The Village Kitchen To Shutter In Ocean Beach After More Than Three Decades With San Diego's Expanding City Tacos To Open In Its Place

July 8, 2019

A staple of Ocean Beach's Newport Avenue for more than three decades, The Village Kitchen has announced that it will shutter after service tomorrow, as the business has been sold to expanding San Diego chain of Mexican taquerias City Tacos.

"I am sure many of our friends/customers by now have heard that our father, Mr. Lopez, has decided to sell his business," said Liz Lopez, daughter of Village Kitchen owner and current manager. "Our last projected day of business is Tuesday, July 9th 2019. The Lopez family took over Village Kitchen in May 1987. It's been an amazing experience. Made many, many bellies happy, wonderful friends and dedicated customers along the way. We thank you for keeping us in business."

Village Kitchen's last day serving Mexican American diner staples is July 9, and moving into the space at 4853 Newport Avenue is fast-casual chain of San Diego-born Mexican eateries City Tacos.ÌýGerry Torres and chef/partner Eduardo Baeza opened the flagship City Tacos in North Park in 2014 and IB Street Tacos in Imperial Beach in 2015. Building on the success of the first City Tacos restaurant, they opened aÌýsecond location in La Mesa in late 2017. The duo also launched Mexican eatery and tortilla shop Tortilla N' Taco Factory in El Cajon in 2018 and will be opening a City Tacos location at 1031 S Coast Hwy 101 in Encinitas at some point in the near future. The City Tacos team also launched Tostadas in North Park in summer 2015, which closed last year and was rebranded into Baja-style bar & restaurant,ÌýLa Catrina Tapas & Cantina, in partnership with MX-native Roger Canez.

Most recently, City Tacos opened a beachside branch in Imperial Beach as part of Mike Hess Brewing's most southerly tasting room. The company also recently converted the now-defunct IB Street Tacos into burger-centric Imperial Beach Buns and announced plans for the opening of a City Tacos restaurant near Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, as well as a branch installing into the office complex that houses General Atomics in Sorrento Valley. City Tacos hopes to open its Ocean Beach branch as early as year's end and will serve a menu of seafood, meat, vegetarian and vegan tacos, as well as desserts, Micheladas, and Mexican & craft beers if they can get the appropriate license.

For more information about City Tacos, visit .