\u201cIt\u2019s been a painful journey, and the budget increased from $3 million to $4 million,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of it was the city finding stuff, like the existing gas line, we had to replace that, and also the floor planks \u2014 just a lot of stuff we had to restore. We rebuilt the building with all new wood. It\u2019s an older building so it had to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s such a great location, and we wanted to do the right thing to get the building where it needs to be. We never looked it as a quick fix, but a long-term project.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-SHORBIRD-OPENING-0801-008.jpg\")
Shorebird Restaurant had its soft opening a week ago but Friday will be its grand opening. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Part of that work included repairing the pylons that allow the restaurant to be suspended over the water, as well as replacing damaged wood and anchors.<\/p>\n
Shorebird is designed as an indoor-outdoor restaurant with slightly more seating on the patio where there are unobstructed bay views. In all, it seats 110. The 4,000-square-foot site \u2014 including patio space \u2014 has been updated with a new color palette of charcoal and white with blue accents.<\/p>\n
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Shorebird features, in addition to fresh fish, a raw bar with sushi rolls and oysters; rotisserie chicken; and various soups, salads and meat dishes.<\/p>\n
![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-SHORBIRD-OPENING-0801-005.jpg\")
Shown is the new bar section of the Shorebird Restaurant. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Stasiuk wants patrons to know that the Shorebird brand is known for its scratch kitchen, meaning everything is made in-house, from the side dishes to fresh-baked bread.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t use frozen or canned food,\u201d Stasiuk said. \u201cWe are absolutely against it. Our slogan is, we are more than just food. We also care about the communities we go into. We want to be a good ambassador and see what their needs are. We don\u2019t want to be thought of a tourist trap. What do the locals want \u2014 fresh, healthy items, food from scratch, fun cocktails and beers. And we source all our seafood locally across Southern California.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shorebird is among several new dining concepts that have come to Seaport Village since the Port of San Diego took over managing the popular tourist destination. At the same time Port commissioners OK\u2019d the lease for Shorebird, it also approved one for Gladstone\u2019s, a seafood restaurant that has taken over the former Edgewater Grill. It\u2019s expected to open early next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the Port of San Diego began revitalizing the bayfront center, we have been intentional in offering a mix of local favorites and fresh offerings where locals and visitors can shop, dine and unwind,\u201d said port Chairperson Danielle Moore. \u201cWith Shorebird\u2019s iconic location on an over-water pier, its coastal flavors, relaxed setting and amazing views, it\u2019s another great spot to make great memories with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Shorebird\u2019s negotiated port lease, which went into effect in May 2023, Wild Thyme is supposed to pay a minimum annual rent of $204,408 in year one, which will increase annually. It\u2019s also subject to percentage rent, as is the case with all port restaurant tenants, meaning it will be charged 6% of gross sales over $3.4 million in each year. In exchange, the port was required to give Shorebird a $227,500 allowance for venue improvements, although the operator was required to spend a minimum of $750,000 on upgrades to the restaurant.<\/p>\n
Still on tap for Seaport Village is a proposed $3.8 billion redevelopment of the waterfront center that calls for 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use development, including a 500-foot observation tower at the foot of Pacific Highway.<\/p>\n
While Stasiuk says he\u2019s well aware of those plans, it\u2019s unclear when construction would even start on the long-planned project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of mixed messages,\u201d he said, \u201cso I just don\u2019t know how it will affect us. We have a lengthy contract for now, and we are just very excited to be open. It\u2019s been a long time coming. We\u2019re happy to be part of Seaport Village, which is an international destination, and to be there is a big deal for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally Published: July 31, 2025 at 5:10 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three years after it was expected to make its debut at Seaport Village, the long-awaited Shorebird Restaurant has…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,64,1582,276,2105,1370,988,3549,7264,1072,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-109258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-food-and-drink","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-restaurants","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-top-stories-sdut","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114951460307596337","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}