Midweek Meanderings - Mike's BBQ (Bay Park) Closes and Tasty Pot, Boba Bar, and Donburi Kitchen Coming Soon

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd play some ketch....ahem, catch-up.

Mike's BBQ in Bay Park Closes:

Driving by this strip mall, I noticed that the sign for Mike's BBQ had been taken down.

So I pulled into the mall and noticed that the place had closed down! Looks like there were some complaints from residents in the nearby apartment complex. One morning I mentioned this to a couple of the old-timers at Clairemont Coffee and got some interesting stories. I believe an abatement order was filed and I guess the rest is history.

Though I wasn't super impressed by the food I thought the folks here were really nice and they filled a niche in the community.

Sad to see things turn out this way.

3057 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Tasty Pot:

Man, this strip mall has been busy lately with Baguette Bros, Green China Grill, and some Crawfish place recently opening. Looks like a hot pot place will soon be making its home here as well.

Thanks to FOY "Xiāng Jiāo" for the heads-up.

4698 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Boba Bar:

Ever wonder what was going on with the old Dumpling Inn spot. Looks like it's becoming a boba-shaved ice-ice cream shop.

Don't we have quite a few of these already?

4619 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Donburi Kitchen:

FOY "Sandy" mentioned this in the comments of one of my posts.

I had noticed it a few weeks back when I dropped by Island Style Café. Donburi, huh? I'm interested to see what this place, in the location that used to be The Fish Bucket is going to be like. They might even be open already, so I gotta check again soon.

6030 Santo Road
San Diego, CA 92124  

So that's it for now. Hope you're having a great week!

Comments

[Nhbilly]

It would nice if the palate in satx wasn't so singular. Lucky you more adventures to come.

[Soo @ hungryones]

Doh! I didn't get a chance to try Mike's BBQ.

[Kirk]

Wow, I hope things get better Billy. Variety is the spice of life!

The Escondido location is still open Soo!

[Junichi]

Interesting. I thought the RakiRaki owner scooped up the old Dumpling Inn spot. Maybe he's focusing more on Pokirrito and new yakitori joint where Bab's used to be.

[Kirk]

I think he did it to block Yakyudori getting the spot Junichi. That's why they are opening Hino on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

[MikeC]

Mike's BBQ was OK at best, not that I wanted them to go out of business. If they were a thriving business, they could have complied with AQ, though it's not cheap, it's something like $200K to get smoke scrubbers. Phil's in Hillcrest ended up doing that after years of battling with his neighbors.

FWIW, Ye Olde Barbeque on Thorne is much, much better than Mike's was. Though with a brand new house being built three feet away from their smokers, I can't imagine they're not going to get AQ complaints pretty soon.

[Kirk]

Hey Mike - I heard the price was 260k, and I don't think they're doing that much business. Also, even after Phil installed the scrubbers they still harassed him....and of course, eventually he leftand built his kingdom. Not the biggest fan of Mike's, but what I heard from the several people was kind of sad.

[Jim Gottlieb]

I assume this "Boba Bar" is a branch of the shop of the same name in the Zion food court.

[G.]

Yes, Jim, I can confirm that this is a second location for Boba Bar. I follow them on IG and they've posted about it there. Super happy to see this location since my boba cravings are often late night, and Zion of course closes at 9.

[Jim Gottlieb]

Of course, G., you have no shortage of late-night boba options available already. Tea N More, Tea Station, Inifini Tea, Sharetea, Sam Woo & Tapioca Express are all open until midnight (many until 1 am on weekends). Several others are open until 23:00 (Kung Fu Tea, Boba Time, Up2You, Tea Garden).