Kids Volunteer Opportunity: In honor of Youth Volunteer Month, Arden Pala, a 16-year-old Francis Parker School student, social entrepreneur, and founder of the nonprofit Sports4Kids, is bringing together the San Diego community for a day of service and compassion. Volunteers of all ages will gather to assemble hundreds of “Bags of Hope” filled with nutritious food for homeless and low-income children. The event will also include the creation of a community garden to support long-term food sustainability. WHEN: Saturday, April 26, 2025 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM WHERE: Perkins Elementary School, 1770 Main St, San Diego, CA 92113
—LV Planning Board Meeting: The Linda Vista Planning Board will hold its next monthly meeting on Monday April 28 (6:00 pm) at the American Legion Post 731, located at 7245 Linda Vista Road.
LV Community Garden Continues to Grow
You know the feeling. It has happened to all of us at one point or another. We find ourselves experiencing great disappointment when after many weeks, months, or even years of waiting on a much anticipated project or activity to come to fruition, the actual reality of the product ends up not living up to our heightened expectations. When that happens, we feel a great letdown, as well as a sense of being misled or ripped off.
Fortunately, the exact opposite scenario is happening on the grounds of the LV Community Park as the Linda Vista Community Garden (located at 7064 Levant Street), coordinated by the Bayside Community Center, and open since September 2024 for local resident growers, appears to be more than living up to its long awaited promise. The Garden project took years of planning and going through the City’s permit/approval process, but the wait has been worth it. A quick look around the Community Garden’s 17 growing beds rented out by local residents shows the progress they have made in cultivating their own produce while in many cases learning or sharing better gardening techniques with fellow residents, while a wider glance of the entire venue vividly demonstrates its contribution to the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
The LV Community Garden is currently blooming with plenty of leafy green winter crops like arugula, mustard greens, kale, lettuce, and beets, and herbs like cilantro and dill. In a few weeks, the crops will begin shifting over to such warm weather produce as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and basil.
In addition to growing produce for their own family’s consumption in the garden beds, some of these local gardeners have also contributed their products to the Bayside Community Center’s weekly food distribution program, which occurs every Friday afternoon for community members in need. There are also 4 raised garden beds for seniors.
In the middle of the garden, a production field is tended by staff and volunteers. The produce grown in this area is also provided to Bayside’s food distribution program.
The LV Community Garden’s promise to be a place where not only produce is cultivated, but also a sense of community and learning, has been fulfilled as the site is open two days a week (Mon/Wed) for visitors to check out and ask questions of Bayside gardening experts Amy Zink (Program Director, Bayside Environmental Learning Center) and Kim Hanson (Program Assistant), and on Wednesday afternoons the Garden has served as a popular field trip destination for local elementary students to visit and learn about the joys of gardening.
The Garden’s success has inspired a series of classes (Community Garden Workshop Series) designed to teach citizens from throughout San Diego on how to maneuver through the extensive City requirements for building and maintaining a community garden on park property.
With its benches, chairs, and trellis, the Garden has also served during several functions as a wonderful place for staff and guests to share a meal, with the beautiful setting providing a a rich and vibrant backdrop for such a social occasion.
As stated by Mayor Todd Gloria at the Linda Vista Garden’s ground breaking ceremony in December 2023, the park was meant to not only “enhance the beauty of our surroundings but also foster a sense of togetherness for our residents.” The Garden has certainly fulfilled those expectations in the short time it has been in operation. We look forward to its continued success.
***
Questions about the Linda Vista Community Garden, to include Monday/Wednesday visiting hours, can be referred to Amy Zink at azink@baysidecc.org
San Diego Oasis Has Something for You.
Many of you have heard of San Diego Oasis, maybe even taken classes with them. But for those who have not, let me tell you a little about the organization. It is a non-profit with a mission to ensure adults 50 + have opportunities to pursue vibrant, healthy, productive and meaningful lives. The approach includes lifelong learning, health and wellness, and community involvement through intergenerational programs. Oasis has been around since 1982, starting in St. Louis in conjunction with the May Company Foundation which donated space in their stores for older adults to continue learning with high quality programs. St. Louis Oasis was such a success that it expanded across many other cities. In 1987 San Diego Oasis was established with contributions from the May Company, San Diego County’s Aging and Independent Services and Scripps Mercy Hospital. There are now two major centers at Grossmont Center, Oasis Wellness Center and Oasis Lifelong Learning Center. There is also a new center in Rancho Bernardo which includes a professional kitchen where cooking classes are taught.
The categories of the classes given by San Diego Oasis are: Arts and Crafts, Business, Financial & Legal; Exercise and Dance; Health & Wellness; History & Humanities; Language & Literature, Personal Enrichment; Science; Technology; Theater, Film & Music; Travel. Classes are given in person or virtual.
There is too much information about San Diego Oasis to put into one article. Take a look at their website, order their catalog, visit them on social media, or sign up for their weekly emails.
I have previously taken classes with Oasis. Steve recently took a class on the music of Bob Dylan taught at the Grossmont Center. The instructors are all professionals in their fields. They also seek out people with expertise in their chosen area who might be interested in teaching a class. Most classes require a small fee, but many are free.
In last week’s Linda Vista Update under ‘Upcoming LV Library Activities’ an Oasis workshop for adults was offered. I attended this one-hour intro to creative writing at the library on Saturday at 1:00 pm, presented by Oasis Instructor Irene Marquez, who is a published writer, editor and founder of a literary non-profit. This workshop gave a great overview of what you could expect taking a creative writing workshop at Oasis, which consists of 4 sessions at a cost of $68. Unfortunately, this class was not well attended. Perhaps it was not well publicized, but that is a shame. Although I am not a professional writer, I learned a great deal from the intro, and I wanted to tell our readers more about Oasis.
If you want to learn more, there will be a Taste of Oasis where you can sample what San Diego Oasis has to offer on Friday April 25, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at both the Rancho Bernardo and La Mesa locations. So, my advice is to either attend the free event which will include free food and drinks, fitness class demonstrations, drawings and more, or look at their website, take a gander at the hundreds of classes they offer, and who knows, you might find your passion. And if you would like to see similar intro sessions to other types of classes, please let the library know as Irene said that San Diego Oasis is willing to come again, if asked.
Upcoming Community Event
LV Multicultural Parade and Fair on April 26
Commentary
SD Trash Service: Go Big or Go Home
We at the LV Update have been closely following the current San Diego trash collection service controversy. We have published articles addressing the proposed City plan for adding a trash collection service fee along with several new additional services.
In the latest development regarding trash collection and a monthly service fee, the City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to go forward with a plan for a June 9 public hearing on the issue. Based on fervent feedback received from San Diego residents, the city’s independent budget analyst office reported to the City Council that it would look for trash collection service options capable of lowering the monthly cost to property owners. The monthly charge presented to residents earlier this year was $53.00, which was not appreciated by most of the public (since it was much higher than the $23.00 originally proposed when the issue was on the ballot in 2022). Last week, there was talk of lowering the monthly charge to approximately $47.00. And at Monday’s City Council meeting, talk of $42.72 was mentioned. Of course, this lower fee can only be accomplished via a reduction in proposed new services.
One of the new services the City is proudly touting is the addition of a high tech RFID chip in the new trash bins expected to be rolled out once we start paying this new trash collection fee. This chip will identify the property owner of the bin and supposedly provide the City with valuable trash collection data. Now, I’m usually not one for paying higher fees/taxes, but I do like high tech features in the products I use, and the idea of a chip in my trash bin got me thinking of what could be accomplished if the City spent a little more money on more high tech trash bin features. As I see it, with the right amount of money and more chips, the City could make the mundane chore of putting out the trash once a week an exotic, high tech adventure.
Accordingly, I want to make the case that instead of looking for cheaper alternatives, the City’s Independent Budget Analyst Office should go full steam ahead on also presenting some exciting high tech options that take advantage of more advanced trash bin chips. To help them with some conceptualizing of new ideas, I present below possible trash bin accessory feature options that I believe will make San Diego residents very proud of their City’s world class trash collection service:
LCD Screen: Emulating the futuristic dashboard of a Tesla, residents will utilize an impressive built-in LCD screen atop their trash bin lids to help guide all additional trash bin control and entertainment features (whatever those features might be).
Rear View Cameras: Could make backing up of trash bins much easier and safer. Reduces threat of backing up and running over your neighbor or your front yard hedge when returning a trash bin to the garage.
Cat Carrier: Dogs get to easily enjoy walks around the neighborhood, but a Cat Carrier installed on the top of the trash bin will allow you to now take kitty for a neighborhood walk on Trash Day or any other day you think your cat needs some entertainment/cat-like exercise. A trash bin chip will collect data on the degree of satisfaction/dissatisfaction being experienced by your cat based on the loudness of the cat’s resultant purring or hysterical screeching.
Exercise App: Along with the chip that can be used by the City to collect trash collection data, a chip will be added to measure how many steps you walk while moving the trash bin from your garage to the curb and back. The weekly distance may not seem like much, but over the year, it can add many steps of physical activity to your routine. An app will link your Apple phone/watch to the trash bin to record those steps.
Ruggedized wheels: Trash bins will have custom ruggedized wheels to handle the dangers of San Diego-sized street potholes.
Remote Control feature: A new computer chip will also permit residents to guide their trash bins out and back from the curb via a remote control app. Imagine watching the Padres on TV while pressing your smart phone screen to move the trash bin for the next day’s pick up, all from the comfort of your sofa.
Of course, most of these proposed features will require EV trash bins, and that conversion alone will probably add quite a bit to any proposed monthly fee amount, but face it….world class trash service does not come easy.
Subscribe to the Linda Vista Update
We invite everyone to subscribe to the Linda Vista Update. It’s free! Just click on the “Subscribe now” button located below.
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.
Once again I have to comment that you're update is so well written and informative that I look forward to it every week in my inbox! And this week the trash commentary is perfection! This is one email that will not be going in the trash! Seriously keep up the wonderful work