Author: Matthew Wood

By Matthew Wood

This week has been a whirlwind neighborhood tour for Ocean Beach’s favorite band, Slightly Stoopid.

The local boys played an invitation-only show at OB Noodle House Bar 1502 on Wednesday night, then made an appearance this morning with 91X at Nico’s Restaurant.

“You can’t beat being home,” said Kyle McDonald, one of the band’s founders. “It suits us nice to live in the place you want to be.”

The show at Noodle House celebrated the restaurant’s first anniversary. It also helped raise funds for the OB Fireworks Show on Fourth of July.

Spring Renovations Include Re-Surfaced Gym Floor

By Matthew Wood

This isn’t your grandfather’s Ocean Beach Recreation Center.

Oh sure, it’s the same building that has been on Santa Monica Avenue for the past 60-plus years. But recent renovations have sharpened up the place that gives kids of all ages a chance to, well, be a kid again.

The first thing you’ll notice is a brand-new paint job on the walls, …

Report on Progress with OB Community Agreement

By Matthew Wood

When CVS moved into the old Appletree Market building at Santa Monica Avenue and Bacon Street, it was with great fanfare – and an equal amount of worry around the community as to whether the store would be a positive for Ocean Beach.

Those who walk by the OB Hostel this week and think the place is either wrought with bugs or hosting a perverse carnival need not worry. The owners are tenting the place as a precautionary measure to protect against termites.

“Who doesn’t have termites in San Diego?” said Maria Argyropoulos-Minos, Chief Operating Officer of USA Hostels.

“That’s pretty much the way it works. Anytime you have a house, you tent it.”

The tent has been on the iconic building for much of the week, but should be down by mid-morning on Friday.

“We just want to make sure it’s safe and secure from the little buggers and this seemed like a good time,” she said.

Argyropoulos-Minos said it is part of a number of upgrades the company is making to the place since purchasing it late last year.

By Matthew Wood

When the Coulon sisters looked to open a restaurant, there was no doubt where it would be.

“I would tell people I want to open a restaurant in OB,” said Jacqueline Coulon, general manager of Little Lion Cafe. “They would say, ‘Oh, you want to open a restaurant.’ And I would say, ‘No, I want to open a restaurant in OB.'”

The emphasis is all hers. And the result is a charming little restaurant the three sisters opened in the old Point Loma Beach Cafe location on Sunset Cliffs late last year.

It’s a lifelong dream for the three sisters. They follow in the footsteps of their grandparents, who owned The Belgian Lion Cafe in OB for years.

By Matthew Wood

As OBceans decide who they’ll root for in Sunday’s decidedly non-SoCal Super Bowl, the bars of OB are fast at work coming up with specials to entice spectators.

Most bars in the neighborhood remain neutral between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. That’s not the case for Wonderland Ocean Pub, which supports Boston’s finest (if not classiest) fans.

Ocean Beach Residents Discuss Recent Burglaries and Other Issues

By Matthew Wood

By Matthew Wood

‘Lock your doors. Secure your windows.’

That was the underlying theme from Wednesday night’s Ocean Beach community discussion, which mostly surrounded the spate of break-ins in the neighborhood. About 60 people gathered at Teeter on Niagara Avenue to talk about littering, vandalism and other topics. But the conversation invariably came back to the eight reported burglaries in the neighborhood …

By Matthew Wood

Take a beach stroll through time in our fine neighborhood with a new book from the Ocean Beach Historical Society.

The publication, part of the “Images of America” series, shows rare photos from the beginnings of OB, following through its growth into a destination spot as it finally settles in as the sleepy beach community we know and love.

Knowing that it is part of a number of publications highlighting neighborhoods throughout the country gives the book a bit of a cookie-cutter feel. But you can’t argue with the content, which is mostly photographs with sparse but descriptive captions that give bits of history along with explaining what you’re seeing.

Most of the focus is on the first half of the 20th century, but it manages to give a glimpse into the future that will be with a smattering of updated pictures to show a contrast between past and present.

By Matthew Wood

Bone Appetit Ocean Beach Pet Supply owner Kelly Patri is looking for a few good cat owners. But be warned: She won’t give up her rescue kitties to just anyone.

“We have an application process,” Patri says about her cat adoption center in the back of the store on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. “We’ve definitely turned people away.”

The adoption center is approved by San Diego County, meaning it has passed their requirements as an “approved adoption facility.”

By Matthew Wood

When the Ocean Beach International Hostel was sold last month, OB residents couldn’t help but be a little worried about the future of the neighborhood relic.

Fortunately, the business is in the hands of USA Hostels – a company that started in San Diego with a hostel in the Gaslamp District and seems to have the best intentions of the relic on the heart of Newport Avenue in mind.

Here’s USA Hostels president David Reuter response to those worries:

“We’re in it for the long haul. We’re the owners and operators. It’s going to be a hands-on approach. We’re interested in becoming members of the community.”

By Matthew Wood

As San Diego Beer Week kicks off tonight, Ocean Beach is quickly becoming a central hub for some of the best events. Places like OB Noodle House – which has been a part of the event for years – save some of their best brews for the upcoming week.

Newport Ave Storefront to Be Similar to Solana Beach Brewery

By Matthew Wood

The Ocean Beach craft beer scene is about to get a bit sudsier, as Solana Beach’s Culture Brewing Co. builds a new tasting room on Newport Avenue.

Construction is already under way on the storefront, which is just west of OB Warehouse. Co-owner Steve Ragan said he hopes to have the place open by November 8, in time for San Diego Beer Week.

He said the place will be similar to the Solana Beach brewery, except all the beer will be brought in from there and none made at the OB location.

It will be a rather bare-bones operation: No food, no TVs, no other booze. Just 20 or so taps serving nothing but their beer.