Urge Gastropub opened in 2010 as the lone beer-centric bar and restaurant in craft-deficient Rancho Bernardo. Over the past decade, it has spawned grander, brewery-equipped versions of itself, Urge Gastropub and Whiskey Bank in Oceanside and Urge Common House in San Marcos. Those businesses are owned by the 3 Local Brothers Restaurant Group, which also operates Rancho Bernardo’s Brothers Provisions, a Carmel Valley tasting room for its Mason Ale Works brewing interest and The Barrel Room wine-centric eateries in RB and Carmel Valley. And next year, 3LB will open its first restaurant beyond San Diego County, a second Urge Common House in Temecula.
3LB partner Grant Tondro says the company has signed a lease on a 16,000-square-foot space at the Promenade Mall next to the Regal Edwards Theater and Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que. Currently a Forever 21, it will take on a new life incorporating what Tondro calls Urge Common House’s “eatertainment” model. The San Marcos progenitor is outfitted with a connected but sealed-off bowling alley, TV-equipped lounge pods and a plethora of outdoor games, including bocce ball. The Temecula spin-off will feature eight bowling lanes, vintage-style arcade and an outdoor area with games and a stage area for live performances.
To focus on the Temecula project, 3LB is exiting the Oceanside market, closing down its speakeasy-equipped Whiskey Bank concept, which includes Mason Ale Works’ original brewery. That manufacturing element is no longer needed thanks to installation of a larger brewery with a 15-barrel brewhouse at the San Marcos location. The Oceanside location will be transferred to a new tenant. The brewing equipment will be left behind. There are no current plans for those components.
Urge Common House Temecula is scheduled to open the second half of 2020. Due to a nearby Yard House restaurant, the new spot will only be allowed to have 15 taps, therefore, the vast majority of the beer served there will be Mason Ale Works product. 3LB isn’t the first San Diego-based brewing company to operate in the area. Karl Strauss Brewing’s Temecula brewpub has been on the westernmost edge of the Promenade Mall since 2013, and Ballast Point Brewing had a restaurant there until shuttering in conjunction with layoffs and other contractions in April.
Tondro says he and his partners are excited to reach people in a new market. It’s 3LB’s hope that the Urge Common House model will prove successful enough to be recreated in other communities. Tondro and company are currently exploring potential homes for additional locations in different parts of the country.
