#419 On this week's Happy Half Hour, journalist Claire Trageser joins hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant to talk about her latest piece: Is Ozempic Killing Restaurants? With more diners eating less and skipping drinks, could the blockbuster weight-loss drug be reshaping the industry? Claire breaks down what she found—spoiler alert: it's complicated—while Troy and Jackie dig into shifting food culture, the backlash against semaglutides, and what it all means for restaurants trying to survive. Plus, Claire shares her go-to local spot, and Troy goes deep on a rabbit blood sausage. To follow Claire click HERE.

Discover more at San Diego Magazine

Broadcasting from The Shanty in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Happy Half Hour looks at the week's biggest restaurant news, including the upcoming closures of Dreamboat and Vulture and the shuttering of Cucina Enoteca—plus an examination of why unpretentious neighborhood bars continue to anchor San Diego communities.

Host Troy Johnson also checks in on what's opening, welcomes back Bebemos tequila founder Preston Caffrey for a Golden Hour conversation about building a drinks brand in a tough market, and wraps with Shanty co-owner Mike Tornado on the staying power of a truly local bar.

One of Little Italy's top chefs is back.

Hard to overestimate how much Ironside Fish & Oyster changed the game when it opened in Little Italy in 2014. It was the dream concept for Jason McLeod, a chef who'd earned two Michelin stars in Chicago (for Ria). Little Italy was the unloading dock of San Diego's legendary fishing fleets, had that rich seafood history but no epic seafood joint. McLeod and CH Projects took over the old Farkas furniture store and turned it into a sort of ghost ship ocean liner (the suitcases along the wall are an ode to those roots) and oyster bar.

The lobster roll was the headlining dish that floored a city. But the real story was the relationships that McLeod formed with local fishermen who were pulling their boats into the nearby Tuna Harbor. There was no back door to Ironside, so the fishermen would lug their catch through the main dining room.

Fast forward… McLeod split with CH Projects, went on to help concept and launch a bunch of big-name things in Vegas (like Proper Eats, the food court in the Aria hotel). And now he's back. Not as a figurehead, but in the kitchen.

It's his restaurant. His new dream. His new rebuild (a wood fired kitchen is coming). He comes into Happy Half Hour to talk with Troy about the dream and what Little Italy was like in those early days. Follow Jason HERE.