San Diego Magazine

01/12/2026

Since taking over as president and CEO of Alaska Airlines in 2021, Ben Minicucci has wasted no time making his mark on the airline. In 2024, Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines, and last fall, the company unveiled Atmos Rewards, a combined loyally program that has been named the top loyalty program in the country.

Minicucci has also been making major investments right here in San Diego. This spring, Alaska Airlines will add five new nonstop flights to Dallas-Fort Worth, Oakland, Raleigh-Durham, Santa Barbara and Tulsa—increasing the airline’s total number of flights by more than 35%. Alaska Airlines is also preparing to build a brand new, 13,000 square foot lounge at the San Diego Airport featuring private work stations, a full bar offering signature cocktails as well as a barista station, plus ample space to get comfortable and relax while waiting for your flight.

“We’re committed to being the leading airline in San Diego,” Minicucci says. “It’s one of the fastest-growing hubs in our global network and is home to many of our most loyal customers.”

To see all routes, visit alaskaair.com.

01/09/2026

If you search “crab rangoon roll” on any search engine, the top result will probably be Slurp. The San Diego restaurant’s decadently crabby, cream cheese-stuffed, deep-fried burrito went mega-viral last June. Slurp’s locations in Liberty Station and Escondido went from selling 100 a week to upwards of 500 a day.

The genius behind the rangoon roll: Slurp CEO Bella Kim. She came to the United States from Thailand in 2018 with an F-1 student visa, and missed street food dishes like barbecue pork, wontons, chow mein, and spicy fried rice.

“Every item on the [Slurp] menu, that’s all my favorite things from my hometown,” she explains. 

Now, you can get your Slurp fix at Westfield UTC, too. The third location soft opens today, January 9.

Despite the massive influx of different Asian cuisines to UTC, from Haidilao to Din Tai Fung, Slurp will be the center’s first Thai restaurant.

Get the full story by food reporter Beth Demmon () at sdmag.com. Link in bio.

Photos:

01/03/2026

A little good news to start 2026: This handsome devil was spotted a few days ago in Cardiff by eagle-eyed photographer .

While bald eagles remain a very rare sight in San Diego County, winter’s a good time to keep an eye out for our national bird. As lakes freeze over up north, the majestic birds of prey make their way down to SoCal to scoop up fish and raise chicks in friendlier climes.

And the coming years may bring more and more glimpses. In the 20th century, the pesticide DDT nearly wiped eagles out, since it thinned the bird’s eggshells and made it nearly impossible for them to reproduce. By the 1970s, when DDT was banned, there were only 30 breeding pairs of bald eagles left in the wild. A major conservation push brought the species back from the brink, and bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007. It wasn’t until a few years back, though, that we began to see a real rebound in SD County’s eagle population—and now, observant and lucky locals can catch peeks of these beautiful birds soaring, swooping, and bugging other birds of prey such as kestrels (just like this little fella).

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12/19/2025

Healthcare isn’t just about healthy bodies. Dr. Kelly O. Elmore is dedicated to helping women live fuller lives—spiritually, physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally—by finding the root causes of the barriers they face.

A board-certified OB-GYN, retired U.S. Navy captain, and global wellness strategist, Dr. Elmore empowers organizations, small groups, and individuals to put them on the path toward holistic health.

Dr. Elmore’s KOE Medical Consulting partners with hospitals, corporations, and government agencies to elevate organizational wellness, while her VivaLife SPF ME program helps women around the world live their healthiest, wealthiest lives.

If you joined us at San Diego Magazine's annual Celebrating Women Summit last month, you'll recognize Dr. Elmore—she took the stage as our inspiring keynote speaker.

Learn more about Dr. Elmore and start your wellness journey here:

Dr. Kelly O. Elmore MD’s programs help organizations and individuals research and address the root causes of the barriers to living life more fully.

12/19/2025

The people of Cowboy Star Restaurant & Butcher Shop are (finally) striking again. Sister concept She Rode West will open in Bankers Hill in 2026. Get the story here.

The owners of the beloved steakhouse & butcher shop are working on its new sister concept She Rode West opening in Bankers Hill next year.

12/18/2025

Scenes from earlier this week: pelicans took over the condemned OB Pier.

The pier has always been an excellent spot to fish. This is true whether you have opposable thumbs and a bucket of bait, or a three-gallon mouth and a dream.

And it appears that every pelican in town heard through the avian grapevine that the pier is up for grabs. The railings look like a trolley during Comic-Con. Standing room only. At least one webbed foot per square inch.

Frankly, these pelicans just won the super lotto. They’ve acquired a giant, human-free perch, directly above their food source. Oh, to eat and work and live in a single sunny spot. A true mixed-use development.

(The pier's been closed to people since late 2023 due to structural damage; in 2024, the city announced that it's beyond repair and a replacement is in the works.)

These wild shots were captured by photographer Jim Grant earlier this week. We've heard there are fewer there today. Whether pelicans end up making the pier a permanent home remains to be seen.

San Diegans, please weigh in: have you ever seen pelicans congregate like this?

12/15/2025

It began in 1950 as a downtown soup line—PB&J sandwiches, a compassionate ear, and a mission to serve the poor. That effort grew into the St. Vincent de Paul Center, which expanded rapidly in the 1980s under Father Joe Carroll, the Bronx-born priest who helped shape the organization’s modern vision.

Under his leadership, the center evolved into a first-of-its-kind “village” model, bringing housing, healthcare, and supportive services under one roof. The organization would later be renamed in his honor.

Today, Father Joe’s Villages is the city’s largest provider of homelessness-related services, serving upwards of 3,000 people each night through shelters and housing, along with addiction recovery, medical and dental care, behavioral health services, job training, childcare, and food assistance—nearly a million meals per year.

Now operating on a housing-first model, the nonprofit is expanding affordable housing, street health teams, detox and sober-living facilities, and recuperative care for people discharged from hospitals.

As Deacon Jim Vargas says, “what breaks the cycle of homelessness is a home.”

Read the full story by .sapeda at the link in bio.

12/14/2025

🚨DESSERT ALERT! WE REPEAT: DESSERT ALERT! 🚨
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San Diego, we’re on the hunt for the best desserts in the city. And we want to know what you’d put on your Mount Rushmore of locally made sweets. The brownies that made you believe in love again. The cookies that haunt your dreams. The baked Alaska that made you shed a single tear of joy. The Basque cheesecake that tastes like heaven if heaven were a custardy circle with a lightly caramelized top.

Tell us all about those desserts, including where to find ‘em. (And while we believe with our whole hearts that your great aunt might make the best berry cobbler known to man… we are solely looking for publicly available desserts from local makers.)

Now, we’re keeping our definition of dessert somewhat loose. We’re not the pastry police. Is a muffin a dessert? Sure. A donut? Eh… now we’re getting dicey. But we can definitively say this: no, almond moms, fruit is not a dessert. Perhaps if it’s the world’s finest peach.
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From here, editor and team will eat a heck of a lot of sweet treats, round up the best damn desserts in SD, and publish them all in an upcoming issue.
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We always start these searches with you guys.⁠
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Go ahead and drop your favorite spots in the comments. Your pick could make it in our upcoming issue.⁠

Pictured here: , one of the GOATs of San Diego sweets.