Christine Silver told the La Jolla Light that she wanted Casa Del Lobo to be "a neighborhood space in La Jolla Shores that feels warm, design-forward, and a little unexpected." The cafe she and her husband, Saul Moreno, opened at 2246 Avenida de la Playa on Aug. 18 closes at 2 p.m. every day. Three hours later, at 2259 Avenida de la Playa, Shio starts serving dinner.
The two businesses opened ten weeks apart, and between them the short strip that leads to the beach now has a set morning and a set evening. Both signed on to a block whose permanent design has not been built. The car-free stretch outside their doors has run on a permit since August 2025, and that permit has a two-year deadline. At the west end of the street, Laureate Park sits behind construction fencing that the City expects to stay up into 2027.
Seven to two at 2246
Casa Del Lobo pairs a coffee bar with a showroom. The cafe serves specialty coffee, matcha, seasonal drinks and pastries from local bakers. The fall menu in the September report included pumpkin spice, a Mexican mocha and a salted mocha. The same room holds large handmade ceramic planters and fountains from Mexico in many sizes, shapes and colors, and the shop takes custom orders for residential and commercial projects.
The name means "house of the wolf." It comes from the owners' dog, Buck. The two halves of the business keep slightly different hours. The cafe opens at 7 a.m., and the ceramics side opens at 9 a.m. Both close at 2 p.m. If you're shopping for a courtyard fountain, you have a five-hour window. If you just want a cup of coffee, the doors open two hours earlier. Details are on casadellobolajolla.com.
Five to close at 2259
Shio took over the space that previously housed Sandpiper Wood Fired Grill & Oysters and Galaxy Taco. It held its grand opening on Oct. 24. The owners, Eugene Kim and Peter Kim, opened Takaramono Sushi in The Village two years ago, and Shio is their second restaurant. Peter Kim told lajolla.ca that "where Takaramono is small and intimate, Shio is larger and more extensive," with a full kitchen and bar and room for "a wider range of gatherings."
The menu is built around sashimi specialties dressed with house-made sauces and garnishes like shiro ponzu and yuzu jelly. Kim named two favorites. One is the hamachi special, seared yellowtail with shiro ponzu and herb oil. The other is a crispy spicy maguro, spicy tuna served on a cheese chip with Midori sauce. The lajolla.ca listing tags Shio for dinner, groups and private dining. Its listed hours are 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations go through shiolajolla.com.
Here is how the street's listed hours fall across a day, with La Jolla Kayak at 2199 Avenida de la Playa included for the hours in between:
| Business | Address | Listed hours |
|---|---|---|
| Casa Del Lobo, cafe | 2246 Avenida de la Playa | Daily, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Casa Del Lobo, ceramics | 2246 Avenida de la Playa | Daily, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| La Jolla Kayak | 2199 Avenida de la Playa | Daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Shio | 2259 Avenida de la Playa | Sun to Thu, 5 to 9:30 p.m.; Fri and Sat, 5 to 10 p.m. |
The newcomers cover the two ends of the day. Their customers will spend those hours on a street that is still officially in transition.
The block they share is on a permit clock
Avenida de la Playa between El Paseo Grande and Calle de la Plata has been closed to cars during certain hours since July 2020. The closure began as a way to help restaurants seat diners outside during COVID-19 restrictions, and it continued after those rules ended. Supporters now call it Promenade de la Playa. On Aug. 6, 2025, the City's Development Services Department approved a right-of-way permit to make it permanent, and the Transportation Department signed off soon after.
According to the La Jolla Light's June report, the permit gave organizers two years to replace the public parking lost to street dining and to finish the rest of the work. Two years from the approval date runs to August 2027. The first phase includes:
- A skim coat over the existing blacktop
- Removable bollards so emergency vehicles can pass through
- Road-closure signage
- Flower boxes and trees
- Ramps for accessibility
Phil Wise led the original outdoor dining effort and represents the La Jolla Shores Business Association. He said in June that supporters had raised about $150,000, enough to begin that first phase, and that the group was still securing a construction change permit that sets out where everything will go. Businesses that want a streetary of their own have to submit individual plans. The second phase centers on the replacement parking. Organizers are raising another $300,000, which Wise said would cover that parking plus a fund for a year of maintenance and landscaping, through the business association's site, enjoyljshores.com.
The parking requirement started at 26 spaces and came down to 11, according to the same La Jolla Light report. Three spaces had already been eliminated by the daylighting law, which bans street parking within 20 feet of an intersection or crosswalk. Two sat next to storm drains. Ten curbs marked "no parking" were found to be eligible for legal parking. The plan is to build the 11 spaces on City-owned land on the west side of Camino del Oro by narrowing the sandy berm that divides the Kellogg Park lot. Wise told Times of San Diego in July that those spaces would be free to the public around the clock.
A citywide code change could remove the replacement requirement altogether. On May 11, the City Council approved an update that would apply the beach-area replacement rule only to dining areas outside transit priority areas, and Promenade de la Playa sits inside one. That change takes effect only after the Coastal Commission certifies it, and a City representative said it is unlikely to reach the commission before 2027. Organizers can wait for that decision, but waiting puts the two-year permit window at risk. So the parking question and the permit deadline are both set to come due in 2027.
Opinion in the Shores is split. Longtime community planner Janie Emerson told Times of San Diego that the promenade "has revitalized the Shores business area." In that same Times of San Diego article, other residents said the closure makes it harder for emergency vehicles to get to the beach and pushes parking onto nearby residential streets.
The west end stays fenced into the new year
Laureate Park is the pocket park on Avenida de la Playa between El Paseo Grande and Paseo del Ocaso. It has been fenced off since late September because of damage to a sewer main at Sewer Pump Station 27. Sewage reached the surface on July 10. A City spokeswoman told the La Jolla Light that crews contained it right away, that the broken section has been isolated, and that the site is checked every day to make sure it stays dry.
The work affects more than the lawn. Cones line the park's edge and block stretches of 90-minute street parking. Spaces on El Paseo Grande and Paseo del Ocaso are fenced off as a staging area for equipment, and part of the sidewalk on Avenida de la Playa is taped off. The next step is a permanent bypass pump to replace the temporary fixes. The City expects repairs to be finished in January, and the park to reopen in early 2027. Terry Kraszewski, who runs the nearby Ocean Girl apparel and gift shop, told the Light she hopes the park "will be restored in good condition for the neighborhood to enjoy once again."
Casa Del Lobo and Shio are open now, with posted hours. The Laureate Park repair is expected to finish in January. The permit to make the car-free block permanent runs until August 2027, and the parking that permit requires is still waiting on funding and a Coastal Commission decision.
At Maxine & Marti Gellens, we keep track of what happens on the blocks around La Jolla Shores, from new tenants in long-familiar storefronts to the projects that change how a street works. If you have questions about how changes along Avenida de la Playa might matter for your home, we're happy to talk. Contact Us.
