San Francisco Sandwich Specialists, Ike's Place, Expanding to San Diego

Sandwich lovers rejoice, a San Francisco-based specialty sandwich shop with a huge following has set sights on San Diego. Ike's Place, which has multiple locations in Northern California, Arizona, and a relatively new outpost in LA, will touch down by July in The Hub Hillcrest, Regency Center's revamped University Avenue complex that's now home to Ritual JuiceBox, VOM FASS and the soon-to-open Napizza.

Ike's Place founder Ike Shehadeh says that San Diego is one of his favorite cities in the world, and plans to launch several sandwiches that will be exclusive to the local market. The new Hillcrest outpost will also be the first location to serve beer, with a mix of brews from San Diego and the Bay Area. It's known for an extensive menu of irreverently-named sandwiches, from the Pastrami-Charmed Life to the Love Triangle and the Stupid Eggplant Sandwich; as with his other eateries, Shehadeh also plans on having local athletes come in to invent their own eponymous sandwiches. The super-stuffed sandwiches are assembled on bread made from house recipes, including wheat, sourdough and a crackly-topped Dutch crunch roll, a popular Bay Area bread option and all come with Ike's signature "Dirty Secret Sauce", a garlic aioli, that gets baked into the bread and spread onto each sandwich. The San Diego shop will also offer breakfast sandwiches and French toast sticks.

Location Matters' Mike Spilky facilitated the lease of the 1,100-square-foot shop, whose main seating area will encompass a 850-square-foot patio. Spilky is working on scouting at least one more Ike's Place location for Shehadeh, who says he's considering the SDSU or Pacific Beach areas.