Downtown San Diego has gone through waves of coolness. Attractions like PetCo Park, The Rady Shell, and bars and restaurants that really had their own character (think any Consortium Holdings concept or Lola 55), started to solidify San Diego’s downtown as a place that wasn’t just full of spots for the convention goers. Now, with a surge of city pride surrounding the Padres bringing crowds to the buzzing ballpark district, revivals of iconic bars and restaurants, and new attractions that are quickly becoming go-to’s, downtown is downright cool.
Credit James Tran
El Dorado
Located in the East Village, the largest neighborhood in Downtown San Diego, El Dorado was an industry hangout in its heyday and is now rekindling memories from its past and introducing the neighborhood bar to a new legion of regulars. Reopened in March under new ownership by Pouring With Heart, the team behind North Park’s Seven Grand, El Dorado offers a timeless cocktail experience with a comfortable contrast between highbrow and lowbrow, making it a go-to spot any night of the week, with daily happy hours to boot. The menu is deeply rooted in classic cocktails plus playful riffs crafted with fresh ingredients, including the East Village Rickey, a SD spin on the Eastside Rickey that swaps gin for mezcal, or the classic bourbon based El Dorado Gold Rush. Guests can stick around for a round of pool or darts and throw a tune or two on the jukebox, which sits beneath the Pouring With Heart Vision Plaque and the bar’s massive stuffed buffalo, lovingly named Otis.
AC Hotel San Diego Downtown Gaslamp
AC Hotel provides an innovative food and beverage program with its European-style breakfast at AC Kitchen, cocktails, small bites at AC Lounge, and now a new Tulum-inspired rooftop bar, Techo Beso. Techo Beso features a pool, a main bar space for a communal party atmosphere and a raised DJ platform connecting the bar to the pool deck. Techo Beso offers specialty cocktails like SD Smoke, smokey mezcal, gin and pineapple; Purple Paradise, butterfly tea-infused tequila, lime, orange liquor; delicious small bites and stunning views of the Gaslamp Quarter.
WNDR Museum
Everyone is an artist at San Diego’s new immersive art and technology experience. Located in Gaslamp, WNDR Museum provides an interactive experience for all ages. The museum invites the San Diego community to fully engage with local and international artists, collectives, technologists, designers and makers. This one-of-a-kind experience is only available in four cities, with San Diego being the museum’s second location and only one of two on the West Coast. The museum is 15,000 square feet with more than 20 exhibits igniting guests’ senses through breathtaking experiences. Unlike traditional museums, guests are encouraged to interact with the art ensuring that no two guests have the same experience when they enter the museum.
The Invigatorium and J & Tony’s Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse
No venue embodies the offbeat nature of “downtown” quite like The Invigatorium and J & Tony’s Discount Cured Meats and Negroni Warehouse in East Village. This dual purpose all-day hipster clubhouse offers a choose your own adventure of delicious stimulants: Modern Times coffee and beer, top-notch craft cocktails, lots of prosciutto, and a world-class hi-fi stereo system. Immediately upon entry, guests are bombarded with an eye full and the first of many decisions they will have to make during their visit: where to start? To the left they will find the Invigatorium, complete with dinosaur statues dangling from the ceiling and perched atop the espresso bar, a life size Ronald McDonald figurine luring you to sit next to him, and a floor to ceiling Post-it note mosaic depicting yet another prehistoric creature. On the right, just past the giant gold disco ball which cleaves the space in half, lives J & Tony’s Discount Meats and Negroni Warehouse’s intimate 10-seat counter, serving up classic aperitivo-inspired cocktails, salty late night treats and a bona fide old world attitude. Luckily, this eye-catching and bizarre cafe and bar is not an either/or type of establishment—diners are welcome to pull up a seat wherever they like and order unique coffee offerings such as Angostura Oat Cold Brew and cocktails like the TEENY-Tiny-Freak-Tini, pretty much any time of day.
