Restaurateurs Brian Douglass and Anderson Clark have firm ideas on what they wanted to achieve at their two restaurants, 5-year-old Common Stock in Hillcrest and newly opened Books & Records in Bankers Hill. But they also know it’s their customers who are the final arbiters of taste.
Common Stock was initially envisioned as a comfort food restaurant-bar with a wide menu of globally influenced Americana eats. But almost overnight it became famous for its fried chicken sandwiches and its bar, which together make up the bulk of sales at the casual Fifth Avenue spot.
The co-founders of Common Stock Hospitality could easily have expanded the fried chicken sando concept to another location. Instead, they decided to try something new at Books & Records, which opened at the end of August in the former Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant space on Fourth Avenue in the neighborhood of Bankers Hill.
Two months in, it’s a little early to know if the 80-seat Books & Records will also become famous for just one menu item. But its popularity as a neighborhood hangout has already been answered. On weekend nights, the restaurant-bar is packed with a line out the door for tables. Now, Douglass and Clark say, they’re working on an expanded bar menu and new late-night food and drink specials to spread the wealth of customers out to the weeknights and into the wee hours on weekends.
The packed bar area of newly opened Books & Records in Bankers Hill.
(Pam Kragen/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Douglass and Clark met nearly a decade ago while working for the Hillstone Restaurant Group, whose concepts nationwide include Houston’s, Honor Bar and R&D Kitchen. In 2018, they started their own company in San Diego. Initially they hired Sam Deckman as the executive chef at Common Stock in Hillcrest, but six months later they promoted him to company culinary director. Chris D’Apice is their beverage director.
Like Common Stock, Books & Records was named after the dollars-and-cents side of the restaurant business that Douglass has worked in since 2011. Books & Records also pays homage to the community it calls home. In the late 1800s, the neighborhood was named Bankers Hill because it was where downtown San Diego’s prominent bankers and financiers lived.
The interior of Books & Records restaurant-bar in Bankers Hill.
(Courtesy of Kimberly Motos)
As a tip of the hat to the neighborhood’s history, Anderson and Douglass don’t plan to take down the former tenant’s outdoor “Bankers Hill” wall sign. Instead they’re planning to add a “Books & Records” vertical blade sign that will be installed on the corner of the building at Fourth Avenue and Ivy Street. The interior of the building hasn’t changed structurally, but architect Paul Basile has warmed up the interior with art deco-style woodwork, green leather booths and brass décor.
Deckman’s menu features dishes from the American South with Mexican and Asian accents, which reflect this region’s diverse population. His flavors are bold and acidic with no fear of spice. The menu is designed for social dining, with shareable plates and some super-size entrées that can serve up to four.
The front entrance of Books & Records restaurant-bar in Bankers Hill.
(Pam Kragen/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
I recently tried multiple items and was impressed, not only by the attention to detail in each dish but also the creative combinations of ingredients.
A good example is the texture- and flavor-filled spinach and artichoke salad, which is topped with crispy artichokes and leeks, toasted chickpeas, Parmesan cheese and a tangy housemade Italian dressing. The scallop and shrimp aguachile is also terrific, combining both Latin American and Asian flavors in the attractive raw seafood dish.
The Carbonara Mac ‘N Cheese is so rich and decadent I thought I’d need to take some home for leftovers, but didn’t stop eating until the bowl was empty. Other standouts are the curry mussels with enoki mushrooms and condensed coconut milk broth and the cioppino linguine with housemade pasta and seafood in a delicate saffron broth.
The cioppino linguine at Books & Records in Bankers Hill.
(Courtesy of Kimberly Motos)
The duck carnitas plate, sold in a $60 portion large enough to serve four, is a menu star. The duck is braised with Mexican Coca-Cola, then wrapped in house-made shiso pancakes rather than tortillas, and served with fresh herbs and spicy achiote seeds. For those dining alone, head to the bar where the duck carnitas and some of the other entrée dishes are sold in smaller portions.
D’Apice’s cocktail menu, which includes several nonalcoholic options, features contemporary and global takes on 1920s-era Prohibition classics. Specialties include the Purple Rain with Japanese whiskey, house ube cordial and lemon; the Dark Side of the Moon with rum, pimento liqueur, Carpano vermouth and cinnamon smoke; and the Brass Monkey with Monkey Shoulder scotch, Nonino Amaro and banana liqueur.
Live jazz music is being offered from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays-Sundays on the stage in the center of the restaurant/bar. Brunch service will be added in the near future.
Books & Records
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays; 5 to 11 p.m. Thursdays; 5 p.m. to midnight Saturdays – Sundays
Where: 2204 Fourth Ave., San Diego
Online: booksandrecordsbar.com