The exciting history of our historic building begins after the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, when Wyatt Earp rode into town with his new bride, Josephine.

During the 1880’s, Earp ran a saloon and gambling hall here called “The Oyster Bar“, dealing “Faro“- a card game popular at the time - in what we now call The Wyatt Earp Room.

Over the years, Wyatt Earp owned or leased at least four Saloons and Gambling Halls in San Diego. The most famous was the Oyster Bar, located in our beautiful Victorian structure, the Louis Bank Building. It has been reported that the owner was a distant relative of Wyatt’s wife, Josie.

This was one of the better known and frequented Saloons in the city. One of the reasons for its popularity was that upstairs was a brothel called The Golden Poppy. The unique feature was that each room was painted a different color and each lady wore a dress the same color as her room.

Today, our beautiful building stands tall and proud as the most photographed building in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Historical data from “Wyatt Earp,
The Missing Years:San Diego in the 1880’s“,
Kenneth R. Cilch, Kenneth R. Cilch Jr.

Our Artist

John Wismont, a Poway resident, is one of Southern California’s Premier Graphic Artists.

He is a graduate of the High School of Industrial Arts in New York City, where he was first introduced to commercial art. Later, he received a B.A. Degree in Art at California State University Long Beach.

During his college days, Disneyland recognized John’s remarkable talent and offered him a position as a portrait artist. As a result, John became “The World’s Most Prolific Portrait Painter“, as noted in the Guinness Book of World Records (1978-1987) by painting over 45,000 watercolor portraits in under five years.

One day, a call came from a TV anchor who later produced a feature spot on his newscast about John’s portrait work. This story was instrumental in John becoming the first vendor for portraits at our World Famous San Diego Zoo.

John can be reached at 858-748-3603

Our dining room walls abound with portraits of San Diegans, and others, who over the years have made significant contributions to our town and the world. From Lindbergh to Dr. Seuss, Raquel Welch to Jonas Salk, and Ernie Hahn to Tony Gwynn, our mural is a tribute to their lives.

Our Staff

Leading our culinary team is Executive Chef Jose Kelley. Chef Kelley has served as Executive Chef of Cafe Pacifica, Rainwater’s and 5th & Hawthorne.

Chef Kelley combines his vast knowledge of American, Asian and Southwestern cuisine with some of California’s great wines to further enhance the dining experience at Georges on Fifth, the Gaslamp Quarter’s Premier Steakhouse.

George L. Harrington III oversees the operation. He first arrived in San Diego in 1985 as Vice President and General Manager of the Catamaran Resort Hotel. The re-emergence of the Catamaran on the San Diego hotel scene was expected in light of his past successes.

He had recently opened Bally’s Park Place Casino Hotel, a $350 million casino, serving as its General Manager. He was also President of Merjan Hotels and General Manager of the Berkeley-Carteret, one of the Jersey Coast’s most beautiful and famous hotels.

Prior to this, he spent 10 years with Hilton Hotels Corporation at such prestigious properties as the Los Angeles Hilton, Denver Hilton, Atlanta Hilton, and Chicago’s Palmer House and its world famous “Empire Room“.

During the final years of the Vietnam War, George was decorated with a Bronze Star and 3 Air Medals while serving as a First Lieutenant with the 1st Air Cavalry Division.

In 2000, George returned to his home in San Diego after working for Donald Trump as Vice President Hotel Operations for Trump Plaza and Trump World’s Fair Casino Hotels, to continue his career as a restaurant owner.al