Start at the corner of Coast Highway and Daphne and walk south. At 698 N. Coast Highway 101 is a new Lao-Thai restaurant. A little farther along, 640 is the liquor store with the sign that hasn't lit every letter in years. Then 530, where Vigilucci's has served Italian dinners since 2004.
All three addresses changed this fall, but the changes aren't spread evenly. Two of the three trace back to companies managed by Saeid "Tony" Shahri. One owns the Leucadia Liquor property, and the other is taking over the Vigilucci's restaurant business, so his plans will shape much of what this part of Leucadia looks like next year.
The shop at 640 reaches the end of a 35-year run
Leucadia Liquor's owner, Kamil Mansoor, announced in October that he was retiring and closing the store for good at the end of the month. Mansoor bought the business in 1992, and the store had already served the neighborhood for more than six decades.
David Boylan wrote a farewell in his Lick the Plate column in The Coast News, and it maps the store onto a real local route. He describes checking the surf at Beacon's, riding down Daphne, coasting onto Coast Highway for a block and parking his bike in the lot out front. He also points out the store's "famously unreliable lettering lights" and credits longtime employee Tony as part of why people kept coming back.
The same column notes that talk of the store's end began years before the announcement, when the property itself sold in 2023.
One name behind the parcel and the restaurant business next door
According to SanDiegoVille, Peeshee LLC bought 640 N. Coast Highway 101 in November 2023 for $4.45 million. The property is about 3,563 square feet and had been marketed as a potential redevelopment opportunity. State corporate records list Shahri as Peeshee's manager.
In August, a second company tied to Shahri showed up a few doors south. Athena Restaurant Group LLC was formed on August 4, 2026, and lists the same Rutherford Road address in Carlsbad as Peeshee. It applied to take over the full Type 47 liquor license at Vigilucci's, 530 to 534 N. Coast Highway 101, and the application went pending on August 25. SanDiegoVille reported that the license transfer was how the sale first became public. A legal notice in The Coast News on September 4 gave September 23 as the expected transfer date, with payment contingent on approval from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Shahri confirmed the plan to SanDiegoVille and said the restaurant would become something new instead of continuing as Vigilucci's. On the details, he said:
"We're still early in the process and aren't ready to share concept details, name, or timeline publicly yet. We'd rather share that when it's fully baked than put out something incomplete."
He also told SanDiegoVille that he owns the building where The Saloon and Shelter operate in Encinitas, and that it has nothing to do with the Vigilucci's transition or Athena's restaurant plans.
Here is where each address stands as this post publishes:
| Address | Business | Status | Still unannounced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 698 N. Coast Hwy 101 | Coast Thai-Way | Open, run by independent owners | Nothing pending |
| 640 N. Coast Hwy 101 | Leucadia Liquor | Closing announced for end of October 2026 | Any plan for the parcel |
| 530 N. Coast Hwy 101 | Vigilucci's Trattoria Italiana | Taking reservations as of late October | Final night, new concept's name, opening date |
Shahri's companies are now tied to two neighboring addresses. Peeshee owns the 640 parcel, where the liquor store was set to close with no plan announced for what comes next. Athena is taking over the restaurant business at 530, where a new concept is still being developed.
Vigilucci's is still serving
Vigilucci's history runs through both of Encinitas's main stretches of 101. Roberto Vigilucci moved to San Diego from Milan and opened his first Vigilucci's Trattoria downtown in 1994. He moved it to the larger Leucadia property in 2004, so the restaurant has been in Encinitas for more than 30 years and in Leucadia for more than 20. The company describes the Trattoria as the restaurant that launched the Vigilucci's Restaurant Group.
No last day of service has been announced. When the sale was reported in August, the restaurant was still advertising regular hours, and that hadn't changed by late October. Vigilucci's own site still listed the Leucadia location's hours, a phone number and OpenTable booking, with tables available for October 28. In October, The Coast News column described Vigilucci's as closing "soon" and gave no date. If you've been saving a birthday or anniversary dinner for that dining room, book it while the reservation system is still open.
At Daphne, independent owners took the corner
The newest restaurant on this stretch took a different route. Coast Thai-Way at 698 N. Coast Highway 101 belongs to Stella Bayphouthongkham and Bee Sukcharoen, who also co-own Mekong Cuisine Lao & Thai on Convoy Street. In a September Coast News profile, Boylan notes that the corner of Coast Highway and Daphne was once home to Mozy Café.
The same profile says the menu isn't a copy of Mekong. It's built for the coast, with seafood, seasonal produce and Southern California influences alongside Lao and Thai dishes Bayphouthongkham grew up with. The familiar curries and noodles are there, but the Lao dishes are what stand out:
- Nam khao tod, a crispy coconut rice salad with cured pork sausage, ginger, peanuts and a chili-lime fish sauce vinaigrette
- Sai oua, Lao herbal sausage served with jeow som dipping sauce and sticky rice
- Grilled pork collar, boneless and seasoned, with tiger tamarind sauce
Boylan sets the opening against the neighborhood's character, writing that Leucadia "has always preferred the independent, the soulful and the slightly unexpected."
North of Jupiter, the street is getting rebuilt too
While businesses on this stretch change hands, the City of Encinitas is rebuilding the road a little farther north. Leucadia Streetscape Segment C West and the N. Coast Highway 101 drainage project, between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue, broke ground in March 2024 and are expected to finish in late fall 2026.
According to the City's North Highway 101 project page, Segment C includes:
- New roundabouts at Jupiter Street and Moorgate Road
- Crosswalks and a pedestrian signal at Avocado Street
- Wider sidewalks and designated bike lanes
- New streetlights, benches and bike racks
- Hundreds of new trees
The page's latest update is dated September 17, 2026. By then, all of the 60-inch, 66-inch and 36-inch underground storm drain pipe was in. Crews were still working on water and drainage connections and building new curb, sidewalk and bus-stop pads on the west side south of La Costa Avenue. Expect intermittent lane shifts until the work wraps up. The City says driveway and business access will stay open and asks people to keep supporting Leucadia businesses during construction. Late fall is still the City's target. It hasn't announced a finish date.
Put together, the City has been planning the street for years and published a target date. The businesses along it are changing through private sales, and the buyers will announce their plans when they're ready. Anyone who drives, walks or rides through Leucadia this winter will see both.
For a Sunday errand while the corridor sorts itself out, the Leucadia 101 MainStreet farmers market runs every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oak Crest Middle School. That works out to November 8, 15, 22 and 29.
When one owner's companies hold a corner parcel and the restaurant business next door, the next few years of that block can change, and so can how nearby homes look to buyers. If you own near the Leucadia stretch of Coast Highway, or are weighing a home within walking distance of it, Cohen Albrecht Real Estate Group can walk you through what each change along the corridor means for your property. Schedule a Private Consultation.
