Carnitas' Snack Shack's North Park Location To Be Rebranded Into New Concept, The Porchetta Shack, From Founding Chef

February 19, 2019

Carnitas' Snack Shack's original North Park restaurant closed on January 6, reportedly for a design refresher to reopen in mid-March, but founder Chef Hanis Cavin is actually rebranding the location into a new concept called The Porchetta Shack.

Husband-and-wife partners Chef Hanis Cavin & Sara Stroud founded the Carnitas' Snack Shack brand with the opening of their first restaurant on the outskirts of San Diego's North Park neighborhood in 2011. The walk-up eatery became an instant hit with its menu of pork-centric dishes. A second location of the popular pork paradise opened in Del Mar in August 2014 but shuttered in late 2016. Along with partners Sweet100, a local private equity firm led by Mike DiNorscia, the team brought a Carnitas' Snack Shack location to San Diego's waterfront Embarcadero in Spring 2016. Snack Shack also expanded to Petco Park in 2017 where it has two locations in left field as of the end of the 2018 season. Last year, Cavin teamed up with Chef Willie DePascale and Cohn Restaurant Group founder David Cohn for the opening of The Pioneer, a barbecue-focused bar and restaurant built in the former McCarter's Bar & Grill space in San Diego's East County.

While Carnitas' Snack Shack's Facebook Page indicates that the North Park restaurant is closed for a "refresh", including the addition of a new bar area, the reality is Cavin is reconceptualizing this location. From our understanding, Cavin essentially transferred the majority interest in the Carnitas Snack Shack brand to Sweet100, which also has investment interests in Broken Yolk Café, Cucina Enoteca, and Burger Lounge, as well as some operational role in the Little Italy Food Hall. The Embarcadero and Petco Park locations of Carnitas will continue to be operated by Sweet100, albeit without Cavin, who is in the process of taking back his original North Park branch to reopen a new concept. The Porchetta Shack will continue Chef Cavin's devotion to pork and will also have a beer & wine license.

The Porchetta Shack is expected to open at 2632 University Avenue in North Park as early as mid-March.