PRINCE STREET PIZZA AND IRV’S BURGERS ARE COMING TO PACIFIC BEACH
A prominent NYC-based pizzeria and an iconic burger brand are both expanding to Pacific Beach where they’ll open in late June as part of the Mission + Garnet complex, which landed in 2023 at one of the beach community’s most high-traffic intersections.
This will be the second San Diego branch for Prince Street Pizza, following its Gaslamp debut in early 2023. Founded in 2012 in the Manhattan neighborhood of Nolita, the slice shop has since added locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, and Toronto, the hometown of co-founder Lawrence Longo. Best known for its Sicilian pies, aka “Soho Squares”, like the popular Spicy Spring with fra diavolo sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, and pecorino romano, Prince St. Pizza also bakes up round Neapolitan-style pizzas.
Longo, who owns Sparky’s Sports Bar in Malibu and Bar Next Door on the Sunset Strip, is also responsible for the revival of Irv’s Burgers, which originally opened in 1946 as Queen’s Burgers in West Hollywood where it was one of the first burger stands on the famous Route 66. Eventually renamed Irv’s, its flagship closed in 2018 but was reopened by Longo and partners in 2022. The brand now operates five locations throughout Southern California and Las Vegas, serving a menu that ranges from the classic Original Roadside Burger to the Irv’s Dog, tuna melt, chili cheese fries, and milkshakes made with soft-serve ice cream.
Prince Street Pizza and Irv’s Burgers will have dedicated walk-up windows at Mission + Garnet that will stay open until 3 a.m. on weekends.
After winding down some of his other food stalls in the space, Mission + Garnet founder Scott Slater is still running his breakfast burrito spot, Earlybird, which he says has been consistently busy since opening. Slater, who’s launched another Earlybird outpost in Idaho, tells Eater that he’s planning to continue to expand the brand.