I frequently walk down Ninth Avenue past Modern Times Coffee in San Diego’s East Village. Whenever I do, I have to turn my head and glance inside.
Why?
Because the unusual coffee shop contains dinosaurs, clowns, a dragon and other wild, crazy sights!
The Modern Times Coffee website describes what patrons encounter as retro-future decor. Whatever you might call the outlandish assemblage, it’s a lot of fun!
Where else can you find Ronald McDonald sitting happily under a flying pterodactyl and disco ball?
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Willy Wonka has arrived for Comic-Con 2026 and he has taken over the Starbucks at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel! Now it’s Starbucks and the Coffee Factory!
Patrons can enjoy special drinks, including Wonka Bar Iced Caramel Latte, Turning Violet Mango Dragon Refresher, and Golden Ticket Tropical Guava Refresher!
Where are the Oompa-Loompas?
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
The windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt are being painted for Comic-Con again!
Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist) decorates these windows every year with a different pop culture theme. You can find Sweet Things outside the Hilton Bayfront hotel near the San Diego Convention Center.
For 2026? Images from Mortal Kombat!
Shirish was just getting started today. How many Mortal Kombat characters do you recognize?
Once these windows are done, she’ll be painting the windows of nearby Starbucks with a different mystery theme!
UPDATE!
Next day photos…
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
You never know what cool sight you’ll find by just walking around randomly. This morning I spotted a bit of the Hotel del Coronado in Solana Beach!
Several old Douglas fir wood beams from the 1800s have been incorporated into the entrance of Rustic Root in Solana Beach. The old wood is from a construction project at the historic Hotel del Coronado. The salvaged wood was repurposed by Old Fashioned Lumber.
I once visited Old Fashioned Lumber in Barrio Logan. See those cool photos here!
There’s a Taco Bell in San Diego so tiny you might drive past it without noticing. The building is so small you have stand beside it and bend over just to have a good look!
The miniature building is located next to a regular-size Taco Bell at the corner of University Avenue and College Avenue. Look for this oddity between the drive-thru and parking lot. You’ll see a model of the original Taco Bell that stood at this location from 1965 to 2008.
Longtime San Diego residents might remember the first incarnation of the fast food restaurant, which attracted customers with its distinctive sign and Mission style architecture.
A plaque at the base of the mini Taco Bell reads:
In Commemoration of Taco Bell #15 1965-2008
The 1st Taco Bell in San Diego
Thank you! Glen and Marty Bell
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Perhaps you’ve glimpsed this mural while driving east down University Avenue through Rolando, a bit east of College Avenue. The street art is spray painted on the side of Island Spice Jamaican Restaurant. During my last walk in the area I checked it out.
The art is by Lao rapper, muralist and tattoo artist One Hunned (@imonehunned). Central to the mural’s message is a prayer. Splashed among the graphics are the words WHEN LIFE SHOWS UP and Family First.
The prayer for happiness, blessings and protection from evil begins: “LET ME BE HUMBLE & GIVE ME STRENGTH TO OVERCOME ANYTHING…”
I’m glad I got a closer look at the beautiful message.
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Yesterday, when I shared photos of the original stained glass windows of the Gaslamp Quarter’s 1906 Ingle Building, it occurred to me I’ve never photographed the full mural on the south side of the building. I don’t know its exact history, but I do know the fading artwork existed when the Hard Rock Café was located here.
After reading the historical plaque, I believe this mural might retain elements of an original one decorating the outer wall that depicted the camaraderie found in the Golden Lion during the early years of the Gaslamp Quarter. “Rooms each $2.50” and the painted stained glass suggest a time prior to the Hard Rock Café.
If you know more about this mural, such as its history and who painted it, leave a comment!
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I’ve always admired the elaborate stained glass windows of the building that now houses the Mad House Comedy Club & Restaurant. They appear to be antique.
Well, I paused during a walk to read the building’s historical plaque and learned these stained glass windows along Fourth Avenue are original and date from 1906. Back then the bottom floor of this, the Ingle Building, was home to the Golden Lion Tavern.
The historical plaque reads:
For many years, the bottom floor of this building was known as the Golden Lion Tavern, its legacy still evident in the original lion sculptures near the entrance and along the outer walls. The stained glass windows on Fourth Avenue and some of the flooring are original as well. In 1980, the second floor was destroyed by fire. During its reconstruction, a salvaged glass dome, originally created for the Elks Club in San Francisco in 1906, was installed. The replicated mural on the outer wall depicts the camaraderie found in the Golden Lion during the early years of the Gaslamp Quarter.
During that recent morning walk, when the comedy club was closed, I saw no evidence of lions or a mural concerning the early years of the Gaslamp. There is an outside mural that remains from those years when the building was home to the Hard Rock Cafe.
One day I’ll have to venture inside and look around.
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At either end of the 3800 block of Grim Avenue in North Park you might see a street sign. Honorary Lucky Lane.
A couple days ago I photographed the sign while walking down University Avenue. And I wondered: What makes this lane so lucky?
Well, this article provides an explanation. The block was renamed Lucky Lane last year after “Lucky” Wong, who opened Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant on the corner of North Park Way and Grim Avenue in 1975.
Lucky was known and beloved by many in the community. He ran his restaurant for an incredible fifty years, kindly greeting and serving everyone, never changing his prices. Lucky died in December at 90 years old, in the restaurant where he lived.
A petition to change the block’s name to Lucky Lane quickly gathered signatures. Within weeks, more than 4,200 people signed.
North Park residents who traveled down this lane for half a century were indeed lucky. They were fortunate to have Lucky call the place home.
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Wanted posters picturing One Piece pirates and other scoundrels have been hung inside the IB Kitchen at the end of the Imperial Beach Pier! I looked right and left for pirates inside the restaurant today, hoping to receive a reward. No luck!
Imperial Beach Kitchen has operated at the end of the IB Pier for about 8 months now. They serve Korean food, seafood tacos, and good old American staples like hamburgers. Fish and chips, too! The friendly owner with whom I briefly spoke loves Asian anime and manga, including the very popular One Piece from Japan.
Arranged along the ceiling is a Who’s Who of pirates and other rascally characters in that fantasy world!
I’ll be blogging about San Diego Comic-Con trolley wraps in a couple weeks, most likely, so a post concerning pop culture is timely now. (If you’re interesting in seeing my past Comic-Con related coverage, click here!)
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