Finally, crappy fish tacos downtown
Don’t forget The Fish Market.
They’re going to have competition now for the crappiest.
You can rip on the Brig all you want, but of the three finalists, I think they were the best choice. They are local and while the food isn’t spectacular, it is decent. It was a better choice than Anthony’s or the Sunroad group. This is just dollars and cents to the port commission. If you were hoping for some hot chef de jour restaurant, it wasn’t going to happen.
I like the Brig fish tacos and you can up your fish for a $1-2 more for Salmon, Sea Bass, Alaskan Halibut…depending what is fresh and in stock…grilled or battered.
Happy Hour is a great deal, everyday and looking forward to how they are going to expand on that dock…upstairs deck too.
Nothing like sailing, jet skiing or cruising around the bay, going to different restaurants, dockside on our beautiful bay, eating and drinking…
IMO, we have the most under utilized waterfront…would love to see more water taxi action (I get a bonus everytime that gets in print) more bayside docks…
SD is one of the prettiest places in the world, day or night being out in the bay with our stunning skyline, the planes, palm trees, nature…
I think for what it is, The Brigantine is a good fit for that space…they are local, have a good clientele base, good food and $$ in the bank.
I felt it was going to be between them or the Cohn Group but they have Harbor Island pretty well represented.
Nobody was expecting some “hot chef de jour” but it would have been nice to see something else which is not much of an improvement over Cheesecake Factory. It’s hard to believe that it wouldn’t be possible to convince a chef like Fred Piehl, Matt Gordon or Accursio Lota (to name a few) to open up something there if they would help them with reasonable conditions and it would be actually something San Diego could be proud of culinary compared to something like Brigatine
A place like that would fold in about, oh, I dunno, 6 months?
People don’t go to the harbor/pier for food. They eat there for convenience, and out of necessity.
Cruise ship goers, weekend visitors, and the bus loads of tour buses ferrying tourists from Taiwan and China care little, if at all, for haute cuisine. Or even non-haute cuisine.
They bitch about paying anything more than $1.50 for coffee. And then they take extra sugar packets with them for the ride home. Just so they get their $1.50 worth.
“IMO, we have the most under utilized waterfront…would love to see more water taxi action (I get a bonus everytime that gets in print) more bayside docks.”
Hear hear, BC. I wish our waterfront were like that in Bankok, for example.
C’mon Honk, we’re talking Brigantine here, a restaurant that a lot of us (I bet) like. Not a J&I clone. Give them a chance before you judge.
I have eaten at other Brigatines and was completeky underwhelmed, some Robertos are better
My hope would be by giving them a better food option people living in SD would start going there for the food
Most of the people living in SD don’t really go out of their way for food.
To imbibe adult beverages? Yes.
To enjoy quality cooking? Hardly.
And certainly not to a location where parking is about as easy as a root canal without septocaine.
You’re always so positive about our local SD restaurant culture.
Actually, I am probably one of the more positive people about the SD dining scene vis-a-vis many of the posters here or at Chowhound.
Or, perhaps realistic is a more apt term.
I think SD should be celebrated for what it does best. Casual, comforting food that never tries too hard to be anything than a reflection of the city – a city that can best be summed up as a mature sophisticated beach town that’s never really grown up, nor wanted to. And there’s perfectly nothing wrong with that.
But to expect the majority of people in SD (county, not just city) to elevate the importance of food to anything more than a vehicle to enjoy a night out, or an excuse to go out and enjoy the fine weather, is hoping for something that just isn’t there.
Your perspectives are always of interest, even when we disagree.
In this case, I don’t categorically disagree with a number of things in your post. Nicely stated viewpoint.
I think it’s perfect for the venue.
Sure, it’s a compromise for us snotty food people. Any number of great chefs could have made a better food-oriented restaurant. But that’s not what’s needed here.
What’s needed is a destination with the greatest, broadest appeal. Not McDonalds, but something slightly upscale that will serve large numbers of people is a casual dining atmosphere.
Excellent choice. I probably won’t go, but I’m not their customer.
DotorChow <“Hear hear, BC. I wish our waterfront were like that in Bankok, for example.”>
No way Doc! The waterfront in Bangkok is disgusting. And instead of seals they have monitor lizards. Here’s a pick I took on my last visit. Several of these on the hunt swimming around! He was probably around 6 feet long.
What Fakey said.
Yum, monitor lizards. How did they taste? I hear that lizard ceviche is the next big thing. Or maybe it already is.
I was referring to all of the water taxis they have there, not the cleanliness. I wish we had water taxis moving up and down the coastline, not just the one that goes to Coronado. Like for going from PB to LJ to Del Mar and beyond. It’s not really practical, but that’s what I was thinking would be cool.
Pass on the lizards.