Gaslamp and East Village eateries giving their all to Padres fans

Alex Owens | Noticias del Centro

The San Diego Padres aren’t the only Downtown residents who use Spring Training to get ready for the baseball season.

So has the Southpaw Social Club, an East Village eatery at 815 J St., that’s back patio butts-up against Petco Park.

Southpaw opened last June, but the menu was recently revamped with a beer garden influence reminiscent of Midwest cities like Milwaukee.

The menu becomes official March 30, the opening day of the 2014 baseball season, and just like the Padres have been warming up in Arizona for the past six weeks, so have the chefs and employees of Southpaw Social Club.

“We’ve definitely been preparing the employees to get ready for the season,” said Todd Nash, the executive chef of Good Time Design, the company that owns and operates Southpaw as well as other Downtown bars and restaurants like Blind Burro, Moonshine Flats, Bub’s at the Ballpark and Lucky’s Lunch Counter.

Part of Nash’s preparation not only includes implementing more ballpark-centric menu items, but also getting staffers up to speed on a lineup that now emphasizes San Diego craft beers.

“We are really getting into local craft beers and going with an Americana beer garden influence,” Nash said.

That means options like burgers topped with kielbasa sausage, bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers and, thanks to a new smoker set up in the back, barbeque dishes during every home game.

Besides having a wide variety of craft brews now on tap, Nash hopes to use them in new ways.

“For instance, Coronado Brewing Company makes a great Orange Wit that we used as the base of a mustard,” Nash said.

Good Time Design owner Ty Hauter said the decision to connect Southpaw Social Club more directly with the ballpark was a natural transition based on customer response to existing menu items.

“The customers want more sandwiches, finger foods and they really like our homemade pretzel bread,” Hauter says.

Southpaw’s close location to Petco Park makes it a natural for private events during ballpark season, and Hauter estimates baseball season accounted for 25 percent of business since it opened.

“And that’s even though we weren’t open at the beginning of last season,” he says.

But making a closer branding connection to baseball isn’t without risk, he admits.

“There’s always hope at the beginning of the season and the Padres are expected to do better this year,” Hauter says. “However, the crowds could dwindle depending on how the team does.”

Southpaw Social Club isn’t the only Downtown business that hopes to score points with baseball fans.

The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Hotel, which is just 90 steps from Petco Park at 660 K St., will let game-goers nab free valet parking as long they purchase at least $25 of food or drinks at their street-level Soleil @K restaurant or the rooftop Latitude Lounge.

Jsix, located nearby at 616 J St., will be offering a “7th inning Stretch” toast on game days. Diners watching the game at the bar will get a free taste of local beer or wine as part of a community toast.

More important for baseball-loving boozehounds, Jsix will also offer $3 lagers and $5 craft drafts after the 7th inning, when Petco typically stops selling alcohol.

When new Mexican restaurant Don Chido opens at 527 Fifth Ave. in May, Padres season ticket holders will get 20 percent off their bill every time they show their “San Diego Padres Baseball Club Membership” card.

Finally, the new Coyote Ugly Saloon, located at 820 Fifth Ave., is offering any slice of pizza and a Pabst Blue Ribbon (better known as “PBR”) beer for $5 during home games, while Moonshine Flats, at 344 Seventh Ave., promises no line wait or cover charge to Padres fans with a same-day game ticket.

There’s plenty of fun to be had in America’s Finest City during San Diego Padres major league baseball season.

—Alex Owens es un escritor independiente que vive en San Diego.