The Best Places to Drink in San Diego, According to Industry Pros

San Diego is nicknamed “America’s Finest City” thanks to its near-perfect weather, picturesque beaches and an abundance of world-famous, family-friendly attractions. But it is also a mighty fine city to drink in.

In between suntanning on the beach, visiting museums in Balboa Park or heading out for a wine country getaway in nearby Temecula Valley, there are bars worth visiting in almost every neighborhood in San Diego.

The city may be known as the craft beer capital with over 150 breweries, but it’s also home to some of the best cocktail bars in the country with vibes that range from divey to tropical. Themed speakeasies go all out on the decor and experience reign supreme and there’s no shortage of neighborhood bars that pour drinks made with experimental techniques.

Image Courtesy of Realm of 52 Remedies

Best for Technique-Driven Cocktails

Realm of 52 Remedies

Convoy District

Beau du Bois, Vice President of Bar and Spirits at Roma Norte and Marisi, can’t say enough great things about Realm of 52 Remedies. “They’re doing a lot of really deep dives into the creative well that they have as a team, and using techniques like clarification and forced carbonation,” says du Bois.

To thrive in San Diego, it can’t just be about what’s in the cocktails, but also the atmosphere. “While I don’t know if San Diego needs any more speakeasies, the entrance experience to get into Realm of 52 Remedies is so very transportive and so well thought out and creative,” says du Bois. Themed around Chinese medicine, a stark white room lined with herb jars open up to a dark hallway, bringing you to the main “realm” with its backlit jade bar.

One of the rare AAPI-owned bars in San Diego, Realm’s cocktails incorporate ingredients and spirits found throughout Asia from the expected like matcha to the obscure like matsutake shoyu.

Roma Norte

Downtown

Dark and sultry, Roma Norte aims to transport a piece of Mexico City to San Diego’s Seaport Village. What goes on behind the bar, though, more closely resembles a science lab.

Caroline Pardilla, cocktail writer and author of Margarita Time, recommends Roma Norte for those who want to geek out on bar techniques.

“It even features a spicy margarita that uses science to remove the heat but not the flavor from the habanero pepper,” Pardilla notes. To achieve this, they vapor-infuse the margarita with habanero. You’ll also find drinks with force-carbonated, house-made cola or tamarind blended with bourbon that’s then clarified with a centrifuge.

Best Neighborhood Bar

Happy Medium

North Park

This North Park bar came from two veteran San Diego bartenders: Eric Johnson and Christian Siglin. They worked together at institutions like Noble Experiment before venturing out on their own.

With Happy Medium, the two managed to capture “lightning in a bottle,” says du Bois, “[this] is a bar that is so dialed in for the neighborhood.” The people in North Park did not even know “that they wanted that or needed that, but immediately [fell] in love with it.”

The space is bright and airy, with vibrant green tiles lining the underside of the bar. “It’s a lovely spot to spend a beautiful, sunny day drinking, ” says Pardilla (it opens at noon on weekends).

Best for Poolside Drinks

Ponyboy

Point Loma

Ponyboy at the mid-century modern The Pearl Hotel is a throwback to the 1960s in the best of ways.

Dining and drinking at this poolside restaurant “immediately brought back to your childhood in a very elevated way,” says du Bois. The food and drink menu both draw inspiration from the counterculture decade with a twist that comes from veterans of the city’s fine dining scene.

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Ponyboy comes from the former culinary director and former bar director of the Michelin three-starred Addison. It’s also a bar that hits on both the wine and cocktail fronts. The wine list was designed by Addison’s lead sommelier Kyle South and the rotating by-the-glass offerings have included Jean Louis Chave’s “Offerus” and a Madeira from 1958. The cocktails lean on riffs of lesser-known classics like Death in the Afternoon with beet and fennel or a Mexican Firing Squad with a touch of mole.

“It’s one of my wife and I’s favorite places to hang out,” du Bois notes, “we love the team there.”

Best for Date Night that Won’t Break the Bank

Swan Bar

Normal Heights

The two spaces of Swan Bar are perfect for different kinds of date nights: the interior is cozy and moody; the quieter outside patio is kept warm by a roaring fireplace. What makes it even better, though, is Swan Bar’s happy hour. From 4-5 pm every day, all of Swan Bar’s cocktails on tap are $7, including the espresso martini with Amaro Montenegro Cream.

“This is a spot I’d go on a day off,” says Brian Gravelle, bartender at Juniper & Ivy. “There’s nothing better than Swan happy hour espresso martini before a dinner out.” Gravelle also loves Swan Bar for their focus on acid-adjusted cocktails, where citric or malic acids are used instead of (or in addition to) citrus juices to balance flavors and acidity.

Best Dive Bar with Great Cocktails

Gilly’s House of Cocktails

North Park

Erick Castro took over the dive bar institution Gilly’s Bar at the end of 2023 and renamed it Gilly’s House of Cocktails, keeping the dive bar vibe but with a renewed focus on craft but approachable cocktails.

Pardilla says Gilly’s “remains a chill spot for a game of pool or even working on your laptop but now it serves up craft cocktails.”

Prices remain affordable and Gilly’s has happy hour all afternoon long, from 1 to 6 pm Monday to Friday, with $8 drinks that include Old Forester 100-proof Old Fashioneds and milk-clarified Adios MF on tap.

Best for Japanese-Influenced Cocktails

Bar Kamon

East Village

Hidden behind a secret door at Asa Cafe and Bakery, Bar Kamon is modeled after a Taisho Roman cocktail lounge of 1920s Japan. But “the speakeasy element of this cocktail bar is only secondary to the cocktail experience here,” says Pardilla, who suggests people to “seek out Bar Kamon for its elegant East-meets-West cocktails.”

Sip black sesame Old Fashioneds of hojicha-infused Negronis at this wood-paneled bar. The eastern influence extends beyond Japan with drinks like their take on the classic Jungle Bird, which features milk-washed pineapple rum, lime and Campari topped with ube foam.

Best Tiki Bar

False Idol

Little Italy

False Idol is the tiki bar hidden inside Craft & Commerce in Little Italy. It was co-created by Martin Cate of Smuggler’s Cove and it is a destination bar that is considered one of the best tiki bars in the country. Pardilla says False Idol is “a must-visit for any tiki fan. It’s one of those bars where it’s wise to secure your reservation before you book your travel.”

The cocktail menu is a tome of tropical classics, originals, punch bowls and even a reserve section featuring cocktails made with high-end spirits like the Planter’s Punch with Appleton 21-year rum.

Clos Wine Shop

University Heights

Nick Perr, managing partner at Pali Wine Co. and Cellar Hand, shares a neighborhood gem he loves: Clos Wine Shop in University Heights.

The wine shop is “a humble, unassuming little shop tucked into a little space. Inside, the shelves are packed floor-to-ceiling with bottles,” says Perr. “You’re encouraged to browse at your own pace. Once you find the right bottle, you can open it and enjoy it right there.”

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The wine shop is laid-back and welcoming and the staff is always friendly. Perr himself actually went there the night before he opened Cellar Hand. “We picked out a great bottle of Melon de Bourgogne and some tinned fish (right off the shelf), and enjoyed it all out on their patio,” Perr recalls, “a great little memory before our own doors opened.”

Best Local Brewery

Pure Project

Multiple locations

With over 150 breweries in San Diego, we’d be remiss to not include one on this list. Nick Perr says that his favorite local brewery to support is Pure Project. “Their commitment to seasonality, transparency in ingredients and process, and simplicity aligns perfectly with our ethos,” says Perr.

The brewery focuses on using local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible. Opened in 2016, Pure Project quickly grew to be one of the best breweries in the city and now operates five plant-filled taprooms in the area.

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