Andrew Zimmern of ‘Bizarre Foods’ Filming New Show in San Diego

As the latest season of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods gears up to debut on Tuesday, July 25, its host Andrew Zimmern has been filming another series for the network called The Zimmern List which is currently shooting in San Diego. The new show will feature the four-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, writer and teacher revisiting some of his favorite eating destinations and “taking viewers on a personal tour of what makes that particular city so irresistible and intriguing to him”.

Greenlit for 18 half-hour episodes, the series has already filmed episodes in Portland, Maine and Boston; expect 30 minutes of footage from San Diego to be part of the show’s eventual lineup. This past Saturday, its crew was at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market (see Eater’s photo feature on the weekly market here) with Ironside Fish & Oyster’s executive chef/partner and market supporter Jason McLeod standing in for Zimmern.

Eater has learned the show will be shooting in Barrio Logan today. Zimmern shared:

“When I am in San Diego, I go bonkers for the seafood, Filipino food and Chicano cuisine. The Barrio Logan neighborhood is ground zero for so much of the best Mexican food in all of SoCal.

Located in the south-central part of the city, this is where refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution first settled in 1910, making it one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods. When the Naval Station took over the neighborhood's beachfront during World War II, the area’s remaining residential pockets eventually fell into disarray. In the 1970s, a cultural renaissance occurred for the Mexican-American community, and this is commemorated in Chicano Park with over 60 colorful murals covering the concrete support piers of the I-5 bridges that border the neighborhood. Barrio Logan was designated an official historic site in 1980 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, but I also think the future is alive and well with a youth culture that is bursting out of everything from the art galleries to the music to the restaurants.

While there, I’m looking forward to visiting Por Vida, an artsy coffee shop and gallery in the center of Barrio Logan where I like to get a spicy limonada or horchata latte, and Salud for authentic Mexican street food in a space that’s as visually eclectic as the menu. It is a converted bank building from 1910 and is covered in colorful murals. Salud was just bestowed with the “Best Taco in San Diego” title, but some of us have known about this place for a while. My favorite is the Barrio: carne guisado and nopal (stewed beef and cactus paddle) wrapped in a hand-pressed flour tortilla. Delicious!”

Tips about other featured local stops have been coming through the tipline. Send in your Zimmern-sightings and we’ll update with more info.