After opening an upscale version in La Mesa and a butcher shop in Little Italy, the owners of Swagyu Burger are opening even more locations in San Diego, including a new site at 315 Tenth Ave.
The company’s seventh location is starting as a pop-up in East Village, moving into the former home of R Place, across from Petco Park, according to Eater San Diego. Owner Steven Brown plans to open as a pop-up starting Tuesday, October 1, as a watch spot for the Padres’ upcoming playoff run. Brown will operate the pop-up through the Padres’ playoff run before closing to conduct a complete remodel with a plan to reopen as an official brick-and-mortar in early February.
For now, the Swagyu pop-up in East Village will have a limited menu featuring two burgers and its signature A5 Wagyu tallow fries. Despite the small menu, the pop-up will have plenty of cocktails, draft beer, wine, and more. This isn’t the only project for the Swagyu Burger team. By the end of the year, the team hopes to open a Swagyu Burger Bar in Mazatlan, Mexico’s resort town. Later, Brown hopes to bring back the higher-end steakhouse version of Swagyu, which was found in Pacific Beach.
The company has experienced plenty of highs and lows since the pandemic flipped the restaurant industry upside down. Swagyu Chop Shop Restaurant and Bar in Pacific Beach was the company’s flagship site but has since closed, with a handful of other locations popping up around Southern California. In San Diego, Swagy Burgers has sites in Poway, UTC La Jolla, La Mesa, and Little Italy, the last two of which opened earlier this year. While there have been reports of the company opening a new location in Coronado, it appears the company has shifted its plans and is focusing on East Village and Mexico. Swagyu Burger’s website also notes new locations are coming to Imperial Beach and Pacific Beach.
