Today’s newsletter is presented by Advanced Exteriors.
Good morning, San Diego ☀️
Here’s what we have for you today:
- Rick Springfield and Modest Mouse are among your options for live music this week.
- The California Highway Patrol reports that the number of stolen vehicles in San Diego County dropped nearly a quarter from the year before.
- The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory and coastal flood advisory from 5 p.m. tonight until Saturday evening, thanks to Genevieve.
Tessa Balc
Audience engagement producer
Top story
Data: Health inspectors closing more restaurants, often for vermin violations
What do the Seaview Restaurant inside the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, The Waterfront Bar & Grill in Little Italy, Gossip Grill and Black Bear Diner all have in common? They were all somewhat recently shut down for health code reasons.
It’s thanks to an uninvited dinner guest—vermin.
The number of temporary restaurant closures have steadily climbed over the past four years. Specifically looking at vermin-related closures from 2022 to 2025 the number has spiked from 211 to 442 restaurant closures. The biggest jump came between 2023, with 292 closures, and 2024, with 413.
The county said that during this time, the number of inspections they conducted and their processes hadn’t changed. So, why the nearly 100-restaurant increase? We can’t say for sure because county data does not specify the type of infestation whether it be rodent, insect, bird or other animal.
But experts have their theories.
“If there’s more restaurants being closed because of rats, then it’s not that big of a leap to assume that there may be more rats,” said Niamh Quinn, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Area Vertebrate Pest Advisor.
Quinn points to a 2024 state ban of a rodenticide that basically functions as a blood thinner for rats. She also says the changing climate is increasing rat and roach populations in cities across the world.
Good luck going out to eat now.
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Stories you should know about
🎻 Summerfest, the ‘Coachella of classical music, celebrates 40th anniversary by ‘Making History’: Over the course of four weeks, classical musicians from all around the world will perform at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla.
🏄♀️ From La Jolla to the world’s beaches: Surf Diva celebrates 30 years: Two La Jolla sisters started what they say was the world’s first female-focused surf school, at a time where most surf instruction was geared toward kids or men.
🚗 Parking problems delay Avenida de la Playa project in La Jolla Shores: Critics of the promenade say that as many as 26 parking spaces will need to be replaced after the promenades construction, whereas those in support of the project say its construction will only remove about 11 spaces.
💵 Opinion: Make our city assets work for San Diego’s neighborhoods
What else we’re reading
🎨 Caltrans is partnering with local artists to bring life to pedestrian bridges, and reduce their temperatures. A pedestrian bridge in San Ysidro is part of this program, and was the pilot for a glow-in-the-dark treatment— something Caltrans thinks will make it safer. (KPBS)
🛩️ An’s Gelato has officially opened the doors to its fifth location at the “Top Gun” House in Oceanside. As with their other stores, the location is themed and the inside as been transformed into an airport terminal. (NBC 7)
Times of San Diego thanks our corporate sponsors. Find out more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities here.
Mid-Week News Quiz
Have you kept up with Times of San Diego this week? Let’s see!
🍃 What was the name of the Measure that initially paved the way for medicinal cannabis in La Mesa?
A) Measure C
B) Measure K
C) Measure R
D) Measure U
Reply first with the correct answer to earn a shoutout in tomorrow’s newsletter.