Royale: A Couple’s Restaurant Dream Come True

From its start as a tiny burger cart at one of the nation’s biggest film and music festivals, Royale! Burgers & Cocktails has quickly blossomed into a Point Loma farm-to-fork favorite. In 2015, owners Mariah and Jordan Brownwood fulfilled their dream in opening Nopalito Farm—an eight-acre certified organic family-owned farm and hopyard in Valley Center. A short three years later, the couple went on to launch their mom-n-pop restaurant utilizing all of the fresh produce, herbs and fruits from their land.

Vegan Royale Courtesy Photo

A true family affair, Royale emphasizes a farm-to-fork approach using the Nopalito Farm bounty tended by Jordan’s twin brother Jacob. Executive chef, owner, bartender and farmer Jordan Brownwood not only uses the farm to source ingredients for his own restaurant, but the North County homestead and hopyard is tapped by San Diego’s biggest names in sustainability and local leading breweries. Spotlighting an array of colorful crops that vary by season, Nopalito Farms offers everything from lemons and passionfruit to carrots and beets. Over the years, the Brownwood’s have adapted to the arid climate of Southern California and continue to adopt traditional methods for maximizing rain water. Aside from both traditional and unique crops grown in the orchard, the farm supplies local brewers Monkey Paw, North Park Beer Co. and Fall Brewing with its fresh hops, which can be taken from bine to a tank in as little as four hours.

Adhering to a sustainable farming ethos, everything that cannot be sourced from their own farm is acquired from other regional purveyors. With sustainability at the forefront of restaurant operations, Jordan also incorporates the family farm’s organic fruits and botanicals within his lauded cocktail program. The best-selling Mezcal Cocktail showcases fresh passionfruit and lemon shaken with mezcal and orgeat. Locally grown kumquat is the star of Royale’s Rum Cocktail, prepared with white rum, china china, house-made falernum, lemon, absinthe and mint.

Rum Cocktail Courtesy Photo

Beyond farm-to-shaker cocktails, the family-owned and operated diner offers an array of burgers, salads, sandwiches and more. Royale’s menu features some of the couple’s most popular items from their days running the burger cart such as the Royale with Cheese, a 1/3-pound organic and grass-fed patty with bacon, gruyere, caramelized onions, and special sauce. The beef used in Royale’s famed burgers is organic and grass fed, and Jordan breaks down whole fish in-house that he receives fresh from a local fishing family for items like the tuna melt, smoked trout salad and fish sandwich. Royale offers a nod to nostalgia that translates from the dishes to the design, which is evident within the vibrant and open space that pays homage to the 1950’s with mint-colored walls and a fully functioning jukebox.

Royale is located at 4204 Voltaire Street and serves dinner daily beginning at 4:00pm and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00am. Enjoy happy hour Monday through Friday from 4:00-6:00 pm and late night happy hour Monday through Saturday starting at 10:00 pm featuring special pricing on select drinks and appetizers.

Jordan and Mariah Courtesy Photo

For more information, visit www.royalesd.com or call 619.431.5356.