There’s now an official end to Basic Pizza & Bar’s nearly 20-year tenure at 410 Tenth Avenue next to Petco Park: Friday, November 15.
The wildly popular East Village eatery will be open for business daily until that date. Fans are invited to stop by for special goodbyes on Wednesday, November 13.
“We’ll do a long evening of celebration on the thirteenth,” Basic General Manager Erik Tesmer says. “We hope people will come by from 5 p.m. until midnight.”
Tesmer calls the closure “unfortunate…In the meantime, come down, see us at this location, say hi to the staff, look at this great building and talk about great memories.”
The good news is that Basic has already found a new spot nearby and signed a long-term lease. The new address is 100 Park Boulevard, on the ground floor of the Park 12: The Collection building.
“That area has seen some challenges over the years,” Tesmer says. “That’s why it’s been open for five years. The owners believe, and we believe, that we can support in turning that neighborhood around. Like we did here.”
Requests for permits have already been filed with the city, Tesmer says, and he hopes the new Basic will open in early 2025. Fingers crossed, before the next baseball season.
Moving from the north to the east side of Petco Park, Tesmer notes that the new location will now be across the street from a different entrance to the ballpark.
The management at Basic knew its days were numbered in its airy, brick edifice and had been in negotiations with the owners since the beginning of the year. The agreed-upon plan was for the bar/eatery to stay open as long as the Padres were still playing in the postseason.
The team bowed out to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the National League Divisional Series on October 11. After that, Basic negotiated to stay until November 15.
Tesmer, who’s worked at Basic since it opened, has decades of good memories, especially after recent postseason successes. “It’s exciting to see everybody going down the streets hooting and hollering, you just can’t beat it,” he says.
When Basic opened a year and a half after Petco Park, the operation had a different focus. “We opened as a nightclub in 2005,” Tesmer says. “We were the cool, hip place that sold a little pizza.”
Two decades later, the pizza has taken over and the night club has fallen by the wayside.
“The kids are at some place new and cool,” Tesmer says. “Those same people who were here before at night are now here during the day with their families.”
The pizza has gained fervent fans. The concept was brought to Basic by managing partner Jon Mangini. The ultra-thin crust is chewy. The pizzas are shaped like footballs, and you can’t cut out perfect shapes. And who knew a specialty pie made with mashed potatoes and bacon would become such a hit?
Tesmer says whatever you like about the original Basic will be back at the new location.
“It won’t be exactly the same, but we’re planning to change as little as possible,” he says.
The only thing better than Basic staying in the neighborhood? The Padres bringing a World Series to East Village. SDSun
