NEWPORT PIZZA SEEKING NEW SPOT
Open since 1984 at 5050 Newport Ave., New York-style pizzeria Newport Pizza & Ale House will close at the end of the month after 35 years, hoping to re-locate elsewhere in the beach community.
The business, whose motto is, “No crap on tap,” was unable to re-negotiate a new lease in its current site.
Longtime owner Mike Tajran also has an interest in OB Brewery across the street on Newport Avenue, which he purchased in 2009 and re-opened in 2016 after nearly eight years of development.
For more information about Newport Pizza & Ale House, visit obpizza.com. DIRTY BIRDS NOW OPEN IN OB PLAZA
San Diego’s popular wing-focused,1,200-square-foot sports bar Dirty Birds opened recently at 1929 Cable St. in the newly built Ocean Beach Plaza.
The eatery’s opening was delayed by the denial of a full Type-47 liquor license. Founded in 2008 by Jon Ollis and Adam Jacoby in Pacific Beach, Dirty Birds now has locations near SDSU, inside Liberty Station in Point Loma, and a fifth location planned at UC San Diego campus in La Jolla replacing Round Table Pizza.
OB Plaza also houses Mr. Moto Pizza House, which also recently opened. Dirty Birds offers nearly 40 different wing flavors as well as sandwiches, salads, burgers, sliders, and appetizers. The bar serves numerous craft beers on tap and wine by the glass. 
For more information, visit dirtybirdsbarandgrill.com/dirty-birds. OB GARDEN CAFE CLOSED OB Garden Cafe, a vegetarian café opened 1 1/2 years ago by Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market, has shuttered. 
The last day of operation for the cafe at 4741 Voltaire St., in the space that formerly was Tiny’s Tavern, was Saturday, Sept. 14, said Jim Kase, general manager for OB People’s co-op. 
The full-service organic vegetarian eatery opened in March 2018 and served lunch and dinner. 
“A lot of people came in, loved the cafe and patronized it,” said Kase. “But it did not have a sustainable level of business to keep it open.”
Noting 80% of restaurants fail to last five years, Kase said it was a near-unanimous decision by the co-op’s governing board to close the cafe after it failed to meet expectations.
“We took out a loan, built a building, and it was received fairly well at first,” said Kase. “But sales weren’t growing. The cafe could not sustain itself, and we were putting our co-op at risk, which was the last thing we wanted to do. We felt we gave it more than a fair chance to do well and to grow.”
Kase said the co-op is “exploring options” on what to do with the cafe building.
“We’re going to do what is best for our organization, whether that be leasing the building to another restaurant, either established or new, or selling the building,” he said. “We just haven’t figured out what that is yet. It’s very sad we had to close it, but we felt we had no other choice.” 
The only customer-owned grocer in San Diego, People’s is a food cooperative with more than 14,000 members, LAZY HUMMINGBIRD NOW CLOSED 
The Lazy Hummingbird at 4876 Santa Monica Ave., which opened in 2011, closed Oct. 6 after failing to renegotiate a new lease. Their other location in La Mesa shuttered in August.
The funky cafe featured coffee, tea, light bites, local artwork, live music, and a dog-friendly patio.
The business is searching to relocate to a new place.
“Our idea when creating the Bird was to provide a space where business can meet pleasure, where artists and musicians can come to create, and where families can come to relax,” said Hummingbird’s website, lazyhummingbirdob.com.