Over the past eight years, family-owned Finney’s Crafthouse has grown from one restaurant in L.A.’s Westlake Village to a dozen throughout Southern California, with the latest opening Monday in Oceanside. It’s the company’s first location in San Diego County.
Finney’s has taken over the 6,000-square-foot building once occupied by Davina’s Cabo Grill at Tremont Street and Mission Avenue. The freshly renovated restaurant building seats 140 on its main floor and 60 on the rooftop with full bars on both levels and TV sets throughout.
The American gastropub will serve lunch and dinner daily, as well as 16 cocktails, 14 wine selections and 30 beers on tap, of which 2/3 will be locally brewed. Executive chef-partner Eric Bosrau’s scratch-made menu of 50 items includes pizzas, sandwiches, burgers, tacos, wings, entrée salads and appetizers, plus a kids’ menu.
The signature menu item is the Peggy’s Crispy Chicken sandwich — topped with pepper Jack cheese, Fresno chiles, slaw and spicy aoli — which is named after the matriarch of the Finney’s chain family. The restaurant prides itself on value pricing, with many pizzas and sandwiches in the $13-$14 range. Its popular happy hour, offered from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays, offers $5 beers, $7-$9 appetizers and entrées, and a $16 combo platter that includes the Finney’s burger or Peggy’s sandwich with fries and choice of beer or soda for $16.
Finney’s was founded in 2016 by Greg Finefrock (pronounced Finney-frock). At their Westlake high school, Greg and his twin brother, Brad, were nicknamed the “Finney” brothers and the nickname stuck. Greg went on to a 30-career in the restaurant business, beginning as an area developer for Baja Fresh and later a franchisee for The Counter burger chain. When he decided to open his own concept in their hometown, he named it Finney’s and his family members were initial investors.
Two years later, Greg’s twin Brad — who has a 25-year track record in finance — bought into Finney’s as a partner and now serves as the company’s development director. In a phone interview last weekend, Brad Finefrock said he and Greg, who are 52, are not only brothers and business partners, they’re also best friends.
Brad Finefrock said his brother’s mission with Finney’s was to provide “a perfect dining experience for all generations.”
“The goal was to offer the best American casual dining restaurant with a very welcoming environment,” he said.
The restaurants have a uniform 1920s Prohibition-style look — with used brick, reclaimed wood, copper finishes and concrete floors — but each location is unique. The Oceanside location, with a basement kitchen and a partially shaded rooftop deck, is the company’s first three-story restaurant, he said.
The chain now has locations in L.A., Orange, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and San Bernardino counties. Finefrock said the company has long been interested in opening a restaurant in San Diego, but he didn’t want to jump too soon without first testing the local waters.
Last year, the company opened a Laguna Beach location that has been very successful, so Finefrock said he was optimistic that Finney’s would do well in San Diego County, as well. They decided to start first in North County and then, if the first local location is successful, they’ll look for another space further down the coast, from the Del Mar area down to Pacific Beach.
Finefrock said he started discussions with Oceanside city officials about 2-1/2 years ago and they suggested the former home of Davina’s Cabo Grill, which permanently closed in 2021. He said he liked the prime downtown location from the start, and after talking to other downtown restaurateurs he felt Finney’s would be a good fit for the area.
“We loved the proximity to the beach, it’s just off Pacific Coast Highway and it’s in the center of all the action,” he said. “Probably without the strong demographics of Oceanside, we wouldn’t have considered the space, but there’s a good population there and there’s decent competition, but not a lot of competition for our concept and product.”
Finney’s Crafthouse
Hours: Opens for business on Monday, June 17. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Where: 212 N. Tremont St., Oceanside
Online: finneyscrafthouse.com