Wondering how to cut through the clutter and find the the best bars in San Diego’s Gaslamp without reading a hundred reviews? This article is from local who knows the scene.
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By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com San Diego Blogger
One of the big benefits of being in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter from a nightlife standpoint is that there are several places to eat and drink. It can also be one of its curses because if you don’t live here or don’t come often to the Gaslamp, you could wander around aimlessly and either wind up doing nothing or picking the wrong spot and have a boring evening.
Well that won’t happen if you read this article. That’s because I live it and experience it on nearly a daily basis. This article covers, in a simple guide, the best:
- bars
- clubs
- live music
- party atmospheres
One thing to keep in mind: The Gaslamp Quarter is most alive on Friday and Saturday nights. It starts warming up at around 9 p.., and is in full gear at 11 p.m.
Start at Happy Hour. The latest Happy Hours are at Smoking Gun (until 7 on weekdays with rotating beers, including San Diego craft beers are $5 and this can also be a good place to toss out the anchor and stay a while), Whiskey House ($5 beers with a shot of whiskey for an extra buck; you can also get a pretty good burger for $7), Taste & Thirst (until 8, $5-7 all beers and well drinks), Toro (any drink $7, 7-9) and American Junkie (until 8 on Fridays, 7 on Saturdays; $4 select beers & $7 cadillac margaritas).
Now about the nightlife. I like to go to Good Night John Boy. This is – I’m not kidding – a disco bar straight out of Saturday Night Fever. It has the lighted colored dance floor, the overhanging disco ball and music from the Bee Gees, Donna Summer and Abba. It also plays other music but it really boogies with disco. It also has $5 well drinks Fridays until 9. This is a fun place and it gets a lot of groups of people who are visiting San Diego as well as those out for bachelorette and birthday parties.
From there, I like Whiskey Girl, which is lively! Especially when girls from the bar jump up on a railing and give shots to people, guys and girls. Tipsy Crow is a good call because it’s actually a pub, a club and a lounge on its three levels.
One of my favorite bars – now keep in mind I tend to favor casual places over nightclubs and better yet when a place combines the two – is Trailer Park After Dark. That shorts-are-okay bar plays fun party music like the Village People and Madonna and is even has Jell-O shots. A bar-turned-nightclub is barleymash, and it has a cool little downstairs lounge called Ginger’s. This place is always crowded. As as a change of scenery, there’s The Double Deuce, which has a scene out of another John Travolta movie, this one being Urban Cowboy because it has a mechanical bull. When it’s not bucking, the bull is used for girls to pour shots into people’s mouths.
For clubs, there are a few nightclubs – Onxy Room, Nova SD (formerly Omnia for those of you who might be searching for that club), Omerta and the aforementioned Toro – but for me, I go to Parq. For starters, one of the doorman is so nice when we say hi, it’s like we’ve known each other since high school. It also has multiple rooms and the main room is huge, which makes it kind of feel like you’re in a Vegas nightclub.
When I want something other than the nightclub scene, I head to Patrick’s Gaslamp Pub. It has live music every night and finding bars with bands in San Diego is surprisingly difficult (I moved here from LA, which is what I call the music capitol of the world with all the great musicians and band that play all over the place there). Patrick’s is small with a fun, easy-growing crowd and the bands range from pretty good to really good. It’s busiest from 10-11:30ish and there’s no cover charge.
If you’ve got a date, a good place to go for live latin music is Havana 1920, an intimate Cuban bar and restaurant.
A bummer is that one of my go-to places, Vin Sirah – which locals called the “Alice In Wonderland bar” – is closing. Oh well, there’s many other great places to party in the Gaslamp.
Gaslamp Quarter Bars & Nightlife Q&A
Where Exactly Is The Gaslamp Quarter?
The Gaslamp Quarter is from Third Ave., to Sixth Ave., from Broadway to Harbor Drive. Technically, anything beyond Sixth Ave., such as Petco Park, is considered East Village but that’s like trying to make a difference between Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. To the average tourist, it does not matter. It is also sometimes called “downtown San Diego,” although most locals feel that is misleading because we consider downtown to be the skyscrapers on Broadway.
Is Everything In Walking Distance?
Yes.
What Types Of Bars Are In the Gaslamp Quarter
Pretty much everything you can imagine. There are bars/pubs; a lot of restaurant bars, a couple of which (barlemash in particular) turn into nightclubs at night, rooftop bars, karaoke bars (Gaslamplighter & Warewolf mainly) and lounges. This article narrows down the focus so you can find a locals’ favorite places.
What Time Do The Bars Close?
Closing time at San Diego bars is 2 a.m.
Do You Have A Good Gaslamp Quarter Money-Saving Tip?
Yes. It’s generally less expensive to order bottled beer rather than draft beer. The difference can be $1-2 per beer.
Is The Gaslamp Quarter Safe?
Yes. I have personally never felt unsafe walking through the Gaslamp. I never worry about pickpockets (almost unheard of here) and violent crime is rare. There are isolated incidents on occasion but when I see something, I just walk in the opposite direction. Some people like to run to it and even get involved, but not me. My advice is the same as it is anywhere: have fun, enjoy the atmosphere but be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Share your thoughts on the Gaslamp Quarter in our comments section.
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and San Diego-based nightlife expert who has spent years exploring the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village and other local communities. He has covered destinations, events and entertainment for more than two decades and received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism while working as a newspaper reporter.
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