COASTAL • Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen

Dining: Coastal

THE OSIDER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021

Butternut Squash Pork Chop

FLYING PIG PUB & KITCHEN

WORDS: AARON SCHMIDT PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

After first opening its doors in South O back in 2011, the Flying Pig has found a new home in the downtown area on Mission Avenue. Their style of gastropub restaurant is one of the first to become established here—ushering in a new age of “blue collar gourmet” dining in Oceanside, as a crop of new restaurants would soon follow suit and open up for business. As a matter of fact, we even did an article on them in our very first issue of The Osider back in 2014.

Owners (and husband-and-wife team) Roddy and Aaron Browning took a chance on Oceanside ten years ago, and it’s paid off for them (and for the city of Oceanside) tenfold. Thanks to them and a few others, we now enjoy a very vibrant, diverse, and bustling dining scene with many fine restaurants to choose from.

“Back then, it was all timing—Oceanside was craving it. Any time we had a day off, we went to Encinitas. Everybody went somewhere else to eat. Not to take away from 333 or Harney Sushi, but you could only hit up those two places so many times back then,” explained Aaron. “We wanted to open a restaurant that you could roll up to off the beach in your flip-flops and order a good burger, but also a place where you could go on a dinner date on Saturday night and get a pork chop and a good bottle of wine. That little place provided a lot—not only for bringing people to Oceanside, but also for us as a family.”

The Flying Pig’s interior space on Mission is a lot different than their previous location on Tremont with its vaulted ceiling and skylights, which is an added plus and a great addition. “The ceiling was a dropped ceiling, so when we came in and saw the wood we decided to blow out the ceiling. The skylights were already there—they were just covered up by the dropped ceiling. And the original brick on the side wall was already there—it was just covered in plaster,” said Aaron. The Flying Pig’s new location has them now directly located in the heart of the city. “It just made sense to be downtown,” said Roddy.

With that same rustic charm you’ve come to enjoy at the Flying Pig, you can also expect their menu to be on point, as they’ve brought in a new chef to handle the back of the house. Chef Harrison Hackett has been whipping up all kinds of goodness—putting his special stamp on the Flying Pig’s trademark dishes like the Smoked Chicken, Pork Chops, Butternut Squash, and their to-die-for burgers. It should also be noted that they’re now serving lunch starting at 11am, so now you don’t have to wait til the afternoon to get your burger fix. Joyous!

When you want to experience one of Oceanside’s best eateries, drop on by the new Flying Pig—just make sure you tell them that The Osider sent you!

Mussels

(L to R): Chef Harrison Hackett, Gage Rearick, Aaron Browning, Roddy Browning, and Dani Sirkel

Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen 509 Mission Avenue (760) 453-2940 flyingpig.pub @flyingpigpubkitch