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<\/a>Owners Alan Bilmes and Michael Wright, who opened the store July 12, 1984, are retiring, and the restaurant\u2019s new owners will transition the location into Harvey Milk\u2019s American Diner, set for completion this month.<\/p>\n
For many, City Deli\u2019s closing is bittersweet, including Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins. For the past 30 years, the restaurant has been a personal \u2013 and political \u2013 center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere [are] just so many things that have happened here for me personally, but also for this community,\u201d Atkins said to a group of approximately 90 who had gathered to say goodbye. \u201cThis is the heart and soul of Hillcrest. There\u2019s no better place.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was fitting to have Atkins there July 30, along with other representatives of political leaders and groups in San Diego. Christopher Ward honored Bilmes and Wright with a proclamation from Sen. Marty Block; Anthony Bernal spoke for Council President Todd Gloria; and San Diego Democrats for Equality President Doug Case, as well as many former and current members of the LGBT Democratic club, attended as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only City Deli started here, but the whole movement of Hillcrest [and] its notoriety,\u201d Wright said. \u201cWe\u2019re just very happy that we could be part of that \u2026 not just of the gay community, but of the straight community [as well].\u201d<\/p>\n
Gloria, who was in a closed City Council session, asked Bernal to bring a proclamation from the City declaring July 30, 2013 as City Deli day. Both Bernal and event organizer Mike Spradley reiterated Gloria\u2019s desire to attend.<\/p>\n
Hillcrest Town Council board chair Luke Terpstra thanked Bilmes and Wright with a Let\u2019s Improve Our Neighborhood award from the Town Council. Terpstra then read a statement from longtime City Deli supporters Ann Garwood and Nancy Moors, who could not attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to miss City Deli,\u201d the women said in their message. \u201cThe restaurant has been an iconic fixture at the corner of Sixth and University for decades. Thank you Mike and Alan for being such a great example of how business and neighbors have worked together to make Hillcrest better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright served on the Hillcrest Business Association for several decades, and is a former two-term president of the organization. He was also one of the founding board members of the Uptown Parking District.<\/p>\n
\u201cHillcrest is fortunate to have many restaurants, but there\u2019ll never be another City Deli,\u201d Garwood and Moors said.<\/p>\n
Former and current employees all retold their own history with City Deli, with many working for Bilmes and Wright for over 15 years. Some, like many in the community, have been calling the restaurant a second home for the entire 30 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like it\u2019s over so fast,\u201d Bilmes said. \u201cWe get reminded of all the memories of people meeting here, business going on [and] social politics. It\u2019s wonderful that we\u2019ve been a hub for that. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restaurateurs Tom Brown, Mike \u201cBig Mike\u201d Phillips and Frank Lechner will take over the space immediately to make the transition to Harvey Milk\u2019s American Diner. In an interview for Gay San Diego, Phillips said they would expand on City Deli\u2019s bakery selection while retaining some recipes. Bilmes and Wright remain on the building\u2019s lease.<\/p>\n
Atkins thanked the couple for passing the business on to owners who will continue to keep both the LGBT and Hillcrest communities in mind for the future.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the speakers \u2013 before the group broke up and parties mingled, retelling personal stories of their connection to the restaurant \u2013 Bilmes said his own thank you.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful,\u201d he said. \u201cThanks everybody for the memories.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Community remembers restaurant as cornerstone of Hillcrest movement By Anthony King | SDUN Editor Community members, political leaders, employees and customers came to City Delicatessen & Bakery \u2013 affectionately known as City Deli or, for some, the cornerstone of Hillcrest \u2013 Tuesday, July 30 to honor and recognize the store\u2019s 30 years of dedication to […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"City Deli says goodbye","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}