Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

New Zealand in Little Italy, Spain in the Gaslamp

Overseas outposts

Queenstown's beef jalapeño mini burger, the Kiwilango.
Queenstown's beef jalapeño mini burger, the Kiwilango.

Water. Adam’s Ale. Hobo cocktail. Sky juice. Call it whatever, it’s one of the few things around that’s still actually free. And — hey hey! — today, water made it possible for me to finagle visits to two kinda swanky joints with happy hours.

First off, I hit an outpost of New Zealand in Little Italy. It was this romantic 100-year-old Craftsman house with a porch, tables in the garden, round windows, roof overhangs, and even a garden brazier. “Queenstown Public House,” reads gold lettering on a window. Name’s inspired by Queenstown, a Julian-like mountain town in New Zealand. I was here soon after they opened three years ago. But now I hear they have a good happy hour.

Little Italy’s New Zealand outpost, a 1905 Craftsman offering up Kiwi grub.

“We’re just starting,” says this gal at the lectern out front. She shows me the HH menu. “Afternoon Tea!” it calls it. It’s a postcard. “Monday–Friday 3 p.m. till 6 p.m.”

Place

Queenstown Public House

1557 Columbia Street, San Diego

Choice is pretty simple. A six-beer flight for $9 or three wines or sangrias. And the important part: $4 sliders, including “Meso Tasty, Kiwilango, Bare Lil Lamb, Cluck N Squeal.”

I head in and grab a seat at the zinc bar. “Marae e hoa manuhiri,” reads this message etched into the backboard mirror. Means something about this being a meeting place for guests, I think. The language is New Zealand Maori. It’s close to Hawaiian. Wish I knew more, because we’re Pacific peoples too, right?

“Menu?” asks Craig the bartender. He plops one in front of me. The Meso Tasty slider turns out to be grilled chicken with grilled pineapple, sweet onion chips, Swiss cheese, and red pepper aioli in a focaccia bun.

The Kiwilango’s a basic beef burgerette with jalapeños, blue cheese, tortilla chips, and hot sauce in a focaccia. Or you can go vegan with a black-bean patty.

“Bare Lil Lamb,” the ultimate Kiwi burger. Green jewel is the essential mint jelly.

But, this being New Zealand–themed, you pretty much have to love the national obsession, lamb. Bare Lil Lamb’s patty comes with blue cheese, mint jelly, and beets in a focaccia bun.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I order one of each. Chicken, lamb, beef. That’s 12 bucks. This is the dangerous moment. Start drinking, and even with, say, that HH beer flight, we’ll already be talking near enough to $30, with tax and tip.

Craig must have read my face.

“Water?” he offers. I nod. He pours a nice tall one into a glass of ice cubes and we leave it at that.

Sound system’s playing “Spooky.” Atlanta Rhythm Section. Love that song.

I look around. It’s getting crowded. Even on this Monday afternoon.

My three sliders come. First is the best. The Kiwilango. I chow in. Boy. Hot! Not what you’d expect from Kiwiland (the menu lists “NZ Favorites” as “bare lamb,” fish and chips, steak and fries). But this combo of rich beef, jalapeños, hot sauce — plus tang from the blue cheese and the crunch of tortilla chips — makes it a winner.

Meso Tasty, the chicken-n-pineapple sweet thang

The chicken slider’s okay: cheesy and also with chips, but lacks a distinctive taste apart from the pineapple. The lamb slider’s kinda hypnotizing, though, especially with the electric-green of the mint jelly glowing around the blue cheese. But, taste-wise, it’s the Kiwilango, outright winner.

And I’d forgotten how water’s the perfect mouth cooler. Sky juice! I’m discovering it all over again.

Place

Queenstown Public House

1557 Columbia Street, San Diego

Queenstown Public House

  • Happy Hours: Monday–Friday 3–6 p.m.
  • Happy Hour Prices: $4 sliders, including “Meso Tasty (grilled chicken, pineapple); Kiwilango (beef jalapeño mini burger); Bare Lil Lamb (blue cheese, mint); Cluck N Squeal (grilled chicken, bacon, avocado); standard prices include fish and chips ($18), steak and fries ($19), quinoa salad ($12)
  • Bus: 83
  • Nearest bus stop: India between Cedar and Date (northbound); Kettner at Grape (southbound)
  • Trolley: Green Line
  • Nearest Trolley Stop: County Center/Little Italy (at Cedar and California, two blocks from India)

Bonus is this leaves me with a little spare lettuce in the pocket. I get downtown into the Gaslamp and head into Café Sevilla because I remember that they automatically bring out frosted ceramic-flip-top water bottles and blue glass goblets, just to welcome you. You feel so cool drinking the agua from your goblet like it’s mead or wine, it doesn’t matter that it’s just water. It does matter that it’s free.

Bite-size version of the famous tortilla Española. Surprisingly filling!

They’re in HH, too. This time I order three “tapa bites,” a tortilla Española, a short-rib slider, and a cured-Spanish sausage dish. Three bucks each! ’Course, Marlin (the server) has warned me: “These plates are gonna be tiny.”

Wouldn’t really matter. I love the atmosphere here. The Spanish tiled tables, the tortured Gypsy flamenco singing coming through the sound system, the way they bring out your tapas on wooden planks, the way they use Moorish seasoning (a mix of spices such as cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, oregano, turmeric) on things like chicken.

Spanish sausage

Tapas bites arrive. Okay, yes. These are, uh, mini-tapas. Maybe mini-mini tapas. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have taste. Especially the short-rib slider. It’s braised beef, kind of winey, ultra-tender on a crisp toasted slice of baguette. Scrumptious. You forget the other two dishes, even the Spanish sausage, with its crowd of sweet sautéed onions. Or the tortilla Española, even though it is a good little pie stacked with potato, tomato, and goat cheese.

Best news? This three-course Gaslamp mini-meal has cost me $9.70, including tax. Except I should have read the menu more carefully. It says “$3 off all items $11 and under. And five dollars off items $12 and over.” Lordy! This opens up a ton of HH dishes. I could have had a complete tortilla Española (normally $8) for $5.

Sigh. Next time. What can you do? I flip the ceramic top and slush some more Adam’s Ale in my glass. Start glugging. Feel slightly drunk. They say sky juice will do that to you, if you have enough.

Café Sevilla

Place

Cafe Sevilla Tapas Bar

353 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

  • Happy Hours: 2:30–6:30 p.m. daily (Saturdays till 5 p.m.)
  • Happy Hour Prices: Tapas bites, $3 each (e.g., short-rib slider, tortilla Española, bacon-wrapped date, ahi tuna tower, grilled chicken skewer, mini Spanish Cubano sandwich); full tapas include Spanish meatballs ($6); fondue (with manchego, goat cheese), $9; stuffed dates, $5; tortilla Española, $5; grilled chicken, $5; beef empanada, $6
  • Buses: 3, 11
  • Nearest bus stops: for #3: Fourth and G (southbound); Market and Sixth (northbound); for #11: Fourth and Market (northbound), Third and Market (southbound)
  • Trolley: Green Line
  • Nearest Trolley Stop: Gaslamp (at Fifth Avenue and Harbor Drive)
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Queenstown's beef jalapeño mini burger, the Kiwilango.
Queenstown's beef jalapeño mini burger, the Kiwilango.

Water. Adam’s Ale. Hobo cocktail. Sky juice. Call it whatever, it’s one of the few things around that’s still actually free. And — hey hey! — today, water made it possible for me to finagle visits to two kinda swanky joints with happy hours.

First off, I hit an outpost of New Zealand in Little Italy. It was this romantic 100-year-old Craftsman house with a porch, tables in the garden, round windows, roof overhangs, and even a garden brazier. “Queenstown Public House,” reads gold lettering on a window. Name’s inspired by Queenstown, a Julian-like mountain town in New Zealand. I was here soon after they opened three years ago. But now I hear they have a good happy hour.

Little Italy’s New Zealand outpost, a 1905 Craftsman offering up Kiwi grub.

“We’re just starting,” says this gal at the lectern out front. She shows me the HH menu. “Afternoon Tea!” it calls it. It’s a postcard. “Monday–Friday 3 p.m. till 6 p.m.”

Place

Queenstown Public House

1557 Columbia Street, San Diego

Choice is pretty simple. A six-beer flight for $9 or three wines or sangrias. And the important part: $4 sliders, including “Meso Tasty, Kiwilango, Bare Lil Lamb, Cluck N Squeal.”

I head in and grab a seat at the zinc bar. “Marae e hoa manuhiri,” reads this message etched into the backboard mirror. Means something about this being a meeting place for guests, I think. The language is New Zealand Maori. It’s close to Hawaiian. Wish I knew more, because we’re Pacific peoples too, right?

“Menu?” asks Craig the bartender. He plops one in front of me. The Meso Tasty slider turns out to be grilled chicken with grilled pineapple, sweet onion chips, Swiss cheese, and red pepper aioli in a focaccia bun.

The Kiwilango’s a basic beef burgerette with jalapeños, blue cheese, tortilla chips, and hot sauce in a focaccia. Or you can go vegan with a black-bean patty.

“Bare Lil Lamb,” the ultimate Kiwi burger. Green jewel is the essential mint jelly.

But, this being New Zealand–themed, you pretty much have to love the national obsession, lamb. Bare Lil Lamb’s patty comes with blue cheese, mint jelly, and beets in a focaccia bun.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I order one of each. Chicken, lamb, beef. That’s 12 bucks. This is the dangerous moment. Start drinking, and even with, say, that HH beer flight, we’ll already be talking near enough to $30, with tax and tip.

Craig must have read my face.

“Water?” he offers. I nod. He pours a nice tall one into a glass of ice cubes and we leave it at that.

Sound system’s playing “Spooky.” Atlanta Rhythm Section. Love that song.

I look around. It’s getting crowded. Even on this Monday afternoon.

My three sliders come. First is the best. The Kiwilango. I chow in. Boy. Hot! Not what you’d expect from Kiwiland (the menu lists “NZ Favorites” as “bare lamb,” fish and chips, steak and fries). But this combo of rich beef, jalapeños, hot sauce — plus tang from the blue cheese and the crunch of tortilla chips — makes it a winner.

Meso Tasty, the chicken-n-pineapple sweet thang

The chicken slider’s okay: cheesy and also with chips, but lacks a distinctive taste apart from the pineapple. The lamb slider’s kinda hypnotizing, though, especially with the electric-green of the mint jelly glowing around the blue cheese. But, taste-wise, it’s the Kiwilango, outright winner.

And I’d forgotten how water’s the perfect mouth cooler. Sky juice! I’m discovering it all over again.

Place

Queenstown Public House

1557 Columbia Street, San Diego

Queenstown Public House

  • Happy Hours: Monday–Friday 3–6 p.m.
  • Happy Hour Prices: $4 sliders, including “Meso Tasty (grilled chicken, pineapple); Kiwilango (beef jalapeño mini burger); Bare Lil Lamb (blue cheese, mint); Cluck N Squeal (grilled chicken, bacon, avocado); standard prices include fish and chips ($18), steak and fries ($19), quinoa salad ($12)
  • Bus: 83
  • Nearest bus stop: India between Cedar and Date (northbound); Kettner at Grape (southbound)
  • Trolley: Green Line
  • Nearest Trolley Stop: County Center/Little Italy (at Cedar and California, two blocks from India)

Bonus is this leaves me with a little spare lettuce in the pocket. I get downtown into the Gaslamp and head into Café Sevilla because I remember that they automatically bring out frosted ceramic-flip-top water bottles and blue glass goblets, just to welcome you. You feel so cool drinking the agua from your goblet like it’s mead or wine, it doesn’t matter that it’s just water. It does matter that it’s free.

Bite-size version of the famous tortilla Española. Surprisingly filling!

They’re in HH, too. This time I order three “tapa bites,” a tortilla Española, a short-rib slider, and a cured-Spanish sausage dish. Three bucks each! ’Course, Marlin (the server) has warned me: “These plates are gonna be tiny.”

Wouldn’t really matter. I love the atmosphere here. The Spanish tiled tables, the tortured Gypsy flamenco singing coming through the sound system, the way they bring out your tapas on wooden planks, the way they use Moorish seasoning (a mix of spices such as cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, oregano, turmeric) on things like chicken.

Spanish sausage

Tapas bites arrive. Okay, yes. These are, uh, mini-tapas. Maybe mini-mini tapas. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have taste. Especially the short-rib slider. It’s braised beef, kind of winey, ultra-tender on a crisp toasted slice of baguette. Scrumptious. You forget the other two dishes, even the Spanish sausage, with its crowd of sweet sautéed onions. Or the tortilla Española, even though it is a good little pie stacked with potato, tomato, and goat cheese.

Best news? This three-course Gaslamp mini-meal has cost me $9.70, including tax. Except I should have read the menu more carefully. It says “$3 off all items $11 and under. And five dollars off items $12 and over.” Lordy! This opens up a ton of HH dishes. I could have had a complete tortilla Española (normally $8) for $5.

Sigh. Next time. What can you do? I flip the ceramic top and slush some more Adam’s Ale in my glass. Start glugging. Feel slightly drunk. They say sky juice will do that to you, if you have enough.

Café Sevilla

Place

Cafe Sevilla Tapas Bar

353 Fifth Avenue, San Diego

  • Happy Hours: 2:30–6:30 p.m. daily (Saturdays till 5 p.m.)
  • Happy Hour Prices: Tapas bites, $3 each (e.g., short-rib slider, tortilla Española, bacon-wrapped date, ahi tuna tower, grilled chicken skewer, mini Spanish Cubano sandwich); full tapas include Spanish meatballs ($6); fondue (with manchego, goat cheese), $9; stuffed dates, $5; tortilla Española, $5; grilled chicken, $5; beef empanada, $6
  • Buses: 3, 11
  • Nearest bus stops: for #3: Fourth and G (southbound); Market and Sixth (northbound); for #11: Fourth and Market (northbound), Third and Market (southbound)
  • Trolley: Green Line
  • Nearest Trolley Stop: Gaslamp (at Fifth Avenue and Harbor Drive)
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.