April 20, 2017
Volume 47 - No. 16
By Friedrich Gomez
The word “escondido” is a Spanish word meaning “hidden.” In the language of the Diegeno, a.k.a. the Kumeyaay Native Americans, they called our locale “Eskondiid.” However, the Luiseno tribes, who were among the earliest inhabitants of Escondido, called this region “Mehel-om-pom-pavo.”
Historically, the word “escondido” appears to be a verbal football of sorts in regards to its historicity. Different sources give different origins of “Escondido.” Some sources even claim the word refers to aqua escondido, meaning “hidden water,” while still other sources say it meant “hidden treasure.” I was about to find out that the meaning “hidden treasure” was a most appropriate namesake for our city. I was about to learn of one of Escondido’s hidden secrets and treasures; a virtual mother lode of information that would be of great interest to our various Escondido historical entities, such as our city’s cultural and anthropological experts and curators of museums. A secret that would fit well within our schools’ curriculum and history books!
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My phone rang and when I answered I was totally unprepared for what I was about to hear. The person on the other line was none other than Mr. Vinnie Griffin, proprietor of one of the most popular bistros in all of Escondido called Vinz Craft Bar & Restaurant, located at 201 E. Grand Avenue, on the corner of Grand and Kalmia Street. After what Vinnie told me over the phone, well, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I finally sat down with Vinnie to get the whole incredible story. It was explosive historical news!
It seems when Vinnie first bought the Deli back in 2000 (before it expanded to the present Vinz Craft Bar & Restaurant) he got more than just a business – he inherited an alleged slice of Prohibition history! Beneath the structural site of his Deli was once a secret underground city of sorts, long covered over with cement and floor board. The year was circa 1977 when a startling discovery would be made when a hole in the kitchen area was first noticed by the previous proprietor at the time, 23 years before Vinnie Griffin would become the eventual 6th owner of the present site.
The hole in the kitchen area led to a suspected underground speakeasy, allegedly from the Prohibition Era! Uncovered in 1977, beneath the current structure, were card tables, bottles of booze and beer glasses, all as if left frozen in time! Escondido police detectives were brought in to investigate and another shocking discovery was made. A secret underground tunnel from the alleged speakeasy area ran under the alleyway to an above-ground building that Vinnie now believes was a brothel at the time!
“I believe the tunnel was an escape route of some sort; in case of a police raid it probably
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was a place to go,” Vinnie suspects. As far as the physical evidence left behind, such as the liquor bottles, gambling cards on tables, etc. “The police took it all,” Vinnie said. “I sure would like to know about everything they found down there and what happened to it,” Vinnie reflected.
To recap, at the time of these discoveries back in 1977, Vinnie Griffin was just a young teen, age 17, and completely unaware of these proceedings. Over two decades after the fact, when Vinnie became the new owner (in 2000), did he learn of these fascinating antecedents.
Prohibition in the United States was a ban on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages that remained in law from 1920 to 1933. San Diego County had its own notorious rum-runners and other bootleggers that serviced Escondido residents who chose not to remain “dry,” along with the rest of America, during
Obituaries Memorials Area Services Page 12
the prohibition years. This “defiant thirst” kept the illegal speakeasies and forbidden alcohol as a viable underground business. This was evident when four large boats were caught carrying alcohol off the Southern California coastline in the mid-1920s. Some of that confiscated alcohol was ostensibly earmarked for the Escondido area. The San Diego Union reported at the time: “Rum Runners Said to Have $2-Million Worth of Refreshments on Board.” That’s a lot of San Diego booze, especially when one realizes that $2-million worth of alcohol translates to almost $27-million in today’s 2017 currency! Due to the public’s irrepressible urge to consume illegal alcohol, several speakeasies thrived, unnoticed, in Escondido and other North San Diego County areas. Ostensibly, Escondido was a relatively hidden area during the Roaring Twenties, 30 miles north of San Diego, in a shallow valley and ringed by several
hills – a perfect secluded area for illegal activities. Though one of the oldest cities in San Diego County, the area of Escondido -- with its modest population of only 3,400 residents in 1925 – was an ideal “get-away” place for mobsters, bootleggers, and other nefarious individuals who chose to stay below the radar of law enforcement officials.
Prohibition was the golden era of notorious gangsters such as Al “Scarface” Capone, Frank Costello, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, and Frank “Bomp” Bompensiero whose early career in San Diego County dates to the 1920s. Bompensiero was in charge of all of the Los Angeles family’s interests in San Diego’s Metropolitan areas, which included Escondido. No San Diego region Bompensiero’s influence.
escaped
If any rival mafia family member trans-
Escondido’s Hidden Treasures Continued on Page 2