Chris Dainty is wearing his ever-present Padres hat and a black T-shirt from Kelly’s Olympian, a bar and music club in Portland. He is standing behind the bar at Key and Cleaver, his burger restaurant on the corner of University and Euclid avenues in City Heights. Kelly’s opened in 1902, Key and Cleaver in 2023.

Dainty is talking about his BBQ bacon burger — the beef comes from a ranch in Julian, the sauce is his own recipe and the bun is from Bread and Cie. The beers on tap are from San Diego’s breweries.

After a couple decades of working in bars and restaurants, he and his wife, Jenn Hager, opened their place in 2023 just as a major road construction project started down the block.

Hospitality, he says, is a tough business. He’s seen really good bars and restaurants close for all kind

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