If you’re into cereal or custom pizza, Liberty Public Market has two new eateries joining its varied mix to please your palates.
One is Doughballs, a new take on all things pizza. The other is Crackheads, a brand new concept: An all-day breakfast bar.
Doughballs/Crackheads owner/originator James Markham talked about the origin of both restaurant concepts.
“One of the things I remember growing up back East is my mom buying pizza dough from the Italian gourmet and frying into into little pancake-like patties,” said Markham about Doughball’s makings. “Crackheads … I just thought it was a funny name,” adding, “the name’s really been wildly popular with our sign inside drawing attention from people taking pictures with it.”
Doughballs is now cooking up wood-fired pizza in the Liberty Public Market space that services the food hall’s indoor dining area. The quick-service eatery is a fresh offering from a veteran of the fast-casual pizza world, JM Concepts’ Markham, who helped create the MOD Pizza, Pieology and Project Pie brands, and who also operates Rolled Up, a sushi burrito shop in Hillcrest.
This new Liberty Station outlet is a preview of Doughballs’ new sit-down restaurant in Pacific Beach at 822 Grand Ave. When PB Doughballs opens, it will have a rooftop patio and the distinction of being the first to offer wood-fired pizza from a drive-through window. Built with hand-tossed dough, the pizzas will range from signature creations to customizable options that bake in just 90 seconds.
Markham is also launching Crackheads in Liberty Public Market. The all-day breakfast bar features breakfast sandwiches, Pop Tarts that can be topped with sweet ingredients or used as a base for ice cream sandwiches, and build-your-own cereal bowls.
Of Crackheads and its origin, Markham said, “There seems to be a big void in breakfast, with nothing in-between the fast-food restaurants of the world, and the more expensive, sit-down breakfast places that take 20 to 40 minutes to be served. There was a void in the casual side of breakfast.”
Enter Crackheads, where, Markham noted, “Everything sits in a hot water bath and is ready to serve to you in 15 seconds.”
Markham added Crackheads cereal “bar” is truly unique.
“We have 10 different cereals in a glass counter, and you tell us which ones of the 10 — or all of them — that you want, with everything in ingredients from Snicker’s bars to marshmallows to gummy bears. It’s build your own.”
Additionally, Markham is developing Jarheads, an eatery offering sweet and savory dishes cooked sous vide in recyclable mason jars, which will have a dedicated storefront in North County, offering sweet and savory dishes cooked sous vide in recyclable mason jars. The jars, filled with everything from truffle-bacon mac and cheese to fluffy Japanese-style pancakes, will also be available at Liberty Public Market.