By Stacey Kuhns
Well Worth a Visit
On Sunday, June 4, my boyfriend and I decided to check out Liberty Public Market. I had heard many good things about it and my kids gave it great reviews. My boyfriend was very curious about it as he went to Boot Camp at Liberty Station many years ago. He said it looks very different now. (I bet it does).
It is definitely a busy place so be prepared for a lot of traffic. Located at 2820 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, 92106. The facility is open from 11am to 8pm. They also have a Farmer's Market on Thursdays.
We had a bit of difficulty locating the entrance as all we saw when we drove in were restaurants with lines in front of them. We began walking around and most of the galleries and stores were closed on Sunday, which was disappointing.
There are stores and a women's museum around the perimeter of the grounds (large grassy areas, fountain, sand area for kids to play in). The grounds are beautiful though and many families were walking around with their children and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I think we were too early and the reason we could not find the place itself was because it was not opened yet. We finally found it!
I found the hallways to get into the main area to be dark and dingy. There were kiosk vendors in the hallways and they were getting very little business from what I observed. The area with the food vendors is well lit and there is a "mess hall" where you can take your purchased items and sit and eat.
It gets very crowded so my boyfriend and I found a table in the dark hallway outside Parana (an empanada vendor). We purchased three empanadas (small). I thought it was cool that the flavor of the empanada is stamped into the dough with initials. The empanadas did not taste homemade and I would not purchase them again. It appeared they were pulling them out of a refrigerator or freezer and putting them into an oven already made.
My boyfriend bought a roast beef roll from the Roast Meat and Sandwich shop. He loved it. He bought me a lobster roll from Wicked Main Lobster, which was excellent. I got the traditional style and it was just loads of wonderful lobster meat and not much else, just the way I like it. They were so busy, they were giving people buzzers to come back and pick up their food when it was ready. (Difficult to get good pictures because it was so dark in the hallway).
We purchased some fresh ravioli, from Pasta Design, to take home and cook (chef's special, which was chipotle chicken and also a bacon/mozzarella one). I made a homemade marinara sauce and the bacon ravioli was my favorite. Delicious. They package the pasta in nice boxes. It lasts two days in the fridge or a month in the freezer. Cook in boiling salted water for approximately one minute in a large pot (so they do not stick together).
When you go to Liberty Market, be prepared. Everything is pricey. There are healthy options, such as a salad place to the not so healthy fare, such as sweet treats.
We purchased several items from Crafted Baked Goods. All wonderful. (And yes, there is a bite taken out of the "brookie"). LOL.
These three items set us back $16! There is also a fish market (very expensive). You can purchase live prawns and sea urchin.
All in all, I am not sure I would return to Liberty Public Market. The aisles are very small and with the crowds it is difficult to navigate through everything. I was underwhelmed with the selection of eateries and was expecting more of a variety of ethnic foods to try.
Some skylights in the hallways would be a welcome addition. Also, for us, the expense was a once in a blue moon splurge. I almost forgot to mention the proximity of the Liberty Public Market to the airport. If you are dining outside or just walking around outside, the constant air traffic is quite noisy. Overall, I would say "meh."