Chick & Hawk Ready to Open in Encinitas

It took skateboarding legend Tony Hawk a decade to land the 900, one of the most difficult tricks for even a world champion to achieve. So by comparison, the four years he’s spent working on opening Chick & Hawk, his first restaurant with talented local chef Andrew Bachelier, is a blink of an eye—even when the time felt more like a grind than a gift.

Still, nobody’s been sitting idle. In 2023, Andrew and his wife and co-owner Larah opened Atelier Manna, which earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation earlier this year. Hawk announced his next restaurant partnership with chef Claudette Zepeda in the new Terminal 1 at the San Diego International Airport (Novecientos Grados). They’ve hosted Chick & Hawk pop-ups all over North County to satisfy peoples’ hunger for the best damn chicken sandwich this side of Nashville. 

And after all the headaches, delays, and pivots, Chick & Hawk is finally opening its doors in the coming weeks.

August 29, 2025

California’s Best Restaurants, As Chosen by Its Top ChefsRELATED ARTICLE

Chick & Hawk centers around two of Andrew’s passions: skate culture and cooking incredible food. “I grew up skating most of my life,” he explains. “When I figured out that cooking was something that I was going to do, I was like, ‘I want to integrate the skate culture into food.’” 

It took nearly 20 years for the universe to fit all the pieces of his manifested vision together, but looking at the ace team that’s assembled, it’ll be worth the wait. Besides Hawk and the two Bacheliers, Chick & Hawk tapped chef de cuisine Marlaw Seraspi (Atelier Manna) and beverage director Nick Sinutko (Campfire), with Larah behind the design of the 70-seat, indoor-outdoor space.

“It was my job to create a soulful space that pays homage to the culture that originated here in Encinitas, which is skateboarding,” she says. It had to feel cool, but not pretentious; nostalgic, but timeless. The space employs bright colors (à la the ’80s skate aesthetic) and plenty of skate park–esque concrete, midcentury touches, a mural by skateboarder and artist Mark Gonzales, and a legit skate pool (which would-be skaters at the space will regret to hear will serve as the outdoor patio and not a skate area). It’s quite a difference from Fulano’s, the restaurant that (mysteriously) occupied the space for decades. 

July 2, 2025

The Locals' Guide to Visiting Encinitas, CARELATED ARTICLE

“There was some weird energy there for sure,” Andrew says. He had his mom and her friend bless the restaurant. It seemed to do the trick.

Andrew cut his teeth at Michelin-starred Jeune et Jolie and Campfire, so he knows how to do fine dining. But for Chick & Hawk, he’s focused on obsessively perfecting the classically simple but deceptively complex fried chicken sandwich. The signature “Birdman” sandwich consists of a tallow-fried crispy chicken thigh seasoned with a secret blend of spices and topped with slaw, a fusion kimchi, Southern-style comeback sauce, and spicy pickles on a potato bun, served at three different spice levels. (Think of 360 as mild, 720 as medium, and 900 as surface-of-the-sun hot.) There will be other sandwiches, like a vegetarian mushroom sando and blackened fish.

Patrons of a certain age will appreciate the quirky drinks menu with riffs like the “Neon Bell” with lime, lemongrass, Thai basil, and a few other fun things. (It’s basically a Baja blast, but as a vermouth highball.) There’s the skate trick–inspired Japan Air, featuring Japanese gin, pickled ginger, shiso, nori, yuzu, and soda. There’s a house beer brewed by Viewpoint Brewing called Cheep Skate, an American lager meant to refresh your palate after a 900-level Birdman. There’s some more beer. Some more wine. There’s not a ton to choose from, but what’s there has been pored over and perfected so that what’s left is the best of the best.

It’s taken time to whittle Chick & Hawk into the best version of itself, and if you ask any of the partners or owners, they’ll probably admit it’s been a little too much time. But it’s hatching soon (for real this time), and Andrew says they can’t wait to show it off. “It’s a dream come true,” he adds.

Chick & Hawk opens at 145 Leucadia Boulevard, Encinitas. Hours run Sundays and Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Fridays and Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed Tuesdays).

The post Chick & Hawk Ready to Open in Encinitas appeared first on San Diego Magazine.