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The mission of the Brigantine Restaurant Corporation is...
to achieve the highest
level of guest satisfaction and trust
by providing value and quality in our food, beverage and
service;
To offer energetic, friendly and professional service
in order to provide our guests with positive, memorable
experiences;
To search continually for new ways to improve our total
operation
to ensure growth and profitability.
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The Brigantine
Family of Restaurants, since its inception in 1969, has
built a reputation based on an unwavering commitment to guest
satisfaction. With nearly one-thousand team members serving 1.2
million meals each year, our investment in our staff and in our
communities around us has earned us the respect and loyalty of
our personnel, of local business leaders, and of those in
charitable circles as well.
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And so it begins... The
first Brigantine Restaurant was opened by husband and wife team,
Mike and Barbara Morton, on Shelter Island in 1969. With a loan
against her house to finance her son's venture, it's been
rumored
that fear of losing Mike's mother's house was the only thing
that kept them in business during those early lean times.
The name of the restaurant was derived in a very democratic way
- they drew names from a hat. "The Brigantine" won. The first
menu consisted of nine menu items, including a "Late-Night
Entrèe", and the dreaded "Beef Stew".
On display in the home office are two original menus - both on
round wooden plank. The early version with all nine menu items,
and the revised one where "Beef Stew" has quite literally been
"86'd" from the menu (a steak knife
was the likely tool of choice).
Fortunately, The Brigantine overcame the odds, and in the summer
of 1973, Mike and Barbara opened their second Brigantine location
in Coronado, followed thereafter by restaurants in Del Mar and
Escondido. Before all was said
and done, there would be Brigantine Seafood Restaurants in seven
locations throughout the county, including
La Mesa, Poway, and our newest in the Village Walk at Eastlake,
in Chula Vista.
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Miguel's Cocina - In
1982, the Brigantine team decided to take advantage of some of
the organization's in-house culinary talent and opened Miguel's
Cocina in the village of Coronado, directly behind the
now-popular Brigantine.
The restaurant was an instant success and
a second Miguel's was added in the original Brigantine location
just two years later. The Shelter Island Brigantine had moved
down and across the street to its present location above the
marina. In 2004, the Brigantine Family of Restaurants opened a
third Miguel's Cocina in the EastLake Village Marketplace. It's a
little trendier looking, with a hand-made tortilla station
and
rotisserie oven.
Miguelito's, Sala de Artes y
Comer
- The little brother
to Miguel's Coronado, Miguelito's features private party space
for groups of 20-60 indoors, and up to 130 including the patio. A
one-of-a-kind gallery, boutique and private dining room,
Miguelito's offers art, gifts and cuisine influenced by the many
cultures of Mexico. |
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The Steakhouse at Azul La Jolla
-In the late 1990’s, Mike and Barbara set out to
find the perfect location to open a fine-dining restaurant
concept; and in May 1999, Azul La Jolla was opened, serving
California Cuisine on fashionable Prospect Street.
In 2008, the
Brigantine Family of Restaurants’ senior leadership team
recognized the absence of a Prime steakhouse in La Jolla village.
Supported by a ten-year reputation for exceptional service,
amazing food and San Diego’s best views of La Jolla Cove
and the Pacific shoreline, coupled with a personal affection for great
steak, the senior leadership team took the leap. Today, The
Steakhouse at Azul La Jolla offers San Diego’s first
steakhouse experience, one-hundred feet above spectacular La
Jolla Cove. |
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Zócalo - And finally, to “Z” –
Zócalo (whose name is derived from the central gathering
place in the heart of many Latin American villages) was born out
of a Brigantine remodel gone wild. The project, which began as a
restroom expansion, banquet room addition, and Oyster Bar removal
in the Old Town Brigantine, took a creative turn mid-stream. A
wood-fired oven was added, display kitchen revealed, new design
and décor, creative multi-cultural menu and entirely new
dining concept conceived. In fact, the new concept was
so well received that the Brigantine Family of Restaurants opened
their second Zócalo in late 2008 – in the community
of 4S Ranch. With vibrant furnishings and 20-foot resin palm
trees sprouting from the recessed dining room, Zócalo
truly is “A Vacation from the Everyday.”
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Signature Dish - From
the nine original Brigantine menu items, and then eight, the
restaurants’ menus have certainly evolved over the years.
When Mike Morton and
Nick Vitalich of Chesapeake Fish Co. were tossing back a few
cool ones one afternoon,
little did they know that their mutually-coined term,
“Catch of the Day”, would ultimately
appear on seafood restaurant menus around the globe. Now a
commonly-used phrase referring to freshly-caught fish, it was the
fresh Pacific Swordfish that put Brigantine on the map.
And fresh it was! When USA Today published a piece in
the early 80’s entitled, “Restaurants
on the Road”, the Brigantine received national attention
for serving “The Best Swordfish in
the World”. It’s been a signature dish ever
since.
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House Wine Anyone? - Have you ever stopped to wonder which vineyard’s label is
hiding beneath that house-labeled wine on your table? Or when the
last time the restaurant’s proprietor paused and
taste-tested the current vintage? Maybe when you asked what
the
house wine was, it didn’t have any affiliation with the
establishment at all…
Well, it’s been said that when it comes to wine, The
Brigantine Family of Restaurants goes
“the extra mile”. Yes,
in fact, they actually go about 500 extra miles, traveling each
spring without fail to the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County.
Every year since 1987, a small contingent of employees and managers travels from San Diego to Sonoma to
participate in the custom blending of The Brigantine’s
house Chardonnay and Merlot. Working with their own personal
wine-maker, the process not only ensures quality and
consistency,
but also instills a pride of ownership. The Brigantine produces 2100
cases of Chardonnay and 500 cases of Merlot annually. It’s
definitely worth the effort!
AWARDS:
2008 Brigantine Sonoma County "Reserve" Chardonnay scores 90 points, winning Silver Medal at California State Fair
2008 Brigantine Sonoma County "Reserve" Chardonnay wins Silver Medal at Monterey Wine Festival
2007 Brigantine Russian River Valley "Reserve" Chardonnay - 40th Anniversary Bottle - wins Silver Medal at San Diego International Wine Competition, and Bronze Award at the 2009 California State Fair Wine Competition
2007 Brigantine Sonoma "Reserve" Chardonnay wins Bronze Award at the 2009 California State Fair Wine Competition
2006 Brigantine "Reserve" Chardonnay wins Bronze Medal at San Diego International Wine Competition
2005 Brigantine Sonoma Chardonnay wins
Silver Award at 2007 California State Fair
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Copyright © Brigantine
Corporation, 2010. All Rights Reserved
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