Why the San Elijo Campground Store Sat Empty So Long, and What Beach Wolf Inherits

The camp store at San Elijo State Beach, 2050 S Coast Hwy 101 in Cardiff, has a new name on the state's books. California State Parks lists Beach Wolf San Elijo as the campground's camp store and restaurant concession and marks it "NEW." The Beach Wolf San Elijo site still says "Coming Soon" and lists no opening date. The State Parks alerts page says the camp store and laundry are closed while the agency works through the concession contracting process with the vendor it selected.

The long wait traces back to the deal the state wrote for whoever runs the building next. That deal describes a much bigger operation than the one that closed.

A store that earned real money

Before it closed, the little building west of the campground entrance was a solid business. State Parks' September 2023 staff report lists five years of gross sales for the concession:

Gross sales stayed between about $1.18 million and $1.30 million every year in that run. The building is small. The staff report puts the store itself at 28 by 24 feet and the full footprint at 51 by 54 feet, counting the deck and seating area that wrap around it. It serves a campground of 162 sites for tents, RVs, and trailers. The closest grocery store is about 0.4 miles away, in a strip mall that also has several restaurants.

The crowds kept coming after the store closed. The same report counts campground visitors at 100,527 in fiscal 2018/2019 and 105,790 in fiscal 2021/2022, all with no concession open.

How the last lease ended

The Manganelli family ran the camp store and its small restaurant for about twelve years, according to a December 2018 San Diego Reader report. State concession records name JLM Systems as the San Elijo Camp Store concessionaire, with a term from May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2017. The store then ran month to month and was listed as terminated in the fiscal 2018–19 report.

The state requested proposals for a new ten-year lease, and bids closed December 13, 2018. Laurel Manganelli, the leaseholder, chose not to bid. She told the San Diego Reader, of the mid-1960s building:

"They [the state] want too much construction."

The same Reader piece said she also weighed competition from large statewide concession companies. The incumbent operator walked away from a store grossing more than a million dollars a year because of what it would cost to stay. That is the first sign the building's future depended on the terms of the deal.

The deal the state wrote next

The State Park and Recreation Commission had approved concession services at San Elijo in January 2018, under Resolution 1-2018. No operator came out of that round. In September 2023 the issue went back to the Commission, and the staff report put the cost of doing nothing plainly. Without action, the concession property would stay vacant.

These are the terms the 2023 Commission staff report set out for the next ten-year contract:

• Rent: a minimum of $135,000 a year or 13% of gross receipts, whichever is greater
• Upfront investment: at least $600,000 in major capital improvements to the facility and grounds
• Ongoing upkeep: at least 2% of gross receipts paid into a Facility Maintenance Improvement Account
• Scope: food and beverage, beach-related services, camping supplies, laundry, and souvenirs
• Alcohol: sales allowed for consumption on and off the premises
• Physical work: interior and exterior architectural updates, commercial kitchen appliances, new public seating, new decking and railing on the bluff seating area and surrounding patio, and a replacement fence north of the building

Compare those numbers with the old rent. The previous operator paid the state between about $175,000 and $196,000 a year on its best sales. The new minimum rent of $135,000 is lower, but the $600,000 build-out has to be paid before the first sale. Then 2% of every dollar goes back into the building. At the old store's sales level, the 13% option would bring the state more than the minimum. That means an operator who wins this lease has every reason to sell more than the old store did.

The state's own planning shows how much the vision changed. The San Elijo General Plan, approved in 1983, describes "a single retail concession near the campground entrance" serving "food, beverages, and sundry articles to campers." The 2023 report calls it a camp store and restaurant with food and drinks, alcohol included. A $600,000 commercial kitchen and a new bluff deck are restaurant investments. A bag of ice and a tide chart don't pay them back.

From solicitation to "Coming Soon"

The paper trail since 2023 has moved slowly:

1. September 21, 2023: the Commission staff report recommends a new ten-year concession.
2. August 9, 2024: the state publishes solicitation P23CA006 on Cal eProcure. An optional pre-proposal meeting follows August 29, and letters of intent are due September 27.
3. January 16, 2025, 2 p.m.: proposals are due.
4. June 30, 2025: the state's concessions report for fiscal 2024–25 lists firewood sales and fitness walks at San Elijo, with no camp store yet.
5. Now: State Parks lists Beach Wolf San Elijo as the camp store and restaurant, alongside a new firewood vendor, Brevvie LLC. Beach Wolf's own page still reads "Coming Soon."

Beach Wolf's San Elijo page also shows a countdown clock reading all zeros, with no date attached. That clock doesn't announce an opening. For updates, the page directs visitors to Beach Wolf on Instagram.

Who is taking it on

Encinitas residents already know the operator from Moonlight Beach. Eater San Diego profiled Beach Wolf in March 2023 as the venture of chefs David Volk and Justin Lewis, who took over the Moonlight stand during the pandemic. The same profile described an all-day breakfast menu with lunch and sunset dishes and frequent specials.

On Beach Wolf's main site, the Moonlight location lists daily hours that change with the season: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. in spring, 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in summer, and 9 a.m. to sunset in fall and winter. Those are Moonlight's hours. Beach Wolf hasn't published hours, a menu, or an access policy for San Elijo. A January 2018 San Diego Reader story reported that the old operation welcomed walk-in diners from outside the campground. The state law quoted in the 2023 staff report describes park concessions as serving the general public. Whether the new operation will work the same way hasn't been announced.

The other construction at the campground

The campground has a second project underway, and the two are easy to mix up. In August 2024 the California Coastal Commission approved accessibility upgrades to 12 campsites, two overlooks, and 10 water stations, The Coast News reported. The Commission staff report covers campsites, overlooks, and water stations, not the store building.

That work happens only in winter, defined as September 15 to February 15, across two to four winter seasons between 2025 and 2028. Crews work on one campsite or overlook at a time, about four weeks per site, with a goal of four or five sites each winter. Each site reopens as soon as it's finished. No construction is allowed from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, and staging stays in the maintenance yard or at the site under work. So a work zone along the bluff this winter is most likely the accessibility project, not progress on the store.

The store's own build-out falls under the concession contract. Its official checklist is the list above: new kitchen equipment, new seating, a rebuilt bluff deck and railing, and a new fence on the north side. When those show up at 2050 S Coast Hwy 101, the long empty stretch is close to over.

A $600,000 refresh on a 1960s building is a big presentation project, the kind of planned improvement work our team manages for sellers before a home goes on the market. If you're thinking about what upgrades your own Cardiff home might need before a sale, and how to pay for them, Karen Morton Homes is glad to walk through it with you. Request a complimentary market & staging consultation.