Lobster West gets ready to go with summer picnic offering in La Jolla

Business Spotlight:

With roots planted following the May opening of Lobster West in La Jolla, management is gearing up to launch a new picnic concept from its location at 1237 Prospect St.

“Given our food is so to-go friendly, we are starting our Picnic to the Greens promotion,” said owner and President Chad Taggart. “The Greens” refers to the lawn of Scripps Park at La Jolla Cove.

“We’re going to get nice little baskets to hold our food and are going to do meals to go … and eat at The Cove. It’s a short walk from our location to the park, and fortunately there are benches and places to lay out a blanket.”

It is a 0.2-mile walk from Lobster West to Scripps Park if park-goers take the beach-access staircase next to the La Valencia Hotel.

The rollout of the promotion is expected in the next few weeks.

“The weather is so beautiful here for the next six months, we think the timing is perfect,” Taggart said. “Plus, the summer and fall months have the best lobster of the year. This is the primo stuff. The lobster is consistently good year-round, but during these months the meat has a certain texture and it is my personal favorite. You have to get it when you can.”

Taggart has been sourcing his lobster from the same East Coast supplier since launching the brand almost 10 years ago. The first Lobster West opened in Encinitas in 2013, and Coronado followed in 2016.

“One of the reasons La Jolla was attractive for what we’re doing is there weren’t too many opportunities for something like this,” he said.

Taggart’s family, which runs Lobster West, is from New Jersey and would vacation up the East Coast. “When we came here 15 years ago, we figured it was the one thing that wasn’t on every corner,” he said.

Keeping things simple, Lobster West serves lobster sandwiches, as well as crab and shrimp sandwiches. All can be served in different sizes and/or with sides.

Taggart said forging community connections is a company value. In recent weeks, he has been involved in local events such as the La Jolla Village Merchants Association’s First Friday Art Walks, and Taggart was recently elected to the LJVMA board.

“We have taken the opportunity to meet the locals, which is exactly who we want to get in touch with because that is who we are as a company and the heart of what La Jolla is,” he said. “Since we’re such a niche model, it takes a little while to get some customer knowledge as to what we’re doing and why it is so special. But week over week over week, we have been introducing ourselves to new folks and new business owners.”

Since the opening, “we immediately felt the sense of community, which tells us we found the right spot,” Taggart said. “We are incredibly grateful when someone comes in on the recommendation of a friend and when we see the same faces over and over. It is all we could have hoped for.”

Learn more at lobsterwest.com.

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