SAN DIEGO
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SAN DIEGO GUIDE:
° Introduction
° PreParty
° PubClubbing
° Gaslamp Nightlife
° Post Party
° Restaurants and dining
° Photo Essay

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- Street Scene

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PB's best bars, clubs, when to go where, plus restaurants and the beach.

Welcome to Pacific Beach, CA!

The Pacific Beach pier, with attached cottages, leads to the party places.

For the young and young at heart, Pacific Beach is the place to be in San Diego.

This is where the party meets the Pacific, a heavenly hangout of beachside bars, neighborhood pubs and dance spots. In "PB," as locals call it, there is always something going on any night of the week. And it so compact, most places are within easy walking distance of one another.

In a way, Pacific Beach is like a step back in time, as if the 60s are still with us. It has a Dairy Queen – a Dairy Queen! – and a drive-thru at that. The accommodation choices are mostly run-down cottages and motels. Surfers are still dragging longboards out to challenge the waves (though the boards are now made of fiberglass instead of balsa wood).

Yet there are also high-rise and modern condos, hotels and gleaming new shopping spots.

Regardless of the decade, the main attraction is the beach, as well as the concrete path that slices down its edge. Surfing, sunning, beach volleyball and other activities fill the sand while runners, rollerbladers, bicyclers and pedestrians keep the Strand buzzing (East Coasters refer to it as a boardwalk, but out here it's the Strand). Along it are restaurants, bars, motels and, a little south of PB, the rollercoaster and arcade games of Mission Beach.

DIRECTIONS:
From the North: I-5 South. Exit Balboa/Garnet Ave. Go west towards beach
From the South: I-5 North to Grand/Garnet exit. Go west towards beach.

Bars & Dives

For 20 years, Lahaina has been a PB beachside landmark.

It's right on the beach, resembling a lifeguard stand on steroids. But it serves food and drinks, so the only rescue operations it launches are for hungry and thirsty patrons. Lahaina Beach House is a Pacific Beach tradition, a simple bar with a wooden outdoor deck, beer on tap and a simple but good menu. Any sunny afternoon – especially on weekends – people gather to gossip and drink and check out the action directly in front of them on the beach and Stran . It's a pretty aggressive pickup place, something we refer to as a "location bar." Get the right table and who knows what might happen later.

Around the corner from Lahaina is another "anytime it's sunny" place called The Open Bar. Across from the Ralph's shopping plaza, it can get a crowd any afternoon the sun is out. Which is to say, just about any afternoon. Usually by nightfall the crowd moves elsewhere, except for Mondays when it's THE place to be. The crowd, which thoroughly enjoys the $2.50 mixed drink special, is a mix of beach and borderline hip-hop.

If its Sundays, the place to be is Beachcomber. Located two blocks south of the Mission Beach rollercoaster, it is all things to all people. Go early and it's the party-never-ends set, people in their 40s 50s, even 60s. With each passing hour the crowd gets progressively younger. By 9, it's mostly 20s and 30s. It's a down-and-dirty bar with one of those fun "the more you drink, the better it sounds" bands.

San Diego party veterans might be shaking their heads. The Beachcomber on Sunday? What about the Barefoot Bar? Unfortunately, we are sad to report, the Barefoot Bar is no more. This once totally-raging indoor-outdoor replica of Duke's in Waikiki Beach, named for the igloo-shaped sand-covered dance floor required people to remove their shoes, is now a family-oriented restaurant-bar catering to visitors at the adjacent resort. The management must have got tired of making money because the place is absolutely dead now. It's a sad passing of a San Diego party landmark.

Another Sunday option is The Tavern. It's a basic bar on Garnet, about a dozen blocks inland from the beach. Check it out on other nights, too. Keep going inland and if it's lunch or dinnertime, stop at Rocky's for the Best Hamburgers in San Diego. Our worldwide hamburger correspondent rates them #2 in the world (second only to Ercoles in Manhattan Beach, CA). Go for the quarter-pounder and a beer at this relative clean, small somewhat dive neighborhood hangout. It's good for sports, too.We've also got good reports about the Hamburger Tree in Escondito (168 Mission Ave; 760-746-6365), especially for its huge homemaid fries. Hmm, a burger and beer, sports and a cool crowd. Sounds good to us!

Still around and thriving is Pacific Beach's Best Hangout, the Cass Street Bar and Grill. Located on Cass Street a block from Garnet, this cool-colored bar and mini-restaurant tends to come and go like an ocean surge, but for regulars it's as steady as a winter surge. Now it's at high tide again. It's a low-key neighborhood bar that is as casual as a pair of sandals. It's great anytime for a drink, a meal (the menu is painted onto the wall), watching sports or playing a game of pool. Girls and guys arrive in duces and treses and it's easy to meet them. For singles, Cass St. is best between 8-11.

A good call afterward is Thrusters. On the main street next to the liquor store, Thruster's is PB's Great Secret Bar. As thin as a regular rollerblader, it is a mix between New York hip and dive, where people go when they want to pound down cocktails without the lines and masses arounnd them.

And then there's Hennessey's. It seems that in order to attract a Hennessey's, all a Southern California town has to do is put the words "beach" in its name.Hennessey's is a true Irish pub and restaurant.

Bars & Clubs

The vast Pacific Beach Bar & Grill has a rocking dance floor in the rear.

Despite its status as place where old-time surfers go to die (and party hard until they do), PB consists primarily of a young crowd. They can largely be found in a pair of bar/clubs as well as a rock spot locally famous for live bands.

A good place to start a weekend night is Gringo's. It's an upscale Mexican eatery with a lively Happy Hour. The margaritas are large and for shots, try the rare but intoxicating almond tequila.

The dance bars are right next to one another on Garnet. We call them dance bars because neither is a full-on club (this is, after all, still a beach community). Pacific Beach Bar & Grill, in fact, takes on multiple characteristics. In the front is a casual hangout bar, not at all different from Cass St. Out the door is a large outdoor patio area, somewhat casual and laid-back, while in the back a large dance area is jumping – sometimes literally. Make a note of the large TV screens against the wall; this is an awesome place to watch sports.

The PB crowd is mostly young and out to have fun.

Moondoggies, located in a former surf shop, keeps its surfing roots, to a degree. Frankly, it's too modern and clean to really cling to its roots, but at least it's the theme. It has a bar, a huge patio and dancing. It's the most popular sports bar in PB and is definitely the loudest for Monday Night Football.

Most people bounce between PB Bar & Grill and Moondoggies, or choose one one night and the other on another night. Expect a line after 10 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, when they are packed. Both also serve food.

For live music, Blind Melon right at the beach is the spot to rock. Like any good rock 'n roll club, it's not fancy, which means the focus is on the music. The crowd is best described as "beach R&R."

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