Top San Diego Happy Hour Spots

Most of us are back to the office now, at least part time, and the week can seem so long. Thankfully, San Diego has a plethora of excellent happy hour spots, and in this post, we share our favorite places to have a drink and appetizers.

Whether you are a fan of cold draft beers, expertly crafted cocktails or are really intrigued by an unusual wine list, we’ve got a spot for you. In our opinion, happy hour isn’t all about the specials (although we do love a good deal). We look for spots that have a cool vibe, great service, and interesting options on their happy hour menu.

Without further ado, here’s our favorite San Diego happy hour spots.

INSIDEOUT

Nestled in the center of 13 luxury apartment towers in the Hillcrest neighborhood, insideOUT is a casual, yet elegant open air restaurant. The main dining room opens out to an urban oasis of tropical plants surrounding a central water feature with an actively running waterfall. A switchback walkway takes you to to an upper level with ample additional seating and fire pits that have a view of the water feature below.

We love this restaurant for so many reasons. They have a fun and reasonably priced wine list and cocktail menu and their culinary game is on point. This past spring Chef Johnny Duran joined the team with a goal to push the envelope and a focus on locally sourced ingredients. Chef Duran has elevated the brands’ Cali-Mediterranean cuisine while preserving their customer’s favorites such as the Arrancini and the Australian Hot Stone Steak.

Sitting in this beautiful oasis as the light of the day fades and turns to night, you might feel like every hour is happy hour here. We sure do!

Their official happy hour drinks menu is available Tuesday-Friday from 4-6pm and features really competitively priced craft cocktails. We’ve tried several of them and absolutely love the Apricot Sour, Tropical Rita, Ruby’s Red Nectar and their jewel colored Gin & Tonic with Empress Gin. More of a wine drinker? No problem! Your choice of 11 different wines by the glass for $6-$7 dollars each and we recommend the Meiomi Pinot Noir and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

KING & QUEEN CANTINA

This Mexican eatery is not only bringing some much needed diversity to the Little Italy Neighborhood of San Diego, they have some of the best happy hour deals in the city. We are also huge fans of the street art aesthetic, bomb Mexican cuisine and the funky fresh music.

You can choose between sangria, buckets of beers, well drinks, or several variations of the margarita. Our personal favorites are the margaritas, which are made from scratch and are served in huge goblets, on the rocks and with a Tajin rim. Our favorites are the cucumber (add a little jalapeño for some zing) and watermelon margaritas.

King & Queen also has a huge and excellent happy hour food menu. You’ve definitely have to try the Chips & Guac, Tinga Taquitos, Pork Belly Bites and the Fish Ceviche. We recommend that you have two orders of the Tinga Taquitos to start, because after you finish the first, you’ll be ordering another one.

The Happy Hour Menu is available Monday-Friday 12-6pm and 9pm-close. Saturday and Sunday 2pm-6pm and 9pm-close.

FYI: happy hour it is not available on holidays or to parties larger than 8 people.

SALVATORE’S CUCINA & LOUNGE

New to the San Diego dining scene, Salvatore’s is quickly turning into a local favorite. This restaurant has actually been in San Diego for over 40 years in this location but was recently purchased by a hospitality management group, redesigned and reopened under the same name but with a whole new menu and feel.

The building its in was already oozing with character when it was updated to have a more modern European feel with Southern California charm. The back of the bar is intricately carved solid wood that looks like it belongs in a church in Rome. It was painted a deep purple and the bar itself was expanded and topped in marble.

Throughout the restaurant are plant walls and accents, as well as neon art pieces that were made to be ideal Instagram photo ops. The restaurant is sleek, new age and classic all at once and they are perfectly poised to usher you out of your work day and into their cocktail lounge in the back of the restaurant, saving you from another night of being elbow to elbow with the masses in the Gaslamp District.

The happy hour menu has a short list of cocktails and a few food items (definitely try the fried olives), but its really all about the wine list. Salvatore’s offers an incredible by the glass wine list and every glass sells for $8 during happy hour, even if the regular by the glass price is $20!

We were really excited to see a few high end wines from the Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico on this list, even though the region is only an hour drive from us it is underrepresented on local wine lists due to stiff import taxes. Thank goodness for Salvatore’s thinking outside of the box.

The happy hour menu is available from 5-6:30pm Monday - Friday.

WESTERLY PUBLIC HOUSE

Located inside of Point Loma’s newest hotel, The Monsaraz, is this surf culture inspired California-Aussie restaurant. The spacious central dining area features a fun, inviting bar crafted from repurposed surfboards and it extends out into the courtyard where you will find plenty of open air seating, tiled fireplaces, couches and even a community table.

Westerly Public House has a sunny cocktail menu inspired by surf culture and long days on the beach. We tried a few of them and here are our recommendations! The ‘Yacht Club Fizz’ is kind of like a tropical twist on the traditional Gin Fizz cocktail, egg white included. The Daisy Mae is crafted from tequila and sparkling wine and is fabulously fruity with fresh passion fruit and grapefruit juices.

Looking for something with a bit more of a kick that is still delightfully balanced? The Westerly Revolver is perfect with bourbon, a splash of coffee liqueur, cinnamon and bitters. Their tasteful beer and wine menus also feature various locally crafted, hand-selected beverages to complement the restaurant’s locally sourced fare.

Happy Hour specials on cocktails, beer and wine are available from 3-6pm Sunday-Friday. Chef Jesse Paul is currently working on a happy hour food menu to be released before the end of the year. We can’t wait to see what the chef comes up with. We sure do hope to see the buttermilk battered enoki mushroom Bloomin’ Shroom appetizer on it!

SPIRO’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE

At the end of Prospect Street, on the outskirts of the hustle and bustle of La Jolla Village, this restaurant is one of our favorite places for a fast casual happy hour.

The La Jolla location is light and airy with decor inspired by the island of Santorini and there is a reason that Spiro’s was chosen by Ranch & Coast magazine as having the best fast casual Greek food in the San Diego area.

We would definitely recommend the mediterranean sampler; it comes with hummus, giagante beans, taboulleh, huge slices of feta, olives, hot pita and an excellent garlic sauce. In addition to plentiful indoor seating, they have a huge outdoor patio section and fire pit where they host live music on Saturdays.

The happy hour menu is available Monday-Friday 3-6pm and features daily food specials, $2 off by the glass wine and $4 draft beers. The draft beers are served in frosty 16 oz mugs and they have a good selection from local craft breweries as well as a few well known national brands.

PHO CA DAO

With seven locations in the San Diego area, the Vietnamese family that owns Pho Ca Dao is obviously doing something right. In addition to traditional Vietnamese fare, the menu also has several fusion dishes and everything we’ve ever had there has been very good. They have delicious Salt & Pepper Wings, Pork & Shrimp Fresh Rolls and we are completely obsessed with the Crab Omlette Soup, which is a traditional Bun Rieu with a soft shelled crab on top.

We are particularly fond of the Mission Valley location that just opened in early 2020. The indoor space is immaculately clean and decorated with asian design elements, but the outdoor space is where we always want to sit. The patio is beautifully constructed from stonework and has a huge fire pit in the center. They’ve done a really good job making it modern but also with touches of traditional asian decor.

The Mission Valley location has a full bar with great happy hour specials available Monday from 3-10pm and Tuesday-Friday 3-6pm. Definitely try the fusion inspired Spicy Mojita Margarita with Tajin and shrimp cracker rim and thank us later!

BORN & RAISED

In San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood lies Consortium Holdings tribute to the great American steakhouse. Born and Raised channels the roaring 20’s with the glittering gold decor of its formal dining room downstairs, as well as boasting a more casual open air rooftop with panoramic views of the neighborhood.

Their happy hour drinks are good, our favorites were a Margarita-esque cocktail with a dash of Pampelmousse and an Aperol Spritz, both for $8. The real star of this happy hour is the food. They have happy hour specials on a variety of menu items from oysters to a Philly Cheesesteak (that is to die for and only $5) to Dirty Tots all fancied up with crème fraiche and smoked trout roe to a Cava and Caviar combo!

Happy hour is from 3:00pm-4:30pm Monday through Friday. We got there at about 3:15 PM and the bar area was already well-seated with people. By 4:30 PM it was completely full! Easy to see why this is a favorite after work spot in the neighborhood.

UNDERSTORY BAR

In addition to having some of the most gorgeous (and delicious) cocktails we have ever tried, this new hot spot boasts one of the sexiest afterwork scene in San Diego.

People don’t come here to get a “special”, and that’s a good thing since Understory has not released an actual menu of happy hour specials yet. They come here because starting right at 4 PM the bar and tables are lined with well-dressed vibrant people, many of them fresh off a day’s work. They come here because the QR codes on the tables make it easy to order from one of the several restaurants and it’s delivered hassle-free to where you are sitting in the Sky Deck food hall. They come here because the beautiful lighting, decor and music set the scene for a fun filled transition into the evening.

We absolutely loved Understory’s cocktail menu. We started with a mezcal, watermelon and pepper drink called the Spring Peeper, and a tequila, turmeric, carrot, lime and bitters creation called Cock on a Rock. For our second round, we went with the Praying Mantis with gin, aloe, cucumber mint, lemon and edible glitter (OMG) and the Van Dam’s Vanga that is made with tequila, Cointreau, activated charcoal and lime.

Four of the restaurants in Sky Deck will deliver right to your table, and our favorite is Crafthouse. We really like the ceviche and spicy tuna dishes.

Treat yourself to a visit to Understory Bar, you deserve it!

SHARE YOUR FAVORITE HAPPY HOUR SPOTS

What is your favorite happy hour spot in San Diego? Share in the comment section below.