South Park Bar & Grill

We ordered food and got burned!
Nothing in the menu warned us that the ribs were hot. That’s ok for me but not for my sweetie that is sensitive to spicy hot food, it ruined her dining experience.
Abbey, make your menu clear. Diners, beware if you are sensitive to hot food. Oh did I mention there was no server when we visited? I ordered at the bar and they took care of reasonably well other than the heat.
They need to improve, and in the meantime there are better places to go…

(1-​star because the restaurant closed)
Sadly, this restaurant no longer exists. New owner, new menu, new focus on ‘new American’ pub fare and brews and per the calendar, fewer jazz and blues nights. I’ll try the new South Park Abbey next time I’m looking to test out another $ 9 burger!!!

Great service, actually impressive. Food is in good portions and tastes well. Family environment as well… great music, plenty parking across the street. Intersection requires a bit more care when crossing by foot due to turn…

Wow! REALLY loud here on a late Friday night (post-​10pm)!
Unique atmosphere — there was everything from us (late 20’s) to random bar band groupies, to a 50-​ish couple on their 1^st date.
Our waitress was awesome, considering it was the end of her shift, and it was SO loud in there (name???) We all felt like burgers, thus the choice in establishment, but fyi: kitchen closes before 10pm — no!!! But, she swiftly ran back to the kitchen, asked them if they wouldn’t mind helping us hungry folks out, and we immediately put in our orders — yes!
Burgers. Were. Amazing. Seriously. Perfectly juicy, great toppings, fabulous sweet potato fries and LOTS of them — all this for $ 9 + $ 5 30^th St Pale Ale. And you can swap your burger for a chicken breast if you’re feelin’ guilty. Fabulous!
Music was rather scary, but to be honest, we didn’t come for it (sorry!). The place only had about 4 tables of ppl there, which surprised us for a Friday evening, but we don’t get out late much, so maybe we just aren’t cool enough :-)
Oh, and FYI: I heard the table behind us mention
— they are now under new ownership, and though the certificate is still available online, they will not honor it. Manager was incredibly polite in explaining all this, and purchased a dessert for them, but save everyone the hassle skip
for here.
Lasting impression — can’t wait to come back for their amazing burgers!

SP Bar & Grill is under new ownership. Seems as though the entire staff is new as well. The service was quick and friendly (very much appreciated seeing that the place was packed!)
Although the menu has been changed, it still has some of the same items. I ordered a burger with Maytag Blue Cheese, tomatoes and caramelized onions (the burger section on the menu allows you to build your own burger.) It was a great burger; nice sized juicy patty cooked exactly how I ordered it — medium rare (so many restaurants mess that up.) Their sweet potato fries were nicely salted and crispy. The Field Greens salad I ordered was superb. It was served with a vinagrette that had a touch of fresh mint in it — delightful!
The only issue I have is the price (or size) of the salads. I’m not sure how big the other two salads on the menu are (and I hope more salads will be added in the future) but the Field Greens salad is way too small. A 12 buck salad should be large enough to eat alone as a meal — this salad was side salad size at best. A few more greens would go a long way!

The burgers here are to die for!!!
The place lacks ambiance though and the chairs aren’t the most comfortable. If you want a kick-​a%$ burger though, this is THE place. In my opinion they put Rocky’s and Hoe Dad’s to shame.
Also, if you can get to a Trivia night — held on random Sundays, those are fun events.

Tried this place out for Trivia last Sunday night. Looks like they’re just getting it started up, but the questions were fairly good. Host isn’t as experienced as other trivia people, but it was one of the more «academic» trivia nights out there, if a bit overlong at 6 (!) rounds.
I guess the secret to this place is to go between 5 and 6 PM because that’s when they actually sell food at semi-​reasonable prices. $ 4 off the entrees, $ 3 drafts, and $ 2 off each burger/​sandwich. I’m very glad they hold this promotion (and other daily ones, like ½ price wine bottles on Sunday) because otherwise this would be the greatest rip-​off since my last oil change.
The food was fairly good, though nothing to write home about. The idea of «stringy» fries got me expecting something like Arby’s delicious curly fries, but for South Park Bar and Grill that apparently means just a bunch of Burger King clone fires. Ugh. At least they pile ‘em on into a great heaping helping of fried greasy goodness. Burger was decent, though the bread kind of fell apart and tasted a bit dry. Large portions at least; friend who got the chicken club could barely finish one half. Service was painfully slow and got a few things wrong, but it looks like they were simply understaffed.
Overall, I might go back, but I’m not rip-​roaring excited about it.

Great Happy Hour on Mondays. Decent food, quiet atmosphere. Very cool vibe when they have the jazz band or local guitarists. Not a great place for business dinners. Great for going out if your friends like to not talk, but a product of the the quieter neighborhood.

I hate to do this. I went last night with my mom for her birthday, and she ordered the Ahi which is her favorite dish at the place (she goes all the time). The food has definitely slipped. The chopped green veggie garnish that comes on top of the ahi pieces (the fish was great) was simply rotten. It was slimy and smelled horrible. She had to instantly spit out her food into the napkin. We told the waitress, who thanked us for «letting them know» and walked away. She didn’t take the plate away or even take the huge chunk of rotten vegetables off. We continued sitting there trying to pretend the smell and look of a huge chunk of spoiled veggies weren’t ruining the dinner and awkwardly poked around it to get the fish underneath. Our bill wasn’t adjusted in any way. I LOVE this place and probably will continue come back, but only for the music.
Music — FIVE STARS
Food — 0

Work just moved to this area and we now go to this place every Monday for their half price entrees! The service is friendly and the food is very high quality! The atmosphere is very cozy!
They fill up fast on Saturday nights for live Blues so make sure you make reservations!

I love going to the South Park Bar & Grill for ½ off Monday’s.
½ off on all entrees means I can get a satisfying steak dinner for about $ 8!
Then there’s the salmon, or the meatloaf, or chicken chipotle linguine… it’s all good.
But when it goes to regular prices, it’s not as satisfying.
They do have other specials, like bbq rib night, or burger and beer night. Overall this restaurant is decent and worth a try. The employees are generally nice too. Service may take a bit of extra time once in a while, and there is live jazz on some nights (especially on the weekends).

Dear South Park Bar and Grill,
My intestines are still killing me from last night’s «chicken grizzle» that was supposed to be Chicken breast. I don’t know why but the quality of the food has gone down hill even MORE since the last time I ate here.
Please hire Chefs who are talented and who have passion for what they do. I LOVE this place for music and cool drinks also for the nice neighborhood vibe that you all bring to South Park but come on. The food, menu and the kitchen staff need revamping.
I want to come back more often however, until the cuisine improves, I think I am done eating here for good. I like everyone else work hard for my money and I don’t like throwing it away on bad food that gives me the runs in the morning during my workout.

1. The food is not very good at all. I had an Overcooked, underseasoned pork loin, also comes with a pretty nasty side dish (Sweet potato hash) The chicken cordon blue was edible at best. I ordered a gin fizz. I asked first to make sure they knew how to make it and were able to. They said they were. However, the drink they brought back was a gin and probably some soda water and a lemon. «Here’s your gin fizz» I’m pretty sure the server knew it was not what it was supposed to be, as I did not drink the rest of it and passed it on to my girlfriend.
Other than that, no complaints really. I will probably never go back there. Although, it wouldn’t be a bad place to go just to drink and listen to some live blues.

The service is friendly (although a bit on the slow side), the live jazz music is cool, and the intimate half-​bar half-​restaurant atmosphere with candles on the tables is nice. However, the food here is just so mediocre it hurts.
The main complaint our hero had with South Park Bar and Grill was their food. Their $ 13 Mexican style burger topped with cheese, fried onions, bacon, and jalapeño poppers was good, but too heavy in the middle. The buns, especially the one on the bottom, got heavily smooshed by our hero’s hands when trying to manhandle the beast of a burger. Do they expect patrons to eat their burgers with a fork and knife? If not, the buns really don’t hold up.
This place has so much potential to be a 4 star restaurant if they just cleaned up their menu and focused a bit more on quality rather than quantity of food. Get thicker buns for the burgers or at least toast the buns so they have more structural rigidity. Cut your own fries instead of throwing previously frozen fries onto the plate, such that our hero’s dining companion wont liken them to the fries served at a high school cafeteria. Put some more chicken and spices into the linguine.
Alas, our hero would like to like you given how cool of a neighborhood hang out you are… but based on the food he ate, he just can’t.
PROS:
— Huge portions. The burger and fries were too much for our hero, and the linguine is enough for lunch the next day as well.
— Cool live jazz.
CONS:
— There’s often a bit of a wait at the front door to get a seat because there is no dedicated host/​hostess that seats visitors.
— Quality of food is not very good.

This was my first time in the South Park area and I was attending a friend’s performance for the venue’s weekly open mic event. I hadn’t had dinner yet and was starving so I needed a bite to eat to keep me going for the rest of the evening.
They had a pretty limited selection of food for the open mic event so I went with the burger topped with blue cheese. Served with cardboard fries, the sandwich was pretty bland and lacked a lot of sophistication despite being served with a slice of heirloom tomato. I also ordered a snakebite to compliment my burger which helped, but wasn’t able to save the ship.
While the venue and music were pretty hip, the food was really disappointing. Service was very good though and our waitress made sure everything was taken care of all evening long. However, if I was just cruising around the area in search of food, this would definitely not be my first stop. Hopefully there are some other good restaurants in the area, but this first impression was not very good.
Food: ⁵⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀

Great jazz/​blues musician hang out and hear some local talent. If you are musician, you gotta hit this place and support local talent. I absolutely love this place. John Kopecky the owner plays the !@#$ of a guitar. We’re lucky to have such great «local» talent.
WED — open mic, THURS — local jazz jam with JayJay Lim, Fri — Usually Kopecky Trio
The food is great. One of San Diego’s best burger in my opinion. The meatloaf is another favorite of mines. The Ahi Tuna Poke is great — wife likes the crab cakes. Take it from a Texan — this place has good food. I’m not sure where these bad food reviews are coming from.
Service? Okay, some have a point about that one slow waitress. But, in her defense, she’s usually THE ONE to come an take care of you so why complain about her being slow – maybe she’s busy? Anyway, go for the music experience first. Full bar… so stop whining about the Zagat rating of this place and enjoy yourself – or go somewhere else for the perfect night out.

Smooth and jazzy. Just the way I like it.
A nice compliment to the rest of southpark. This classy joint doesn’t come off as stuffy or pretentious. Some good beers on tap, some wonderful menu items, albeit a little pricey for locals, but a nice break from the ordinary any way you slice it. Shorts and sandals, to high heels and dresses (not that i cross dress or anything… wait this just got awkward)
Perfect for a hot summer nights escape from your tiny non air conditioned bungalow.
The fried calamari with chipotle-​cocktail sauce is saucalicious. How is it that chipotle makes everything taste better?

Again, another business that is a victim of my lack of time to check it out.
The appealing live music and late night hours enticed me to stop driving and admire all that SPBG had to offer.
The atmosphere inside was very classy. Romantic but not cheesy.
The hostess was nice but the service was a bit slow. I assume the slower service to be linked to their jazz night focus instead of the hungry patrons. Slow service usually bothers me but the entertainment was an excellent distraction.
The burgers were deeeeeeeeellllicious and large but not too large for a lady. Always a good thing.
Definitely a nice date spot for anyone who loves food or music.
Nothing like adding some musical culture to San Diego!

Alright, here’s the deal. I am an avid disc golfer. Frolfer, if you will. Whilst frolfing, however, I always end up drinking no less than 800 Coors Light cold activated cans. So, with a nice buzz, misplaced sense of accomplishment, and the occasional disc injury (you’re supposed to yell fore beFORE it hits me, thanks), we usually end up heading to the nearby South Park Bar & Grill for some MORE beer and grubbage.
Now, I won’t rant and rave about this joint because to be quite honest, the entrees are nothing to write home about. Most of them have taste less than or equal to styrofoam peanuts. However, the wings are pretty damn tasty, and I may or may not have eaten 36 in one sitting. We usually come for happy hour (which is literally ONE hour), with 50 cent wings and beer specials and often a super cool jazz band playing in the corner, which makes me feel classy, classy, classy. One time the owner played guitar and he was great.
SPB&G is a fun place to hang with friends that isn’t a dirty shady dive bar, and they have ½ priced entrees monday nights, but like I said, your choices range from cement flavored seared ahi to a delightful popcorn ceiling textured baked pasta.
I gotta give this place credit though, cause they somehow don’t kick us out despite our tendency to switch from discussion about bass guitars to venereal diseases.
It’s worth a try.

My go-​to date night restaurant.
Unpretentious food, great service and a chill vibe… all good elements in my book! I could go on and on about my favorite food on the menu, but what stands out the most is the Chipotle Chicken Linguine. The entrée is pretty pricey ($ 15), but the portion is enough to feed you AND your date for dinner (and lunch the next day)! It has the perfect amount of spice, and they don’t skimp on the chicken. And if you make it between 5−6pm for happy hour, you get $ 4 off your entrée.
And make sure you ask for the pesto bread! They don’t offer it on the menu or ask if you would like some, but when you ask for it they happily make it fresh for you. Trust me, it’s worth the extra 10 minutes.