Handpicked by Locals: 5 places to eat, drink and explore in Santee

It takes about 13 to 15 hours to prepare and cook one of The Smoking Gun’s signature dishes, its smoked prime brisket, according to Andy Weiss, the downtown San Diego restaurant’s executive chef.

“We use a house chili rub, which is not a secret,” Weiss said. “If anybody wants the recipe, they can come in and ask for it. We use a lot of ancho chili powder, smoked paprika —which are the two main flavor profiles — and garlic, lots of garlic.”

The resident of Santee added that the restaurant has built its own “caveman-style smoker” since the eatery does not have a hot smoker.

“We don’t have a Traeger (a brand name grill), so we throw (the meat) in a literally metal hot box. We put the meats in there, and we fire up some wood chips, and once they’re smoldering, we throw them in and close it up and let it smoke,” he said.

The smoked brisket has been on the menu since The Smoking Gun opened in 2017. Weiss said The Smoking Gun is “not a barbecue joint,” but their brisket is “untraditionally on the same level” as a place serving classic barbecue.

The restaurant has a mix of items some barbecue spots might serve, such as smoked barbecue chicken, Texas-style wagyu chili and a double wagyu cheeseburger. Also, The Smoking Gun serves brunch on the weekends and has specials on certain days of the week, such as an Alabama Crimson Tide menu when the college football team is playing and a Thursday night wings deal called Bone(s) Nugsz-N-Harmony.

Weiss is in charge of menu development, sourcing ingredients, ordering food and food accounting.

“I am kind of a numbers nerd,” he said. “I enjoy getting to crunch numbers and find out where we can make money and find ways to put something out that people want to (eat) and (us) be able to sell,” he said.

Weiss started his official culinary career in 2005 when he started attending the San Diego Art Institute to get his associate’s degree.

“I used to be into music and drumming, and that was my main passion,” Weiss said. “And then I realized it wasn’t really a secure thing to pay the bills. And the other thing I enjoyed doing was just having friends over and cooking food, mainly grilling, getting out in the backyard and just throwing food on the grill and hanging out.”

After culinary school, he worked his way up the kitchen at a few places, including the Blue Coral, now closed, and the former Alchemy in South Park, where he learned from Ricardo Heredia. Weiss then had the opportunity to be a sous chef and eventually ended up meeting executive chef Kevin Templeton with the Verant Group, which owns The Smoking Gun, and became the executive chef.

“I think that the owners here have built a spot that feels like a neighborhood (restaurant) in downtown San Diego,” Weiss said. “So that’s our big push, and that’s kind of our comfort zone is to have people become regulars here, kind of almost like ‘Cheers’ you know, an upscale ‘Cheers’ bar with arcades and great food.”

Weiss grew up in neighborhoods in San Diego’s East County. He moved to Santee about seven years ago.

“I was familiar with the area, but it’s changed a lot since I was a kid,” Weiss said. “I’ve been reacquainted with Santee, I would say. It has pretty much everything you need. There are a lot of eateries. There are a lot of stores. Just pretty much anything you need is within a few miles. When I was growing up, there was nothing out here. So for someone who hasn’t been to Santee in a while, I would tell them it’s much different than what they might remember.”

Here are Weiss’ picks to explore in Santee.

Q: Where is your favorite dining option?

A: Junction 52. It’s a fun neighborhood sports bar and grill. It has lots of appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, salads and entrees. They also do specialty nights. I like to go on their Taco Tuesday night. Their tacos are always loaded with meat, and I like to get their fish taco because it’s not a little sliver of fish. It’s big chunks of fish. Like you know, you are eating a fish taco.

Q: What is your favorite small retail business or pop-up vendor to support?

A: The Santee Farmers Market. Who doesn’t like farmers’ markets? There are always different small companies that pop up, and I like supporting small businesses and local farmers and they have seafood and meat distributors too. There are so many farmers’ markets in San Diego, so the fact that there is one in Santee is great.

Q: Where is your favorite open space?

A: Mast Park and Disc Golf Course. For me, the main thing that I go for is disc golf. They built out a really nice disc golf course. They have two different keypads there, so you can play nine rounds on the A pad and then nice rounds on the B pad, so you do get a full 18-hole experience. There are also always lots of families at the park. They have a giant jungle gym, pool and basketball courts.

Q: Where is your favorite entertainment attraction or historic landmark?

A: Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve. It has beautiful lakes and a park. It’s great for families. There are different little trails, multiple lakes. You can go fishing there and rent little boats to go out on the lake. When I was a kid, I remember going out with my brother and my dad to go fishing.