Gaslamp Quarter Bars Going All Out During Comic-Con San Diego

Comic-Con 2023 is in San Diego the weekend of July 20-23. It’s at the San Diego Convention Center and spills out into the Gaslamp Quarter with fans in costumes, themed pop-up places seemingly in every inch of available space and buildings serving as huge billboards for the studios and their shows.

The fans are in the streets – Fifth Avenue, in particular – as well as in the bars. They are not the only ones, either, for bartenders and servers also dress up as this part of the city goes all in for Comic-Con.

At barleymash (5th & Market), for instance, bartenders will be dressed up as anime villains while servers will dress up as anime heroes. This is a prime place to eat and drink anytime and it’s one of the most popular places during Comic-Con. There’s  special food items during the event: Chef Rose’s Barley Bento Box. Choices include Crispy Chicken Katsu with Steamed Rice, Cucumber Salad, and Bulgogi Green Beans for $22, or Spicy Tuna with Steamed Rice, Cucumber Salad, and Bulgogi Green Beans for $24.

Around the corner at Smoking Gun (6th & Market) is going old-school retro arcade for Comic-Con this year Along with specialty food and drinks for the long weekend, the bar and restaurant is featuring a themed cocktail throughout July: Space Invaders. It is made with Volcan Blanco Tequila, Lillet, Giffards Passionfruit, Liquid Alchemist Strawberry, Cold Press Lime Juice  and Jameson Caskmates Float. The Smoking Gun also has a large arcade in the back with fun games such as air hockey, skeet ball, basketball, driving games, Galaga and Pac-Man.

For food (and cheap beers every Taco Tuesday), the wildly popular City Tacos by Petro Park on Seventh Avenue is open daily during Comic Con from 11a.m.-8:30 p.m. There are 17 tacos on the menu,  with 14 of them being less than $5  City Tacos’ Taco of the Month for July is the Mahi-Mahi Baja Surf Taco, which is grilled mahi-mahi over a flower tortilla with grilled cheese and topped with cabbage, black beans, poblano pepper, and pickled onions and finished with spicy green salsa. On Taco Tuesday it’s 10% off food orders and $2.50 Mexican beers.

For morning bagels, Spill the Beans next to Smoking Gun has Super Mario-themed cream cheeses to celebrate Comic Con! Try the light and fruity Princess Peaches Cream Cheese, the Mario Party Pizza Cream Cheese, or Donkey Kong’s Banana Cream Cheese – all three are available to order with any of Spill the Beans’ bagel flavors, like Roasted Garlic & Herb, Bacon & White Cheddar, French Toast, classic Everything and more.

More Com-Con San Diego:

• San Diego Comic-Con To Succeed Despite Ongoing Hollywood Strikes (pubclub.com)