Where to Drink: Exploring San Diego’s Still Supercharged Cocktail Scene

By Rich Manning

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Just around 2013 or so, San Diego’s cocktail bars started making noise loud enough for the country to hear. Acclaim in the alcohol sphere wasn’t something new — the city was already basking in the glow of its celebrated beer scene. This focus expanded and arguably started to shift thanks to the efforts of hospitality moguls Consortium Holdings and industry legends like Erick Castro and the late Chris Patino. 

As other cities not named New York or San Francisco started currying public favor around the country, San Diego’s darling status waned. The bar scene was still great, but it was also a known commodity to the point where it was taken for granted.

But here’s the thing: San Diego’s bar scene has continued to evolve since those halcyon days of the early 2010s. It may be a known commodity that gets the occasional pop of national attention every now and then, but it’s still a commodity worth knowing just as it was when it was a rising star. As such, it seems like now is a great time to get up to speed on what’s moving and shaking in San Diego’s bar community these days – and why it’s a good idea to pay a visit to this beautiful Southern California coastal city.

Gilly’s House of Cocktails

Castro built up the San Diego area’s reputation as a killer cocktail community through the fancy, whimsical one-two punch of Polite Provisions and Raised by Wolves. He’s come full-circle at Gilly’s House of Cocktails, a fully restored neighborhood bar that deftly combines outstanding drinks with comfortable dive vibes. This isn’t a fancy cocktail spot masquerading as a lowbrow joint. It exists somewhere in the middle, and the menu fuels this dichotomy. Here, it’s possible to order a complex drink with Japanese whiskey, ube, and sesame or the best Adios Motherfu**er you’ll ever have and still feel like you’re in the right spot. They also have blue Powerade on one of their soda guns to take care of guests in need of some post-imbibing electrolyte restoration. It’s one of the coolest pro moves of any bar, anywhere, although their free pool table may also be on that list.

Part-Time Lover

You’d hope that a bar named after a hit Stevie Wonder song would have some sort of connection to music, and this gem doesn’t disappoint. Part watering hole, part lounge, part legit record store, the elongated, dim-but-not-too-dim venue leans into the popular vinyl bar concept with the full force of a crunchy Metallica riff. In keeping with the musical theme, the bar’s vibe may be best described in album sides. Part-Time Lover’s first few hours of operation represents side 1, where the mellow vibe entices you to sink into a chair and chill with a drink and casual conversation. The record flips over about halfway through service; just like Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps” album, acoustic goes electric. The energy skyrockets as the room’s volume cranks, and an entirely different experience unfolds before your eyes and ears. The one constant? The drinks are solid regardless of when you arrive.

Realm of the 52 Remedies

If you’re going to do the speakeasy thing, it’s more important than ever to create a sense of discovery. Nobody in San Diego pulls this trick off better than Realm of the 52 Remedies. Its front is a loud and lively sports bar inside a somewhat gritty strip mall. Walk through a door tucked in the bar’s corner, and you’re suddenly in a bright white Chinese apothecary. The vibe shifts instantly. The tiny room leads to a quiet, sprawling space that feels like a forest with carefully curated furniture pieces. The Asian-inspired drinks enhance this mood through the copious use of Far East ingredients, yielding a program built from equal parts elegance and deliciousness.  It’s more than the antithesis of its host property — it’s the antidote you need when life gets too hectic.

The Lafayette Hotel and Club

This landmark property is worth visiting even if you don’t order a drink. Originally built in 1946 and listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, the property was a premier hideout for Hollywood’s elite seeking respite from Tinseltown’s relentless sheen during its heyday. Consortium Holdings took over the property in 2022 and completely renovated the grounds, taking great care to preserve its historic integrity. Part of that renovation was to infuse the property with several fantastic options to indulge in a proper tipple, from the majestic circular lobby bar to the casual yet refined gameroom and bowling alley The Gutter. It wouldn’t feel right to narrow focus on one spot within Lafayette’s secret-keeping walls, so we’re including the whole damn place. 

Happy Medium

Like Gilly’s, Happy Medium is another bar that lands in the gap between the proper cocktail bar and the improper dive. But the North Park corner bar traverses this chasm in a much different way. Located in an open, breezy space where indoor seating seamlessly flows into the outdoor patio, posting up here almost feels like being at a bar near the beach, and you’re having way too much fun to realize the shoreline’s missing. This vibe adds a distinct level of approachability to the drinks: In a different setting, their Super Grass concoction of lemongrass mezcal, tequila, lime, mango, and pandan make come across as austere. Here, however, it’s an easy-drinking banger that may or may not be named after an underrated indie rock group. Don’t sleep on their road trip-inspired menu here, either. They make a mean chopped cheese sandwich that may make a New Yorker feel a slight twitch of homesickness (note: San Diego’s glorious weather cures such homesick vibes quite rapidly). 

Communion

San Diegans like to boast about having the country’s best weather. They’re probably not wrong – the city could practically trademark the phrase “sunny and 78 degrees.” These conditions make enjoying a cocktail with a rooftop panoramic view essential. This ritual comes with an unwritten rule: If the drinks are great, the views will be better. This may be why Communion’s reputation for being a tremendous rooftop spot is so strong.  The cocktail program at this elevated restaurant and bar in the city’s Mission Hills neighborhood does an excellent job of adhering to the kitchen’s playbook of combining global influence with locally sourced ingredients. This results in a bevy of adult beverages with specs that appear daring but feel approachable and familiar. You may not know that a sudachi is a small, tart fruit native to Japan, for example, but you may leave this venue knowing it can be used to make a banger of a margarita riff.

Captain’s Quarters

The name Captain’s Quarters may suggest this Pacific Beach venue is a classic Tiki or modern tropical bar. It’s neither. While the bar is a speakeasy hidden within the city’s popular Tiki bar The Grass Skirt, it’s a nautical bar, a theme that works well given San Diego’s rich maritime history. Setting foot in the porthole-adorned space further creates distinction — there’s a sense of refined elegance not found in a lively tropical joint. The menu also leans into the theme by presenting a heavily gin-focused cocktail menu, a historic nod to the spirit sea captains typically drank in private while the rest of the crew drank rum. The place still creates a sense of escape like a Tiki bar might, but it’s a completely different form of escapism. That’s what makes it so cool.

Swan Bar

Meet San Diego’s “Cheers.” The food and drink at this North Park neighborhood staple are consistently solid. They’re also doing some fun stuff with their beverage program, including cocktails on draught and the legal production of their own spirits and rectifiers. These may be the elements that initially get you in the door, but they won’t be the reasons you become a regular. No other bar within San Diego’s sprawl hugs you quite like Swan Bar. There’s a kind, secure warmth in the space, and it radiates from all angles: the bar team, the music, even the other customers (which makes sense – you’re almost guaranteed to see someone in the industry hanging out here at any given time). It’s a challenge to describe the joy to be had here with accuracy, and any attempt (including this one) is daresay nothing but a pale shadow that hangs out in the shade compared to experiencing the genuine article in the flesh.