Opening this Monday is Urge Gastropub and Common House, spanning a whopping 21,000-square-feet of drinking, dining and gaming space in North City, a new 200-acre residential and commercial community in San Marcos. Owned by 3 Local Brothers — Grant Tondro and brothers Zak and Nate Higson — it’s the largest project yet for the trio; among the group’s other holdings are the popular Urge locations in Rancho Bernardo and Oceanside plus Brothers Provisions, The Barrel Room, Lo-Fi Pie and Mason Coffee Works.
Each Urge location is unique; in Oceanside, the gastropub shares space with in-house brewery Mason Ale Works and companion speakeasy 101 Proof, while the San Marcos project includes an expanded production brewery and 15-barrel brewhouse for Mason Ale Works overseen by director of brewing operations Matt Webster as well as a new canning line. There’s also a Big Lebowski-themed bowling alley, stocked with eight bowling lanes that can be reserved online, huge video screens and its own bar that will pour beer and The Dude-inspired White Russian cocktails.
Open at 11:30 a.m daily, the venue has a capacity of 400 across its main dining room, two private rooms, and spacious front and side patios which are stocked with a bocce ball court, Giant Jenga, corn hole and a mix of picnic and firepit tables. The food menu is similar its other locations although chef Brian Freerksen does plan introduce new items; at the bar, there will be 41 taps of both house and guest beers reflecting the San Marcos brewing scene, plus craft cocktails and 80 whiskey selections.
Urge Gastropub and Common House is North City’s anchor tenant and the first concept to launch in Block C at North City, a 213,000-square-foot hub developed by Urban Villages San Marcos, LLC that includes a 400-space parking structure and 197 residences located above a large outdoor plaza. East Village’s Stella Public House and Halcyon Coffee are also headed to Block C, where about 10,000-square-feet of available space remains for other hospitality projects. Michael Burton, senior vice president of Urban Strategies Group said, “Urge Common House is one of the most exciting concepts to ever launch in San Diego County. It will serve as the heartbeat of North City, and a destination for all of North County.”
