Escondido bets on drive-thrus, bulldozes history

The Escondido City Council, in its infinite suburban wisdom, gave the green light to bulldoze two old restaurant shells—one with whispers of history clinging to its bones—so four shiny new drive-thrus can spring up along the city’s arterial veins.

Progress, they called it, at their Nov. 20 meeting. Unanimous nods all around.

One of the doomed is the former DiCicco’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, sitting lonely at 515 W. 13th Avenue, once alive with marinara dreams and crusty nostalgia. Before that, it was a Marie Callender’s—a pie palace turned ghost—left empty since early 2023. Now it’s slated to morph into a Chick-fil-A, complete with a drive-thru that’ll corral 41 cars in a fast-food waltz, plus a patio for those who dare to eat outside. But inside dining? Forget it. The developers insist the site’s DNA is drive-thru only, sit-downs be damned. And so it goes—Escondido paving over the past for another line of idling engines.

Not everyone’s down with the plan, man. Jordan Ciervo, who already flips Chick-fil-A sandwiches about a mile and a half down the road at 1290 Auto Park Way, isn’t buying the dream of another deep fryer humming so close. “It’s not about spreading the love,” he said, shaking his head, “It’s just slicing up my slice of the pie.” He warned of layoffs—“a significant part” of his crew might walk the plank—but the council shrugged it off, a 4-1 vote paving the way for the new location anyway.

Meanwhile, Escondido’s past fades a little further into the rearview mirror.

And the hits kept coming. The council also gave the green light to flatten the Pho Truc Xanh building, a Googie-style relic from 1962. Eligible for historic status? Sure. Sacred enough to stop the bulldozers? Not so much. City staff waved it off—better-preserved examples are scattered elsewhere, they said, as if history’s just a buffet of options.

Wedeking’s Bakery was a longtime Escondido landmark at a location Escondido council members want to turn into a Chick-fil-A/File

What’s coming instead? A lineup of big-brand hustlers: Starbucks, Chipotle, maybe a Pollo Campero, straight outta Guatemala, ink still wet on the developer’s deal. They’ll all cram onto the lot, rubbing elbows with the Quality Inn. The grand design includes lane realignments, a traffic signal, and a shiny new access point off Centre City Parkway—because, hey, nothing says progress like reconfiguring where cars go to wait in line.

Councilmember Martinez was the lone holdout, voting no and calling out the $412,000 fee waiver handed to the developers like a gift wrapped in red tape. “It’s not fair,” she said, “and honestly, the loss of these buildings stings.” Deputy Mayor Christian Garcia sat this one out—something about a campaign donor with ties to the deal. The rest of the council saw dollar signs and green-lit the fee break, praising the promise of revitalization and tax revenue. “Blight must go,” declared Councilmember Mike Morasco. The others nodded. Progress marches on

The developers claim the projects will rake in $1.5 million in taxes over a decade and birth 125 new jobs. Construction kicks off next year, they say, the future rolling forward with a Starbucks buzz and a Chick-fil-A churn.