Today we’d like to introduce you to John Sarkisian.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We wanted to be a part of the gentrification story happening in San Diego. Given the growth of our city people are looking to get out of their cars and be part of a community. North Park fit that description. We were fortunate enough to find a soon to be vacant space on the best corner of North Park at University and 30th. Having been in the restaurant business before we knew what we wanted a community oriented casual restaurant serving craft beer and wine.
We selected the very talented Paul Basile Studio to design and build the restaurant. Chef Jason Hotchkiss worked with us to develop the menu for our gastropub.
Today we serve lunch and dinner 7 days a week and brunch on Saturday and Sundays. We even have a dog menu if you want to sit on our patio with your pet.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We made a conscious effort to open quietly without any fanfare. We want to be a community restaurant and not really interested in the overhype you see with many restaurant openings. We are focused on day to day execution of our menu and guest service. We look at each day as if we are putting on a play. Whether it is a matinee (lunch) or evening performance we understand that each day we need to make it a great experience for our guests. Given our growing popularity we think we are connecting with our guests.
Please tell us about Encontro North Park.
We specialize in comfort food executed well with high quality ingredients and interesting recipes. We make our own bread and sausages in house. We have 24 taps of craft beer and have a rotating selection monthly.
Unique items include Portobello fries, and we are the only restaurant in the area that serves “Cardiff Crack” the immensely popular tri tip steak created by Seaside Market in Cardiff.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We would have built a large restaurant to accommodate our guests and the amount of craft beer we have on selection.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3001 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104 - Website: www.encontronorthpark.com
- Phone: 619-291-1220
- Email: Jason@encontronorthpark.com
- Instagram: Encontronorthpark
- Facebook: Encontronorthpark
- Yelp: Encontronorthpark
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