A brand new food hall, the La Jolla Food Hall, is starting to take shape at 7733 Girard Avenue in one of San Diego’s most visited neighborhoods.
This new development is the latest from David Rudolph, a real estate professional who specializes in coastal sales and leasing in La Jolla. He tells What Now San Diego that he had this idea to turn this former US Bank building into a food hall only a few weeks ago after visiting Liberty Station’s Liberty Public Market and realizing La Jolla needs something similar. As a result, he has begun permitting and hopes to open a food hall with seven stalls and possibly a speakeasy in the bank’s vault.
While it’s too soon to say what will transpire once everything is done, Rudolph is very excited about the project. The speakeasy, which is just an idea at this point, would be similar to The Bedford, a now-closed speakeasy in Chicago, where Rudolph is from. Each stall will be about 600 to 1,000 square feet, and the parking lot will be converted into an accessible outdoor dining space. Rudolph imagines the concept will have sliding doors leading to the outside, giving an indoor/ outdoor feel similar to Liberty Park’s food hall. The food hall will also have a separate kitchen for each stall.
Despite being in the very early stages of the project, Rudolph is hopeful he can get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. He hopes to start signing tenants early next year with a very optimistic opening date of late 2025, although he says several factors can determine the opening date. As for the eateries, he says he wants to bring in local businesses that reflect La Jolla’s culinary scene while at an affordable price.
“We need more lunch spots and something more affordable,” Rudolph tells What Now San Diego. “There’s a lot of fancy restaurants here. I think we need something more in the middle.”
