Deckman’s North, the Baja California-inspired restaurant in North Park that opened in 2024 by acclaimed chef Drew Deckman and his wife, Paulina, will close its doors at the end of service on June 27.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Drew Deckman said the decision was made “after much reflection,” and his focus now is on gratitude for his staff, product suppliers and supporters.
Moving forward, the Deckmans will focus their energies on their restaurants in Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe area, the open-air wood-fired restaurant Deckman’s en el Mogor and Michelin-starred Conchas de Piedra, an outdoor Baja shellfish and wine bar.
The Carter Country Regenerative Beef cheeseburger with seaweed aioli and beef tallow fries at Deckman’s North restaurant in North Park. (Salsa Digital)
On Monday, Drew Deckman told the Union-Tribune that he’s not cutting ties with San Diego. A devoted San Diego Padres fan, he said he plans to carry on, “for many seasons more,” as a food purveyor at Petco Park’s The Draft by Ballast Point.
Deckman’s North opened at 3131 University Ave. in San Diego in August 2024. The three-story, 4,200-square-foot restaurant includes a 50-seat dining room, 10-seat chef’s counter, 10-seat private dining room and 32-seat rooftop cocktail bar at 3131 University Ave.
Initially named 31THIRTYONE by Deckmans, the restaurant opened with a $125 three-course tasting menu. Initially, reservations were booked out six weeks in advance. But when sales began to slack off, the Deckmans began experimenting.
Paulina Deckman redecorated the dining room to give it a softer look. Drew Deckman introduced an à la carte menu and a new chef’s counter dining concept. He added lunch service with a signature burger and they changed the restaurant’s name to Deckman’s North.
Chef Drew Deckman unveils his newly reimagined North Park restaurant
He also stepped out of the kitchen last fall to leave the dinner-shift cooking to his kitchen team. This allowed him to both inspect each plate before it was served and interact directly with his customers.
In February, he talked to the U-T about the challenges he was facing with the business.
“We’re not on the other side yet, but having some real stress and real struggles in the business created some virtual mirrors for me that allowed me to look at what we’re doing, who we are, what’s important, what do we really want to communicate and share at the table and how do I feel at the end of the day,” he said at the time.
On Monday, Drew Deckman wrote in a text to the U-T that he doesn’t want to focus on the negative and hash out all the reasons for the closure. Instead, he said “I am leaving with nothing more than gratitude.”
“I don’t want to take anything away from our team,” he wrote. “They are the stars here. I am grateful for them and they are the ones who have made the place special. We walk out with our heads up, backs straight and hearts open.”