SHO Kitchen serving global flavors at new residence hall
New restaurant, part of the first phase of Evolve student housing, emphasizes scratch cooking and locally sourced ingredients.
San Diego State University students have a new place to gather around fresh, healthy and tasty food with the opening of SHO Kitchen, a new SDSU Dining concept at Plaza del Sol.
Located next to the new Texcoco residential community as part of the ongoing Evolve Student Housing development, SHO Kitchen is built around a simple idea: The food is the star and the kitchen is the show.
SHO Kitchen’s Mediterranean-influenced, globally inspired menu pairs familiar favorites with flavors and techniques drawn from cuisines around the world. Students will find rotisserie chicken, pizzas, salads, sandwiches and wraps alongside lamb and beef kofta, falafel, Oaxacan chicken and harissa mac and cheese, among other offerings.
“The food is local, it’s fresh and it’s made from scratch, resulting in healthier options,” said Tiago Battastini, SDSU Dining executive chef.
SHO Kitchen is among three SDSU Dining options opening during the fall 2026 semester:
- Mesa Fresh, 5841 Aztec Walk (former Plant Power location): Opening date TBA. Build-your-own bowls with a menu free of the top nine allergens.
- Aztec Nutrition Center, 5595 Lindo Paseo (Sunset Plaza): Access to the same kitchen that fuels SDSU Athletics. Open Monday-Friday, 7-10:30 a.m. and 6--9 p.m., with weekday lunch reserved for SDSU Athletics team meals; weekends, 10 a.m.--6 p.m.
Among Battastini’s favorites is the SHO Stoppa, a naan wrap filled with hot honey-glazed harissa chicken, tomato, cucumber, mixed greens and pickled red onion.
“We call it SHO Stoppa for a reason. We have the salty, the sweet and the spicy — it’s a perfect bite,” Battastini said. “SHO Kitchen serves comfort food, elevated. We want students to feel something familiar — we have mac and cheese, we have roasted chicken — but the flavors are different.”
Everything on SHO Kitchen’s menu is made from scratch. Chickens are brined on site for 24 hours before going onto the rotisserie, and the fresh pizza dough is hand-stretched on site.
“When you're making stuff from scratch, the ingredients are invariably better,” said Chris Burchell, SDSU Dining associate director.
SHO Kitchen shares Plaza del Sol’s first floor with Big City Bagels. The second floor is home to additional dining space and a private room for conferences and events.
SHO Kitchen’s menu draws inspiration from the SDSU Dining team’s culinary immersions in Oaxaca, Mexico, as part of its collaboration with the SDSU Oaxaca Center for Mesoamerican Studies. Burchell and Battastini didn’t just come back with recipes and ideas informing its Menú Azteca, they also imported traditional clay comals.
“We went to Oaxaca and tried different things and it was all cooked on clay comals,” Battastini said. “We tried to reproduce the food back here in San Diego and something was missing. The clay comal brings something different: a more rustic flavor.”
That unique flavor can be found in the Doña Vale, a sandwich with pork carnitas, black bean spread, Oaxacan cheese, pickled red onions and chile morita salsa.
The Doña Vale and SHO Stoppa are both signature favorites marked by stars on the electronic menus. The restaurant also offers vegan and gluten-free options. Also available are additional savory sandwiches and wraps, open-flame plates, soups of the day, and customizable loaded taters.
Gabriel Abad, a first-year student, has made multiple stops at SHO Kitchen over its opening weekend.
“Very fresh food, very good,” Gabriel said about his grilled steak plate, with sides of rice and mac and cheese. “I’ve also had the fajita wrap. I’d say this is a very good kitchen.”
SHO Kitchen takes advantage of Southern California’s access to fresh produce and seafood, including locally caught rockfish.
“We are very lucky because within 100 miles we can get everything,” Battastini said. “There is a lot of fresh produce, the local fish is exciting: we have a rock cod that’s locally caught. It was swimming in the morning and it’s here for dinner.”
Burchell said SHO Kitchen continues a broader direction for SDSU Dining set by its director, Robert Isner, centered on elevated scratch cooking, quality ingredients and encouraging students to explore foods and flavors they may not have encountered before.
“It’s important for the students to come in and try new things,” Burchell said. “For a lot of them, it’s their first time being away from home. Come into it with an open mind, broaden your horizons. Try things, talk with the chefs and the staff, and find out where things come from.”
SHO Kitchen, as well as Mesa Fresh and Aztec Nutrition Center, accept meal plans and are open to anyone on campus.
