Guy's Weekend in Sunny San Diego

June 30, 2009 11:08 AM

San Diego Shenanigans: My girlfriend is going to a bachlorette party in Vegas and I'm not about to sit home. So I'm taking a group of guys down to San Diego for a dude's weekend 9/11-13. I've been there many times but never for a full weekend. What should we not miss seeing/doing/consuming?

I'm planning on Pizza Port in Solana Beach for pizza and beer, a tour of Stone Brewery and a possible poker session at a local card house. What else will make this an unforgettable weekend? We are most likely staying in the Gaslamp but can travel out by car or public trans. Please feel free to include any stereotypical guy sights and adventure.

posted by ieatwords to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

Well, there's always Tijuana...
posted by booknerd at 11:13 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

I did a guys' weekend in SD a few years ago in grad school. We went to Tijuana mostly because we thought it was required for a group of guys to do. I'm sure you'll read stories in this thread about how fun it is, but I can't argue hard enough against it. The place was skeeved out at night, with high school or underaged college kids getting obscenely drunk and goofy. Cab drivers and bar wranglers were making solicitations at every turn. Two police officers "checked the ID" of a buddy and then decided that he couldn't have it back unless he gave them $20. It was not fun; we felt like one of us should remain sober for the night just in case negotiation or assistance to get back over the border and to the hotel was required. Given the general tenor of the border towns these days you may have already decided not to go, but if you have not yet decided then decide now not to go.

The most fun I remember having was getting Del Taco one morning (great morning food after drinking all night, Rubio's is another must) and going to Balboa Park to toss around a frisbee and football. The weather was gorgeous, Balboa is expansive and pretty, and it was fun to just play ball with friends. Another great time was a morning at Torey Pines Beach and State Park; that was before they banned alcohol at the beach but it is so pretty that it would still be worth it to eat lunch on the beach and hike around.
posted by AgentRocket at 11:29 AM on June 30

Balboa park is really close to downtown and has a lot of museums and a bunch of trails. Donovan's Steakhouse is a really good steakhouse downtown, but there's also The Cowboy Star which I like more because it's less casual. Petco Park is downtown and the Padres are in town so you can see a baseball game if that's your thing. There's also the USS Midway and the Maritime museum a short walk from downtown. On Coronado there's also the Hotel Del which is a good place to stop for a drink and stare that the ocean. The beach there is really nice and isn't overly crowded.

For a casual meal with a bunch of beer on tap Neighborhood is great. They have a lot of local beers on tap so you can try a bunch of SD breweries in one place.

I'd skip TJ if you're over 21 since the only reason to go there is to get your underage drink on.

I don't usually do the rooftop bars, but if that's your scene, check out the bars at the Hard Rock or the Ivy.

If you want to get out of San Diego, the Temecula wineries are about 30 minutes away and most of them have pretty inexpensive tastings. Tours are pretty easy to find and fairly inexpensive, but my friends and I usually rent a limo for the afternoon since that way you're not really part of a herd.
posted by mikesch at 11:45 AM on June 30 [1 favorite]

You do know that Stone and Pizza Port are 30+ minutes from downtown by car, right? Pizza Port is right near the train station, but Stone is not quite as convenient to get to via public transport, but it's probably doable with a bus transfer. Alesmith is another local brewery that's slightly closer to downtown (still north) and less well known than Stone, probably because it's almost hidden in an industrial/business park.

PB sounds like your crowd if you're coming here for poker and beer, so spend a few hours walking down Garnet, stop at the sports bars, hang out on the beach.

Baseball fans? Try to catch a game at Petco, it's a cool place even if you're only lukewarm on the game.

Please do not think that all Mexican food is equal in this city. We have the real deal if you look (try Yelp), but if you just want the greasiest burrito you've ever had after a day of drinking, try any Cotixan or Robertos.

Balboa Park is an excellent place to bum around and relax, and there are cool museums there if that interests you.
posted by slow graffiti at 11:54 AM on June 30

Please don't get del taco! Get real mexican food, not from a chain restaurant. There are tons of taco stands in the city. There's a great bar/seafood taco shop in OB, called south beach tacos I think. The rest of OB is blah, though. I'm a big fan of Jeff's Burgers on avenida de la playa in la jolla (also my fav beaches, except maybe coronado). The mission (breakfast) is getting too popular for its own good, but the one downtown by the ballpark is still pretty great. I would recommend sticking to the gaslamp area for bars, there's plenty of options whatever your style. Balboa is a nice place to chill for an afternoon if you get tired of the beach, and for gambling, viejas casino is just outside of town. If you're thrill-seekers, you can go paragliding or hang-gliding off the cliffs at torrey pines; I would also recommend a booze cruise or deep-sea fishing if you can swing it money-wise.
posted by Chris4d at 11:54 AM on June 30

Mariscos German for the best fish tacos.
posted by subtle-t at 1:52 PM on June 30

Hodads for burgers & beers. Do this in the afternoon/early evening, after spending the day in Pacific Beach or Mission Beach.

Mission Beach. If you're not a regular beach person, surf Tourmaline Surf Park. Rent a board (get a bz dolphin or somesuch) and have fun. Just be smart & don't drink booze before you go in the water.

Tijuana for food & beers in the afternoon is good, too. Get a cab driver to take you somewhere. Good for going to clubs, too. Even in during the day.

If you can duck away for a day trip, go to Rosarito. Papas & Beer might seem like a cliche, but unless you've been there, you'll never know. Play beach volleyball. And stop for some real fish tacos on your way down.

E Street Alley is a great place to start in the Gaslamp for clubbing & drinks, then just follow the crowds. Different nights are hot at different clubs. Blue Tattoo is legendary. Might be too much for a first-timer. Cafe Sevilla is smoking hot and slightly upscale. No place better if you like Latin music.

If bar crawling is more your speed, try PB or Mission Beach for that, too. Just be careful - the locals are not really as laid back as they appear when they're drunk. It's real easy to talk your way into a bad situation and there's never any shortage of folks ready to throw down just because. There's never a shortage of tourists who need to be taught lessons in what to do in Rome, in their estimation.

A lot of times you can check into a Texas Hold-Em tourney at Viejas. Or just play the tables.

For strip clubs, go to the midway district near the sports arena - it's right near MCRD and has a long history.

I never have enough time when I go to San Diego.
posted by valentinepig at 1:58 PM on June 30

Plenty of people have said it already but no - no Del Taco or Rubio's. That'd be like going to an Olive Garden on a trip to Italy. Don't worry about how skeezy that random taco stand looks -- the skeezier it is, the better it tastes. My taco stand of choice is Cotixan's, but others I've heard people swear by are Cotija's, Aliberto's, and Roberto's. They're still chains, but they're local chains.

I'd skip TJ too. There's plenty of fun to be had in the area without going there.

There are a ton of local breweries here, so you could do a bus tour of a bunch of them. A bunch of my guy friends just did that for a bachelor's party and had a blast.

You could do some hangliding or paragliding at the Torrey Pines Glider Port (near UCSD). You can kayak to the La Jolla sea caves. September is past the peak (and maybe a little cold) for snorkelling with the leopard sharks, but you could give it a try. Or just snorkel in the kelp beds at La Jolla cove (just south of the caves, in fact).
posted by natabat at 2:05 PM on June 30

If you are down for beer, you have to go to Hamilton's Tavern!
posted by fillsthepews at 2:11 PM on June 30

There's a great bar/seafood taco shop in OB, called south beach tacos I think.

South Beach Bar and Grill. Down the street from Hodad's (mentioned above), by the water. Fantastic fish tacos. This or Hodad's are good choices, depending on your preference--though I'd pick the fish tacos almost every time, particularly if I were living in a Mexican-food-challenged environment.

Heck, you can check out the sights at the beach; seems like a good guy thing to do!
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 2:15 PM on June 30

If bar crawling is more your speed, try PB or Mission Beach for that, too. Just be careful - the locals are not really as laid back as they appear when they're drunk.

For the most part, those guys aren't locals. They're either tourists, military, or kids in town for college.
posted by LionIndex at 8:18 PM on June 30

Hash House A Go Go, especially for hungover breakfast.
posted by troywestfield at 7:44 AM on July 1

just keep in mind that the wait for hash house breakfast is usually hours :)
posted by fillsthepews at 10:22 AM on July 1

Seconding PB, try to check out the WaveHouse, or just bar-hop along the beach.

No TJ.
posted by brynna at 1:06 PM on July 2

From a local, newly re-exploring the city: Go to OB. The culture there is very "So Cal Beach" - and I think it summarizes nicely how the surfer culture has evolved from the Venice Beach stereotype. Black's is awesome, and Hodad's has a long line out front every day for a reason. South Beach Bar and Grill is famous for it's cheap, delicious tacos. There's a hostel there where you can always find some Europeans smoking on the porch, and I've had some good chats with them.

Try the Oxygen Bar in Downtown. Kayak in La Jolla - totally worth it, and you can see all kinds of amazing things in the clear waters. I second Hamilton's Tavern. Encinitas has some really cool stuff too, if a bit 30's in age, and isn't usually swarmed by tourists. The Hat Shop in Hillcrest if you want some great quality or crazy hats.

Go to a concert at Soma. It's amazingly well suited for concerts, and you'll find some great bands for cheap.

Only go to TJ if you really like being blackmailed/extorted. Otherwise, it's just a dirt-hole for high schoolers to get drunk.
posted by veritas at 11:48 AM on July 22