Besides running two locations of Shoots—one in Oceanside, one in Carlsbad—the founders of the local seafood joint and bottle shop all work other full-time gigs. Retired professional surfer Cheyne Magnusson builds wave pools all over the country. Chris Slowey is CEO and principal designer of CLTVT, the local design and architecture firm behind builds like The LaFayette Hotel in North Park, Tremont Collective in Oceanside, and Kingfisher in Golden Hill. Davin Waite is the founder and chef of Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub and The Plot. Craig DeMarco founded Upward Projects, the hospitality group behind concepts like Postino WineCafé and Joyride Taco House in Phoenix, Arizona.
But when something hits hard enough to keep coming back again and again, it’s gotta be something special. And to these partners, Shoots is their something special. That’s why they’re opening Shoots #3 in Leucadia, hopefully by fall or winter of next year.
The first opened inside Bottlecraft at the Tremont Collective in late 2021, where they launched the original menu of poke bowls and tacos made with locally caught seafood. Carlsbad came next in 2023 as the first independent location with its own craft beer program and signature house beer. They’d been eyeing different coastal locations for the third space, and the 1,300-square-foot indoor space with a 400-square-foot outdoor patio in Leucadia checked all the boxes…