May 8, 2023
The Pacific Beach space long occupied by Bub's at the Beach is being taken over by San Diego's Verant Group, which operates such area hotspots at Maverick's Beach Club and Barleymash.
Eric Lingenfelder, Mark Cirillo and Joe Vaught co-founded San Diego-based Verant Group in 2003. The bar and restaurant collective now operates a multitude of locations around San Diego, including Barleymash, Sandbar, The Smoking Gun, Tavern at the Beach, Spill The Beans Coffee + Bagel, and
Mavericks Beach Club. In 2021, Vaught purchased the 3,854 square-foot building that houses several condos and was previously occupied by The Patio on Lamont restaurant in Pacific Beach for the opening of a
new location of Bay Park's Luce Bar & Kitchen. He also took over the 1,212 square-foot space that previously housed Mama Mia's Italian restaurant on Balboa Avenue in Pacific Beach for a
third branch of Spill The Beans.
It has now been revealed that Verant Group has secured a lease on the space that housed Bub's at the Beach from 2008 until the restaurant permanently
closed after end of service this past April 30. Bub's at the Beach owner Todd Brown continues to own the building but is selling the restaurant and bar business to Verant Group and their longtime General Manager of Tavern at the Beach Krista Barella. The new concept will be called Bar Ella (a play on Krista's last name), and will likely offer a seafood forward menu influenced by California, Baja, and Barella's home state of New Jersey.
Bar Ella is anticipated to open by year's end at 1030 Garnet Avenue in San Diego's Pacific Beach. For more information, visit
barellapb.com.
May 8, 2023
