Huge Shipping Container Restaurant Heading to Imperial Beach

Eater has more details on the massive restaurant project that's moving forward in the South Bay, where former Los Angeles chef and restauranteur Steve Brown is returning to his hometown of Imperial Beach to launch one of several planned eateries in the area.

A beachside lot at Date Avenue and Seacoast Drive, adjacent to the Pier South Resort, will be the new home of The Shipping Yard, a shipping container-built restaurant that would include a bocce ball court and dog-friendly outdoor space.

Brown, who has spent most of his culinary career in fine dining destinations, will apply those same sensibilities to a chef-driven yet casual and affordable menu. A proponent of local and seasonal sourcing, he intends to partner closely with Wild Willow Farm, where growing space will be dedicated to all of Brown's kitchens, which will in turn help to fund and support the education-focused, non-profit farm. The chef's roving pop-up, which has been touring throughout Southern California, will land at Wild Willow on August 27 for a five-course dinner highlighting the farm's produce.

The Shipping Yard is aiming to launch by Spring 2017, and there's a possibility that a satellite tasting room from an established brewery may also be part of the project. Brown told Eater that he's rerooting himself in the San Diego area — he plans on creating multiple concepts here beyond the Imperial Beach restaurant. Another eatery that could come online as soon as this fall is a modern public house that would open on Orange Avenue in Coronado.