Cocktails in San Diego?

[kvltrede]

Anyone have a favorite place to get a cocktail in San Diego? The galfriend and I will be there over the upcoming weekend. Doesn't have to be a place with a lot of fancy house-invented drinks. Well-made classics are more than fine.

We're staying at the Hyatt on Market Place. Nearby would be a bonus but it isn't necessary.

Thanks.

Kurt

[Toliver]

Anyone have a favorite place to get a cocktail in San Diego?  The galfriend and I will be there over the upcoming weekend.  Doesn't have to be a place with a lot of fancy house-invented drinks.  Well-made classics are more than fine.

We're staying at the Hyatt on Market Place.  Nearby would be a bonus but it isn't necessary.

Thanks.

Kurt

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If you're staying at the Hyatt I think you'll be at, they have a top-floor bar (in the right tower in the picture at the above link) with a fantastic view. The service can be very iffy at times especially if there's a crowd (like there is normally on weekends) but the view is spectacular.

If you like jazz, you can check out Croce's in the Gaslamp District up the street (5th) from the hotel. The small bar in their corner restaurant usually has a nice jazz combo playing. Check the web site for a line-up.

The last time I was at Blue Point in the Gaslamp, there was a nice floor-to-ceiling aquarium separating the bar area from the restaurant (don't know if they still have it).

There are a lot of restaurants/bars in the Gaslamp, everything from Irish pubs to beer joints. You should try also posting your query in the California forum. You may get more responses there.

[kvltrede]

Anyone have a favorite place to get a cocktail in San Diego?....We're staying at the Hyatt on Market Place.  Nearby would be a bonus but it isn't necessary.....

If you're staying at the Hyatt I think you'll be at, they have a top-floor bar (in the right tower in the picture at the above link) with a fantastic view. The service can be very iffy at times especially if there's a crowd (like there is normally on weekends) but the view is spectacular....

...The last time I was at Blue Point in the Gaslamp, there was a nice floor-to-ceiling aquarium separating the bar area from the restaurant (don't know if they still have it)....

That's the Hyatt all right. As a life-long midwesterner I'm a sucker for a nice view of the ocean so I'm sure we'll hit their Top of the Hyatt lounge.

I'm also a fan of big fish tanks so I'd like to stop in for a look at the Blue Point. The menu there looked good too but the galfriend isn't particularly food-centric so I doubt we'll eat there. Not to mention that we'll have to budget somewhere so skipping big $$$ meals is one way to do it. Nothing like flying halfway across the country to attend the wedding of someone I've never met... Oh, well, the bride's a lifelong friend of the galfriend and I suppose it's true enough that you can't take it with you.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Kurt

[lancastermike]

We were in san diego a couple of weeks ago and went to the top of the hyatt for a drink. Wonderful views. Terrible service, and lousy drinks. If the Hyatt is going to use that real valuable piece of their hotel for a bar, I would hope they would also spend some time in making it something special.

My other comment about San Diego drinks, we were in a bunch of places during the week and i could not find one that had a bottle of rye in the bar. Perhaps rye is an east coast thing.

[kvltrede]

We were in san diego a couple of weeks ago and went to the top of the hyatt for a drink. Wonderful views. Terrible service, and lousy drinks.  If the Hyatt is going to use that real valuable piece of their hotel for a bar, I would hope they would also spend some time in making it something special....

Word.

Didn't end up with much time for cocktails but we did hit the Top of the Hyatt and had a similar experience. Despite the room being modest in size (and the crowd being equally modest) neither of the two cocktail servers came anywhere near our table for the 45 or so minutes we were there. When I ordered at the bar I didn't hear much enthusiasm from the bartender on topic of cocktails so I didn't bother pursuing it and instead ordered a Glenmorangie neat and the galfriend's Stoli Raspberry and 7-Up. There wasn't enough scotch left in the bottle for my drink and there wasn't a back-up bottle so I switched my order to GlenKinchie instead. I can't complain about the pour as it made up for what I otherwise would have thought to be at least a couple bucks overpriced and I can't complain about the views but the Top of the Hyatt is certainly underwhelming. Considering all the swank this Hyatt has in spades I would have expected an equally classy and service-oriented cocktail lounge.

Kurt