Ownership of a Newport Avenue eatery has changed hands, as the business has morphed from ChickenHeadz into Ocean Beach Bar-Food.
Advertising itself as “America’s Finest Burger” at burgerkook.com, Ryan Cunningham, the new establishment’s owner at 5026 Newport Ave., is as unconventional as his restaurant concept.
“I’ve been in the (food) industry for 10 years as a cook working in San Diego in different restaurants including Sandbox in Pacific Beach,” said Cunningham, noting Bar-Food is his “sister” restaurant to Burger Kook, a mobile business he started in 2020 during the pandemic using a van to do catering and pop-up food events.
Cunningham took over from Martin Robles and Bruno Elias, longtime Hodad’s employees who left that iconic Ocean Beach burger restaurant to strike out on their own with ChickenHeadz.
A lifelong Peninsulan and the father of four including a newborn, Cunningham originally rented shared space at ChickenHeadz to have a brick-and-mortar place. When ChickenHeadz was willing to sell, Cunningham was willing to buy.
He added, “I started the restaurant with a pregnant wife too.”
Also, a graphic designer who went to Pasadena Art Center, Cunningham worked in that industry in Los Angeles for a time adding he and his wife returned to San Diego to start their family. After returning, Cunningham took a job at Hodad’s initially to “take a break” from graphic design and ended up staying there for eight years.
Concerning Bar-Food’s unorthodox menu, an interesting Cajun twist on his company name, Cunningham said: “Breakfast is available all day. You can get it at 2 a.m. The seafood we have is shrimp and fish. We have a shrimp po’ boy and we get the bread from a New Orleans company. It’s fire, different bar foods you may not get at other places.”
Cunningham added the meat Bar-Food uses is all steak obtained from Central Meat, a 125-year-old company in Barrio Logan. “They make us a custom blend that’s filets, ribeyes, top sirloin, Grade A Chuck Roast. And, it’s the best burger patty that I’ve ever had,” he noted.
Bar-Food’s menu also boasts novel items like chicken burgers and pizza fries, along with appetizers like jalapeno poppers, tater tots, and garlic deep-fried dough bites. “We take a 10-inch pizza dough, chop it into bites, and throw it in the deep fryer,” Cunningham said. “You get a huge basket that can feed three people.”
“We have a price range for everyone,” said Cunningham of his cuisine, adding he still does all the buying of ingredients for both his restaurants.
For example, a burger with ketchup and pickles (“McDonald’s Style”) starts at $2.50. Their “Like In-N-Out, But Better” costs $5.55, and their “A Nod to White Castle” tops out at $9.75.
Cunningham has other goals too. “I’m still gonna do a Burger Kook,” he said. “I want to open other locations outside of OB that I have picked out for Burger Kook.”
Ocean Beach Bar-Food
Contact: 619-310-5276.
Burger Kook
Contact: 866-274-5665
Where: 5026 Newport Ave.
Hours: Mondays-Thursdays noon-2 a.m., Fridays-Sundays 11 a.m. -2 a.m.
Info: burgerkook.com.
