Throw On Your Jersey and Head to These Local Bars for Some Playoff Madness
“Beat LA” was a prayer-turned-chant—a chant heard echoing and spreading from Petco Park to Gaslamp bars, to terraces in Little Italy and North County watering holes. The chant reverberated across San Diego county, infecting everyone who heard it with hope and joy. San Diego spent 34 yellow towel-waving minutes asking LA, “Who’s your padre?”
Who wouldn’t want to feel that again? That electricity, that connectivity and that community. For the best chance of a reincarnation of those “feels,” we think you should watch the Padres win where community, excitement and energy are at their peak.
This is our list of the best places to watch the Padres win in San Diego and what to drink when they win!
The Local Eatery & Drinking Hole
What to Order: Peach Templeton Tea $10 (during happy hour)
Ingredients: Templeton Rye, peach liqueur, lemon and passion tea, lemon peel and mint
The Local Eatery & Drinking Hole is everything you want a local watering hole to be with its fantastic pub-style food in larger-than-mouth portions, like their “Big Ass Nachos” and “Pretzel Balls and Beer Cheese.” There are 34 beers on tap, including the Alesmith Pale Ale .394 (Tony Gwynn forever!), a Happy Hour menu (offered Monday-Friday, from 3-6 p.m.) with $10 specialty cocktails and a raucous game day environment. If you’re visiting during a home game, you might be able to hear the roar of the crowd echoing up 4th Avenue while you knock back a Peach Templeton Tea and watch the Padres win another game.
Location: Gaslamp Quarter
The Rabbit Hole
What to Order: Temple Basil Smash $7 (during Padres games)
Ingredients: Templeton Rye, mint-infused syrup, lemon juice and muddled basil
If you want something that feels like home, we suggest you let down that recliner, throw on your Goose Gossage throwback jersey, put your rally cap on and head to this Normal Heights neighborhood staple. The Rabbit Hole hosts trivia nights, live comedy (like the Dodgers’ bullpen) and live music. You can choose from their 25 beers on tap paired with a Pretzel Grande (served with pickled red onions and fondue cheese), but we think something muddled like the Temple Basil Smash would encourage more home runs from our home team. And, for only $7, we have another great reason for the Padres to go all the way!
Location: Normal Heights
Draft
What to Order: Home Run $16
Ingredients: White rum, pimento dram, lime, cinnamon, bitters and mint sprigs
The cheers for Manny might get drowned out by the crashing waves, but you won’t miss a single pitch on one of the largest TVs in captivity. With over 70 beers on tap and hand-crafted American entrees worth drooling over, Draft in Mission Beach should be on everyone’s happy hour bucket list. They have a Padres special, which includes a Dirty Double Dipper Burger and a 14oz draft beer for $22. How can the Pads lose when you’re drinking Home Runs for $16 (just like Terry Kennedy #16)?
Location: Mission Beach
Bootlegger
What to Order: Temple Berry Sour $12
Ingredients: Templeton Rye, amaretto liqueur, fresh lemon juice and blackberry syrup
At Bootlegger, you’re close enough to Petco Park, to the point you might need to bring your glove in case Soto connects with a fastball. During the monumental win over LA last Saturday, this place went absolutely nuts. There are enough TVs where you will never have to twist your neck as you pair a heaping portion of BYO Nachos with a Pacifo Clara cerveza or a Temple Berry Sour chaser (or two). This is definitely a post-game bar where you will want to wear your gear.
Location: East Village
Park 101
What to Order: The Elvis $13
Ingredients: Smoked bacon fat-washed whiskey, peanut butter and banana
There is nothing more American than October baseball, BBQ and Elvis Presley. Park 101 has all of these elements plus roaring fire pits, twinkling cafe lights and some die-hard North County faithful. We think a loaded baked potato, surf n’ turf fries and The Elvis is the perfect combo for game day as you stress eat between innings. As a bonus, every time a Padre hits a home run, you can proudly say, “Elvis has left the building!”
Location: Carlsbad
American Junkie
What to Order: Not So Old Fashioned $13
Ingredients: Templeton Rye 4 Year, Amaro Montenegro, Bénédictine and Bitters
We all know that things might get wild here a little later, so we recommend eating light and keeping it classy, San Diego. American Junkie has cauliflower bites with orange honey spicy sauce and a vegetable hand-tossed pizza. The Not So Old Fashioned might have you paraphrasing Ron Burgundy when you say, “Rye, Rye, Rye. Here it goes. Down into my belly.” This is a great place to watch the game and root as loud as you want, but you might be chasing the sun home if you don’t leave as soon as the game is over.
Location: Gaslamp Quarter
Bub’s @ The Ballpark
What to Order: Templeton Cobbler $13
Ingredients: Templeton Rye, peach liquor, bitters, lime juice, Fever Tree ginger beer and cinnamon
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Last on our list but not in our hearts is Bub’s @ The Ballpark. It is by far the closest place to Petco on our list—a true sports bar that feels like an extension of left field. You can throw your peanut shells on the floor and settle elbow to elbow at the bar guaranteeing the people on either side of you have Padres jerseys on also. You must order the home run of tots! Crispy tots smothered in homemade chili and cheese with grilled onions and sliced hot dog. Wash it down with a Templeton Cobbler, and the only thing leaving Bub’s bitter will be your empty glass and the other team’s fans.
Location: Gaslamp Quarter
Erik Hale is the visionary and publisher behind LOCALE Magazine. He launched the magazine in 2010, wanting to give the community of OC a premiere lifestyle magazine that knew all the native knowledge behind OC. “Six years ago Ashley and I sat at a table scratching the name LOCALE (among some other names) onto a sheet of paper,” says Erik, “coming up with story ideas and basically dreaming. Everything we imagined has happened and we have been blessed with so much more. I am so grateful as we start another year for my family, my two wonderful children, my health, our amazing writers, designers and photographers, our advertising partners and you.”
