The founder of SoCal-born burger & beer chain Slater's 50/50 has taken over the standalone building in San Diego's Pacific Beach that housed a Denny's diner for more than 50 years for the opening of a 24-hour, multi-concept restaurant.
After starting and selling a successful hot dog stand business before the 2008 recession hit, San Diego State University alum Scott Slater launched his first Slater's 50/50 in Anaheim in 2009 and gained an immediate following for a menu of bacon-infused burgers and an early devotion to craft beer. The company grew to numerous locations in California with restaurants in Anaheim Hills, Huntington Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, Pasadena, San Marcos and San Diego's Liberty Station. In late 2016, not long after closing his S&M Sausage and Meat concept in San Diego's North Park, Scott Slater sold all six Slater’s 50/50 restaurants to Elite Restaurant Group with hopes of a future national expansion. In late 2019, Slater opened two fast-casual concepts side-by-side in the University City area of La Jolla - burrito-focused Spitfire Tacos and build your own salad & bowls eatery Head Lettuce. Earlier this year, Slater opened the central cocktail bar called Understory in partnership with Le Parfait Paris at Del Mar's new restaurant collective The Sky Deck. Slater also launched a new "virtual" restaurant concept in San Diego's La Jolla called Earlybird Breakfast Burritos.
Last month, Slater signed a lease on the 4,000 square-foot building located on corner of Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard in Pacific Beach that housed a location of Denny's from 1966 until it closed following an alleged arson in October 2018. He plans to use the central space to house versions of his Spitfire Tacos, Head Lettuce, and Earlybird Breakfast Burritos eateries, as well as a hot dog stand out front, a churro stand, a sandwich shop and possibly other, new take-out friendly concepts. Dubbed Mission + Garnet, the project is expected to operate 24 hours a day when it unveils in early summer 2022.
