By Kevin Wilkerson, San Diego Blogger
With some 300 bars (a rough estimate, I admit) there are a lot of nightlife options in San Diego. Mostly, people stick to their neighborhoods but there are great bars all over the city. As a frequent barfly, I’ve made this list of the best of the best.
Personally, I generally stick to the Gaslamp Quarter because it’s lively on weekends and it is also the location of PubClub.com’s World Headquarters. Being somewhat of beach bum, I spend a considerable amount of time in Pacific Beach (while also putting my toes in Mission Beach) and venture into other parts of San Diego: Ocean Beach, La Jolla, Little Italy, the area north of Little Italy on India Street and the oddly named Normal Heights. What’s so normal about it? North Park is not included here becasue I’ve yet to find a “go to bar” there or even a cluster of good places to barhop. And Mission Valley is out because the number of strollers far outnumbers the single people.
With all that in mind, here is my simple guide to the best bars and nightlife in San Diego.
Gaslamp Quarter/East Village’s Best Bars
• barleymash. Located on the prime corner of 5th & Market, this semi-upscale-yet-casual bar turns from sports watching and good food location to a DJ bar at night. Be sure and check out a small hang-out bar in the basement, Ginger’s.
• Good Night John Boy. This is a fun and lively disco bar with a dance floor straight out of Saturday Night Fever. One really cool thing about it is that it gets groups out for a night for a birthday party, bachlorette party, etc.
• Moonshine Flats. I don’t go this place nearly enough for some reason but it’s a fun country music bar with line dancing and bands on a big stage. Lots of cowboy boots in this place.
• The Smoking Gun. A good sports bar it also has an arcade in the back and a laid-back main bar.
• Trailer Park After Dark. This is a cut-loose, let-down-the-hair bar that’s like a trailer park. It has good, fun party music and Jell-O shots.
• Vin de Sirah. Locals call it “the Alice in Wonderland bar” because of it’s somewhat offbeat vibe. How offbeat? You go down a set of stairs and have to figure out which of the four walls is the door. Pro’s Tip: Vin de Sirah has the best sangria in San Diego.
• A Walk Down Fifth Ave. My biggest nightlife tip on going out in the Gaslamp Quarter is to walk along Fifth Ave., and stop when you find a fun place. Top suggestions, American Junkie, Tipsy Crow (with three levels, including a dance club in the basement)) Whiskey Girl and don’t ignore the small restaurants that turn into bars at night.
Pacific Beach’s Best Bars
• 710 Beach Club. A super-casual bar owned by a Chicago native that gets pretty loud and lively at times. It is also where PubClub’s Bartender of the Month, Natalie, works.
• Duck Dive. This is a nice, classy bar on Mission Blvd.
• Firehouse (Sunday nights). Almost all roads on Sunday night in PB lead to Firehouse, which has DJ pumping tunes.
• Hideaway. This is a well-run beach lounge with very good drinks, really good food and a PB crowd that, at night, has gone home to shower and change after a day at the beach.
• Lahaina Beach House. A true hangout that’s mostly an outdoor deck overlooking the bike/walking path, beach and Pacific Ocean. It closes at night so it’s a late afternoon bar.
• Maverick’s Beach Club. This location has always been an “in” spot in PB and Maverick’s is very popular.
• Open Bar. Every beach town needs something like Open Bar. It’s an off-the-beach dive that gets everyone from salty bar veterans to the young and hopeful.
• Thrusters. This long, narrow dive bar can be a lot of fun.
Other Fun San Diego Bars
• Aero Club Bar, Northern Little Italy. This is a cool spot with a bourbon and whiskey selection that numbers into the hundreds. There’a pool table, a popcorn machine and hangout areas.
• Bali Hai, Shelter Island. A San Diego institution known for its super-strong Mai Tai (there’s no mix in it; it’s all alchol and they limit most people to two) I go there on occasion to get some tiki drinks and a Polynesian atmosphere. It’s not a big party place, tho.
• South Beach Bar & Grille, Ocean Beach. I tend to go here for sunsets and it’s Happy Hours and sunsets. It has a really good Mai Tai (only $7 during HH) and it’s really great when I score a seat on the balcony overlooking the OB Pier.
• Waterfront Bar & Grill, Little Italy. This is one of my main “go to” bars. Cold, cheap beers, a lively staff, DJ playing fun music and a crowd that’s always in a good, chatty mood. It’s a great place to meet people from all over San Diego.
San Diego Live Music Bars
Now if there’s one area of nightlife where San Diego has a shortage, it’s live music venues. It’s not just that there are not a lot of music-specific venues but not a lot of bars have bands. This is a bit odd for me because I came to San Diego from LA where the Sunset Strip has the Roxy, Whiskey-A-Go-Go, Troubadour and the Viper Room among legendary rock ‘n roll palaces, as well as bands at seemingly every other bafr in the city. Where I lived in Hermosa Beach, there’s several live music bars including the famous Lighthouse Cafe, which is not only where LaLa Land was filmed but where Huey Lewis performed just before the release of the band’s landmark Sports album. So I’m a bit spoiled but I do enjoy hearing bands in bars.
So here’s a short list of live music bars I like in San Diego.
• Belly Up, Solana Beach. This is San Diego’s most famous live music bar and it gets bands from all over the area and name touring bands. Every other Friday it’s packed for the widly popular (and those who have seen them know why they are so popular) Atomic Groove (6-8). The deal here is all about the music and it’s only open when a band is playing. It’s interesting to note that Belly Up does not run tabs, so you must close out after every trip to the bar.
• Casbah, Airport Area. This place has a funky rock, borderline punk vibe where pretty much anything goes as far as bands are concerned: Jesika Von Rabbit with her bunny-topped dancers and the Schizophonics, San Diego’s super high-energy band.
• The Harp, Ocean Beach. This casual bar has bands; I saw San Diego’s longest-running band The Fooks there one night. It’s kind of beer, hangout bar.
• The Holding Company, Ocean Beach. This is a three-level bar with a nice rooftop for drinks and weekend brunch, a middle level hangout bar and a room for bands on the first floor. The music varies from The Jimmy Buffets to rock and punk.
• Patrick’s, Gaslamp Quarter. This is a fairly small, casual bar with bands nearly every night of the week. There is rarely a cover charge, which makes it even better. Since I live close it and I like a lot of the bands that play there– from rock covers to tockabilly – Patrick’s is my go-to live music bar in San Diego.
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