One of San Diego’s most notorious chicken sandwiches is hitting Pacific Beach.
Slated for later this month, The Crack Shack will soon be opening its doors to PB at 4525 Mission Blvd.
The latest “coop” from The Crack Shack will mark the eatery’s fifth restaurant. With existing locations in Costa Mesa, Encinitas, Little Italy and Las Vegas, the crew is eager to hit the streets of PB and share their love of chicken with the community.
“I think Pacific Beach will love this,” said Dan Pena, director of operations for The Crack Shack. “This location will be the most similar to the Little Italy one, with outdoor seating and an open-air space. When you go to the beach or live near the beach, you want to be outside as much as possible and we really felt that The Crack Shack would add to this feeling in Pacific Beach.”
Originally brought to life by the team behind fellow San Diego culinary staple Juniper & Ivy, The Crack Shack first opened in 2015 with a goal to bring quality ingredients and high-end culinary tactics to an affordable, accessible and fast dining experience.
“Executive Chef and Culinary Director Jon Sloan and I conceptualized and helped open Juniper & Ivy in 2014, and from there we took the time to think about and come up with the idea for the original Crack Shack,” Pena said. “The idea was based on how we view food and hospitality. We wanted the same quality ingredients as Juniper & Ivy, for a lower price point.”
Utilizing non-GMO Jidori chicken, artisanal bread and produce from boutique local farms, Pena and his team dove into creating a kitchen that prioritized thoughtfully-sourced ingredients and recipes.
In addition, a laid back, relaxing and fun environment was also top of mind. With proximity to Juniper & Ivy’s evening atmosphere, Pena and his team wanted to counter that with the flagship Crack Shack location and have done the same with all expansions since.
“We wanted to provide craft cocktails, local beers, in the San Diego sunshine,” Pena said. “We wanted to create a menu of food that anyone could enjoy, in an environment that was open and airy.”
Immediately, The Crack Shack was a success with a booming opening day in 2015 that prompted closures on day two.
“We actually had to close the second day because we ran out of food (because of) how many people came,” Pena said.
And the love for The Crack Shack’s iconic menu of hand-crafted sandwiches and sides has not stopped since. The loyal fan base has flocked to all new locations, a sentiment Pena said he is sure will carry into Pacific Beach.
“We are so grateful for the San Diego community, because it has allowed us to grow into new openings like this one in Pacific Beach,” Pena said. “We have great locations across San Diego, and the biggest for each is the community.”
In Pacific Beach, The Crack Shack will offer indoor and outdoor seating, games like cornhole and a grab-and-go style counter.
“With this spot, we are offering a place for locals to grab stuff to go and take things home quickly,” Pena said. “Or they can hang out and enjoy food in the dining room. We are so excited about this particular location because it really is one of the coolest one’s concept wise that we have designed.”
Looking ahead at their opening in mid-September, the team is excited for the foot traffic, tourists and tight-knit community of Pacific Beach.
“A great part about our brand is that we have a great deal of experience with both locals and visitors,” Pena said. “In Encinitas, it is almost all locally driven, but in places like Las Vegas and Little Italy, we deal with transient visitors a lot.
“In Pacific Beach, I think it will be a good mix of both of those,” he said. “And I think that what drew us to Pacific Beach is how much the area has grown and evolved over the past several years.”
On the menu, hungry Pacific Beach locals and visitors can dive into classics like the Firebird with spicy chicken, ranch and pickles; and The Señor Croque that features a fried egg; or their more complex items like Cali Drip that features pollo asado, fries, chipotle-bacon mayo, pickled onions and jalapeños.
As a go-to-spot for chicken lovers, The Crack Shack offers three bucket sizes of fried chicken, plus plenty of sides like fries, slaw, mini biscuits and sweet classics like their cowboy cookies.
At the bar, the new location will offer Pacific Beach craft cocktails and local beers.
“We are so excited about this location and bringing Crack Shack to Pacific Beach,” Pena said. “I think this community is where it is at in the restraint world.”
Recipe from The Crack Shack
Free range cowboy cookies
Makes 10 large cookies
Ingredients:
• 144 g all-purpose flour• 5.6 g baking powder• 6.8 g baking soda• 3.2 g cinnamon• 2 g kosher salt• 136 g room temp unsalted butter• 120 g granulated sugar• 128 g light brown sugar• 1.5 large eggs• 5.2 g vanilla extract• 204 g semi-sweet chocolate chips• 120 g oats• 100 g pecans• 72 g unsweet coconut flakes
Directions:
1 – In a mixer, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, mix for two more minutes, slowly add one egg at a time, add vanilla.
2 – Once well mixed, add dry ingredients until combined, add chocolate chips, oats, pecans and coconut.
3 – Dough bakes best when chilled. Chill dough overnight, bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min.
Courtesy of The Crack Shack
Want to visit?
The Crack Shack
• Where: 4525 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach
• Hours: to be announced
• Website: crackshack.com
• Instagram: @getcrackshacked
