Do the pub sprawl in North Park on April 25 from 8pm to midnight  when 11 of the bars and restaurants will offer $5 drink specials.  $5 per ticket = 1 drink. Tickets are on sale that evening. Check their website for information.

Italy comes to San Diego in a great way:  fabulous espresso.  Look for Caffè Vergnano 1882 to open by the end of April in Hillcrest. You’ll find it mid block on the left hand side of  Fifth Avenue between University and and Robinson. Buzz sampled this coffee recently while in New York.  The coffee is in Mario Batali’s homage to everything Italian–the mega Italian grocery and eatery known as Eataly.  Caffè Vergnano’s arrival in San Diego, for espresso lovers, will be the place for a properly pulled shot (and a good addition to the neighborhood with Chocolat just down the street).  For more information: 619-255-1882.

Easter is around the corner, and here’s a quick roundup of things to do and places to go if cooking a ham isn’t your thing….

Get the kids involved on Thursday, April 21, when Cups La Jolla hosts an Easter Cookie Decorating class from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Chef Francois of renowned bakery Girard Gourmet, teaches  the fun class. Ccst is $50 for a parent and child team, $15 per additional child, and $30 for a solo adult. For more information or call 858-459-2877.

More cupcake ideas come from the HOP box at  Sprinkles. The box contains dark chocolate, red velvet, brown sugar praline and carrot cupcakes adorned with pink and green bunnies and is from April 15 to 24.  The Jewish holiday of Passover isn’t forgotten here either.  Get a dozen  Passover Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes adorned with blue Star of David and sealed with a Star of David sticker and available from April 18th to 26^th. 8855 La Jolla Villa Drive, La Jolla. 858. 457 3800.

Take your daughter (or son) to tea at The US Grant Hotel on Saturday, April 23 from 1pm to 3pm where you’ll sip premium loose leaf teas served alongside a tantalizing selection of house-made sweets and savory treats. 
 
Cost is $47 adults and $22 children. 
For reservations,  619-744-2039 .

At La Valencia, you can do brunch buffet style, served throughout the day in the hotel’s various dining areas, seating from 11 am and is $75 per adult and $32 per child plus tax and tip. Bring the kids for an Easter egg hunt from 11am to 3pm. For reservations, please call 858- 551-3744.

Also in La Jolla, Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar offers an à la carte menu from 11am to 2pm with interesting dishes that include Jidori chicken adobo; breakfast tacos with eggs, cheese and Asian guacamole; macadamia nut pancakes and more. For reservations:  858-551-5252.

If you’d like to sweeten an Easter basket, consider chocolates from  Chuao (available countywide),  Chi Chocolat (Liberty Station), The Elegant Truffle (Point Loma village), Eclipse Chocolat (University Heights) and Chocolat  Creamerie (Hillcrest and Gaslamp).  Buzz can attest that each of these purveyors makes artisanal and extremely luscious chocolates to satisfy every chocoholic.

UPDATE:  More Buzz about the Roseville space:…We’re hearing The Waterfront (on Kettner) wants it–and a full liquor license–and will redo the restaurant with a different name, but same Waterfront concept.

Terra in Hillcrest will close and move to 7091 El Cajon Boulevard in a stand alone former Italian restaurant at 71st and El Cajon Boulevard.  They will open the first week in April.  In the meantime, you can enjoy a Valentine’s dinner at the current location, for just $59 plus tax and tip.  Their final “hoorah” party as Rossman put it in his email blast will be March 18. 3900 Vermont St., San Diego, 619.293.7088.

Other places we’ve been wondering about:  Mia Francesca’s in Little Italy, beset by construction issues, finally forging ahead again.  Their website says they expect to open Little Italy in May and in August a second location in Del Mar Highlands Town Center. 1655 India Street, San Diego, 619-237-9606 and 12955 El Camino Real, G-4, San Diego.

Brazen BBQ Smokehouse & Bar has their liquor license application posted. We should soon be seeing some good barbecue at 441 Washington and Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest.

Finally, should anyone want to buy the restaurant as well as the real estate of Lamont Street Grill is for sale, complete with a  type 47 liquor license and two rental units for $1,495,000.  For more information:  858-764-4223.

We’re hearing the Point Loma former site of Roseville (closed in August, 2010), might become a fun casual sports bar concept.  We say might since the landlords seems to be dragging their feet to get the place rented…or return phone calls from the potential lessee.