The Chargers are not in the game – heck there’s not even in town anymore – and that city to the north is hosting Super Bowl LVII rather than here in America’s Finest City.
Still, because it’s a big party event here because it’s a fun event and San Diego is a fun city.
These lively bars are where to watch the Super Bowl in San Diego. The way PubClub.com looks at it, it’s less about screamin’ super Super Bowl deals and specials and more about a fun and engaging crowd where you can meet and mingle with single people.
PubClub.com Super Bowl bars party tip: Pick one place and stick with it. If you try and move around you’re going to get stuck in a long line somewhere and miss the whole thing.
• Mavericks Beach Club Pacific Beach
If PubClub were to open a bar it would be something like this – both a pub and a club under the same roof. Mavericks Beach Club (named after the famous Top Gun character??) is an indoor-outdoor bar that is a regular top San Diego Bar and with a few $5 drink specials for the Super Bowl, it’s the top gun when it comes to where to watch the Super Bowl in San Diego.
I can guarantee you that all week, the fun party people of PB are messaging this to each other: “what time are you getting to Mavericks?” With kickoff at 3:30, PubClub recommends being seated by 1:30. Or earlier. Any later and there will be a line down the block and of course, nobody will be leaving this place during the Super Bowl.
Location: 860 Garnet Ave.
• Duck Dive, Pacific Beach
If there’s a line at Maverick’s then hustle down a few blocks to Duck Dive. Or heck, start your day there with its brunch (with bottomless mimosas) or its tiki cocktails ($12) or perhaps a group drink served in a large clam shell.
The scene is much like Maverick’s – lots of PB singles who love to party – and has outdoor seating with a small view of the beach. You can’t go wrong here, either.
Location: 456o Mission Blvd.
• Sandbar, Mission Beach
The bar will be raffling off prizes, including a 55′ TV and a beach cruiser bike, along with a few other smaller prizes. During halftime, Sandbar has the Glutton Bowl, an eating competition featuring its award-winning TKO taco, which have combination of a cotija-crusted flour tortilla, chipotle aioli, escabeche slaw, lime crema, spicy guac, crispy onion strings, and fried cilantro. As for drinks it’s $5.50 Bud Lights and Michelob Ultras, as well as Sandbar’s $12 beer and shot special.
Location: 718 Ventura Place
• Barleymash, Gaslamp Quarter
Sports Illustrated named this one of the best places in America to watch the Super Bowl and while I wouldn’t go quite that far, it is the best place in the San Diego Gaslamp Quarter for it.
This is an open air, well-run bar with a fun staff that combines a sports bar atmosphere with a club-type of party vibe. The food is very good and Sundays you can start off with a bottle of champagne for $25 to really get your day rolling in the right direction.
Location: 5th & Market
• Bootlegger, Gaslamp Quarter/East Village
Okay, so technically it’s in East Village instead of the Gaslamp Quarter. Whatever. The point is, this is a raucous bar when the 49ers play and it transforms into Tuscaloosa West when Alabama plays during the college football season. In other words, it knows how to host a good time for football fans.
Location: 8th & Market
• The Smoking Gun, Gaslamp Quarter
A sister bar to barleymash, the Smoking Gun is a smokin’ hotsport for sports. For the Super Bowl, it has All-You-Can-Eat pickle brined chicken wings, for $21.99. Starting at 3 p.m., you start of with 10 wings; sauces are buffalo, bbq, cali wing, sweet and sour and maple-sriracha.
Location: 555 Market Place
• Wonderland Ocean Pub, Ocean Beach
This huge bar overlooking Ocean Beach can’t help but be a big party place for Super Bowl Sunday.
Location: 5083 Santa Monica Ave Suite 2B
Park 101, Carlsbad
A cool mostly outdoor BBQ restaurant is a multi-level complex with flat screens lining the walls, a jumbotron, beer and cocktail stands and food stalls featuring fresh lobster, slow roasted barbecue and SoCal classics.
Location: 3040 Carlsbad Blvd.
Ketch Grill & Taps Portside Pier, San Diego Bay
Okay, so this is the least wild place of them all. But you’ve got to check out the view! It’s so spectacular, especially at sunset, that you won’t be paying a lot of attention to the game at that time. Kickoff is at 3:30 and the sunset is about 5:15.
One thing about Ketch – which is part of Portside Pier – is that while it’s really a sit-down restaurant there is often a pretty good singles bar scene at the upstairs bar. Plus, it is not likely to be all that crowded so you stand a good chance of claiming a barstool right up until gametime.
Location: 1360 N. Harbor Drive
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