Urban Solace

If you’re looking for some urban solace, head to North Park where you’ll find the aptly named Urban Solace restaurant. The decor is a funky urban vibe, where chefs serve up unique comfort food that brings you solace. As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by a sweet-faced hostess who will lead you to your perfect table. Friendly wait staff recommend their menu favorites, and also suggest other great San Diego restaurants, like the perfect place to dine while watching the sunset. You can’t go wrong with that kind of customer service! Add the scrumptious modern American food, signature cocktails, craft beers, and boutique wines, and you have a great dining experience.

Urban Solace Ambiance

Inside, a long dark wood bar to the left sports high-top stools with chocolate leather cushions. Customers face the full bar with a brick wall backdrop featuring unofficial spokesman Ron Burgundy, reminding you to “stay classy San Diego.” On your right are short-top dark wood tables with bench seating on one side and comfy chocolate leather chairs on the other. Down the center of the restaurant are two large light wood high-top tables, which can either hold large parties or be used as community seating. The mood is relaxed and comfortable.

If you prefer your meal with sunshine and a breeze, head to the black wrought iron tables and chairs on the outdoor patio. A trombone player sets the mood for two colorful dancers on one wall, while underground jazz club partiers dance along another wall. These vibrant art pieces intensify the edgy downtown vibe of this urban restaurant. Palm trees are scattered throughout the enclosed patio, and don’t worry about chilly nights; several heat lamps will warm you if you’d like to sit under the stars while you dine.

Urban Solace Food

Once you find the perfect seat, it’s time to check out the delicious menu created by executive chef and owner Matt Gordon, who’s taken comfort food and made it as healthy and delicious as possible. He set out to create a place where people in the restaurant industry would enjoy coming, thus ensuring customers would feel the same way.  This ideal combined with the birth of his first child sparked one of the best menus in San Diego. His decision to raise his child on a natural diet with “no artificial flavors, sugars, and other junk,” inspired him to create a restaurant menu with the same principles. He chooses meats that are naturally produced with no hormones, and are antibiotic free, he buys from local farms that have organic veggies, he makes handmade flavored syrups for cocktails, and he stays away from high fructose corn syrup at all costs. These are just a few of the many ways this comfort food with a twist is not only delicious, but healthy too.

Urban Solace is committed to eating local; almost every ingredient, bottle of wine, craft beer, and more are from the West Coast. This type of diligence allows every guest to enjoy the freshest and most natural classic southern meals. It’s no wonder they topped San Diego Magazine’s “Best Restaurants” list in 2014. Customers can go for “blunch” at Urban’s and order up their signature Kitchen Sink Biscuits and Gravy with sausage, brown sugar slab bacon, and two fried eggs on top! Stop in for lunch and get the popular grilled rare Albacore tuna sandwich with arugula, tomato, lemon thyme aioli, and grilled onions on an egg bun with a side of Kennebec fries; add extra avocado like a real San Diegan, if you dare. For a delicious dinner, try out a classic with a twist – the “Not Your Momma’s Meatloaf.” Ground lamb and pork, figs, almonds, feta, fig jus, and confit potatoes are sure to leave you satisfied.

Urban Solace Details

If the mouthwatering options offered Monday thru Saturday don’t get you drooling, wait until Sunday when you can head to Urban Solace for their famous Bluegrass Brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This classic southern menu is a real treat; couple it with a mimosa and you’ll be in heaven. You can breathe easy by making reservations online, so you’re sure to get a table. Parking is sometimes hard to come by in North Park, so try the parking garage across the street and get validated at the restaurant.

For all you gluten free fans there is an ever-changing gluten free menu offered every Thursday night. Urban Solace is open seven days a week Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 11 to 11, and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. On Sundays, the restaurant closes after brunch at 2:30 and reopens from 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner. The bar stays open one hour past the last seating every night.

Urban Solace Neighborhood

North Park is an eclectic and funky neighborhood making it a great place to spend the day exploring, and Urban Solace is in the middle of the action on the 30th Street corridor. After you’ve finished your meal, check out what this arts and entertainment district has to offer. Urban is steps away from North Park Birch Theatre and the Ray Street Art Walk. North Park is situated between two other trendy neighborhoods – Hillcrest and downtown San Diego; both are just minutes away. Head in one direction to Hillcrest, Balboa Park, and the San Diego Zoo, or go the opposite direction to walk around the Financial District. These three neighborhoods are prime examples of the cultural diversity that makes up San Diego.