Brigantine proposing $26M redevelopment of Fish Market restaurant on San Diego Bay

The new owner of The Fish Market restaurant on downtown San Diego’s waterfront is angling to tear down the aging venue and replace it with a $25.6 million, multi-concept dining destination that would incorporate the familiar seafood restaurant alongside a grab-and-go option and a high-end steakhouse.

The proposed project, from San Diego-based Brigantine Restaurant Company, is called The Landing and would see the existing structure razed to make room for a new, two-story building with indoor and outdoor dining at three separate restaurant concepts: The Fish Market, The Little Market and Salt & Sear Prime Steak House.

The project also calls for several banquet rooms, as well as a 6-foot-wide waterfront walkway, open to the public during business hours, that traverses the perimeter of the property.

Tuesday, the Board of Port Commissioners for the San Diego Unified Port District unanimously gave the OK for agency staff to begin the environmental review work for the project, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

“I really like the development,” said Port Commissioner Dan Malcolm. “I think I do see lessons learned in the development from your other project, Portside Pier; the fact that you’re actually theming this The Landing with other restaurants and features inside. I think it’s been very successful at Portside Pier, and I anticipate that it will be very successful here. … I think it’s a very well thought out and conceived project.”

The board action advances the preliminary proposal, with Brigantine next required to submit a formal application and detailed project description, which will be used as the basis for the environmental work.

The vote, which does not constitute project approval, also means Port of San Diego staff can begin lease negotiations with Brigantine. The local restaurant group is seeking a new or amended lease agreement with a 40-year term in light of its planned investment into the replacement venue, Brigantine President Mike Morton Jr. told the Union-Tribune.

A negotiated lease agreement must come back to the board for a future vote. Brigantine expects to start construction in March 2028 and open The Landing in the spring or summer of 2029, assuming the company secures the required approvals.

Opened in 1989, The Fish Market restaurant at 750 N. Harbor Drive overlooks Tuna Harbor and the surrounding San Diego Bay at the end of G Street Mole on Port of San Diego tidelands. The two-story building includes the namesake seafood restaurant on the first floor and a more upscale venue called Top of the Market on the second level.

Earlier this year, San Diego-based Brigantine Restaurant Company acquired the leasehold for the bayfront location as part of its deal to buy the Fish Market brand. The current, 40-year lease expires Feb. 29, 2028.

The Brigantine operates 20 San Diego-area restaurants, including the group’s flagship Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar locations. The family owned company also has three lease agreements with the port. It has cemented a strong relationship with the agency thanks to the success of the multi-concept Portside Pier complex that opened on the Embarcadero in place of Anthony’s Fish Grotto in 2020.

Brigantine took inspiration from Portside Pier for The Landing concept, Morton said.

“We just wanted to give people more of a destination because of the multifaceted details of the whole project, as far as the different offerings and different price levels,” he said.

The project, Morton said, is centered around The Fish Market, which will continue as a full-service seafood restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining on the new building’s first floor. The Little Market is meant to augment the larger restaurant. The venue is described as a fast-casual, grab-and-go market with its own entrance, a fresh fish display and a walk-up counter. It will also sell prepared food, coffee, gelato and breakfast items.

Salt & Sear, meanwhile, is meant to be the most elevated of the proposed offerings. Materials submitted by the restaurant group to the port describe the restaurant as offering a refined ambiance with plush seating and warm lighting. The restaurant’s steak-forward menu and its large, outdoor deck are geared for special occasions, business dinners and romantic evenings.

“Salt & Sear Prime Steak House on the second floor is a new concept that will be a little darker, a little moodier; sophisticated with comfort and luxury,” Darrel Fullbright, an executive with the project’s design firm, Gensler, said in his remarks to the board.

The Landing’s biggest selling point, however, is the water.

“This location, it’s amazing. It’s got a ton of good foot traffic. The views, I think, are unparalleled,” Morton told the Union-Tribune. “It’s a different exposure than Portside Pier. Portside Pier looks back toward Point Loma. This (location) looks more toward Coronado and the aircraft carriers, and it’s got a lot more boat traffic just because it is right on the commercial channel.”

Brigantine is seeking to replace the existing 22,087-square-foot building with a 32,080-square-foot structure that better maximizes the property’s current footprint and allows for 738 total seats, compared to 635 seats today. The venue, as proposed, will be 36 feet tall, or around 2 feet taller than the current structure.

The operator is also introducing public access at the site in the form of the walkway, which will be separate from the restaurant.

Port commissioners focused most of their questions on the pedestrian path, seeking to clarify how the public access feature will function. The questions suggest that the commissioners want to see something better than what is offered at Portside Pier, where a second floor walkway was shoehorned into the project after its design, creating a sometimes-awkward experience for restaurant patrons and the public.

“There’s a 60-inch glass wall around the entire (The Landing) patio perimeter, and then there’s a 42-inch glass wall around the public walkway with 6 feet in between, and that’s so it didn’t obstruct any views,” Morton told commissioners. “Additionally, we wanted to make (The Landing walkway) 100% separate, so a table can’t be moved out there. Any person in the restaurant would physically have to exit the restaurant to access the path, and vice versa.”

The Landing is a discretionary project within the coastal zone and is subject to environment review under CEQA and the California Coastal Act, a port spokesperson said. The environmental work will commence within the next few months, although it has yet to be determined if the project requires a full environment impact report or something less involved. The CEQA review must be completed before any real estate agreements can be executed and the physical redevelopment work commences, the spokesperson said.

The Brigantine restaurant group expects to privately finance the project with a combination of debt and equity, Morton said.