San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

Author: San Diego Magazine

The weekly guide to San Diego's food drink scene, hosted by award-winning food writer and Food Network host Troy Johnson and San Diego Magazine's culture brain, Jackie Bryant. Field notes and perspectives on restaurants, bars, and chefsincluding dishes and drinks you gotta try, restaurant openings and closings, events worth your time, and laugh-cry interviews with chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, brewers, and makers who make San Diego's food drink scene hum.
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Language: en

Genres: Arts, Food, Society & Culture

Contact email: Get it

Feed URL: Get it

iTunes ID: Get it

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Why San Diego's Neighborhood Bars Still Matter
Episode 418
Thursday, 29 January, 2026

Broadcasting from The Shanty in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Happy Half Hour looks at the week's biggest restaurant news, including the upcoming closures of Dreamboat and Vulture and the shuttering of Cucina Enoteca—plus an examination of why unpretentious neighborhood bars continue to anchor San Diego communities. Host Troy Johnson also checks in on what's opening, welcomes back Bebemos tequila founder Preston Caffrey for a Golden Hour conversation about building a drinks brand in a tough market, and wraps with Shanty co-owner Mike Tornado on the staying power of a truly local bar.