Zombie Lounge

I know the ZL is closed. I said it was not for me in my original review. I think I miss the dark dingy place.

There’s an old Rocket From the Crypt song called Normal Carpet Ride, and I just noticed that the Zombie Lounge was in Normal Heights. I used to go to this place around 2000-​01, when it was owned by the same guy who ran a place called the Crow Bar on Kettner. The Zombie Lounge was a little bit more stylish, didn’t have live music, and was on the same stretch of El Cajon Blvd that a lot of my friends were always headed out to in the first place.
The owner hired my roommate as a DJ for a short spell, and he’d make him wear a fake moustache, sunglasses and a trucker hat, and called him DJ Double-​Wide. Then he’d invite all the patrons to hurl abuse at him while he spun Garage, Punk and Mod records. It was glorious fun.
I’m not too sure if the place has any of that old magic left in it these days.
*Note — apparently the Zombie Lounge closed down a while ago, so I guess that means the magic is all gone.

My friends loved this place, I am a bit indifferent. I have had some really fun times there, but never felt quite punk enough. Cheap drinks, good laughs with friends but not a place I would be at four times a week like most of my friends.

Adiós Zombie Lounge
This was always a real fun bar for me when I lived in City Heights and they throw some good shows here but sometimes they try and charge a cover. At a venue like this (rock and roll mostly) there should never be a cover… the floors are sticky and the bathrooms are disgusting and they serve tall boys of PBR (but who doesn’t these days). They book a fair mix of local bands as well as touring acts. I recommend checking out this place if you are in the area and they are not charging a cover at the door. Otherwise you could probably skip it over unless there is some band that you just have to see.

Hot Bartenders.
No real zombies = no mad killing sprees or shotgun blast to the head = safe establishment.
I loved this place when it was open. Awesome music and awesome people. Haven’t been there since it changed, but I hope to visit sometime soon.

just fyi the last day zombie lounge is going to be in existence is the 30^th? the guy from kadan bought the zombie.
the times they are a’changin!

Eric’s old band used to play here all the time. No surprise since the drummer is one of the bartenders (hi Sicky!). I’ve seen plenty of other bands there, and have always had a blast.
I’m not a hipster or a scenester or a punk or an… anything really. But I’ve never had attitude thrown my way at all. Everyone’s always been really nice to me.
True story, though: I went to one of Eric’s shows. I had to park a few blocks down and walk to the bar. As I’m walking (by myself, mind you), a car is driving by, slows down, makes a right and pulls over on the next block. And waits. And waits. The driver keeps looking at me. I walk by. QUICKLY. Apparently, the driver thought I was a hooker! I wasn’t even dressed outrageously — I mean, I was going to the Zombie Lounge — so it’s not like I was all hooched out or anything. Just throwing that out there as a word to the wise.

I think the concept for this bar is awesome. How often is it that you find a bar that is based on horror films? While I was there they had Porkies playing, and then Gremlins. Sweetness!
Otherwise it was your typical dive, with a stage for local bands in the back, and not so great acoustics. Saw the band Marasol, and it was their first show… they were a lot of fun and had a great sound (insert shameless plug here).
I was here on a weeknight, so it was pretty dead, which was nice for a mid-​week outing in my opinion. I’d like to see what this place is like on a weekend. I’d definitely recommend it to a dive bar /​horror film fan.

Review for a tuesday night:
–1 star for bartender refusing happy hour prices at 10:57
+1 star for some good reggae tunes
–1 star for cougar that ate my friend and kept us out an extra 40 mins
+½ a star for free pool, would be a full star but there is no rack
+½ a star for decent drinks
–1 giant star for getting a tampon (not used at least) thrown at my leg by a hipster. Honestly, who throws a tampon.

«Smells like Piss» (title of this review)
ode to my dive bar.
once in a while, when the night is right
the bands are playing good tunes,
its all so tight
the beer is flowing like a strawberry river
that by the time you break the chain,
your pee is flowing just the same.
two bath rooms both unisex
one is always locked because someone is having sex.
the other is unlocked,
but with that stale smell piss
the they alley way is similar in the bliss
of not waiting in line.
While i only go once in a while
the Tall cans of PBR will always be awiting
my arrival.
I love you zombie
i cant deny
that sometimes i cry,
missing the smell of piss
that when i pass by
i wish for your doors to open
and welcome me.

ALWAYS a good time at the Zombie! except when drunk emo kids try pit in the middle of the crowd and drench innocent victims with alcohol… lames.
Oh and don’t park behind the dentist office or whatever it is now (the parking lot next door) They WILL tow! The tow truck driver kicks it around the corner and waits for unsuspecting law breakers to leave thier vehicle and then BAM he moves in for the kill and next thing you know you’re forking over $ 300 to get you car out of the lot in Spring Valley! Beleive me… I been there, Done that…
But other than that, They usually have great bands and DJ’s…

I like this place. Good pours, good prices, nice folks. Psychobilly people are always so earnest. They really base their whole lives around this formula that my dad gave up on in the 60s. Whatever though, that’s their thing if you don’t like it go down 2 blocks to chasers. THAT place is creepy.

Somehow whenever I walk into this place, I never leave until last call. I’m not really into the (too) loud music that of the bands that are predominately booked there, but I can amuse myself by watching whatever they are screening (last Friday it was «Rules of Attraction» — surprisingly good) and by bellying up to the bar for the strong, cheap drinks.
Bathrooms are sketchy and are not for those who are easily skeeved. Kind of a rougher crowd on the weekends as well.

Total shite venue, some what redeemed by occasional good shows and the fact that justin pearson from the locust works the door on the weekends (his g-​friend is a bartender), sound is terrible, shows start late etc etc. Drinks are strong and cheap but generally not worth it.
Not into it. I very, very rarely will go to shows here.

The Zombie lounge has it all:
–perfectly manicured chopper sideburns.
–people sucking down Pabst and trying to pretend that they actually like it.
–social distortion on the jukebox (plays on the 3’s and 6’s of every hour)
–trenchcoats
–black finger nails
But, I do admit, I have had good times here. So, hipsters be damned.

It looks shady.
It is shady.
DUH. I go there. When I’m in San Diego. And in the company of other shadesters.
Creepy men will come up to you. Or stare at you all night long.
And you drink more, thinking they’ll go away.
BUt they don’t.
Then your friends rescue you.

It takes a lot more than Bettie Page bangs and a sneer to intimidate me, so the general theme of the Zombie crowd didn’t make much of an impression on me.
I’ve only been here once. A buddy from Long Beach had called my man a few hours earlier, informing us that one of the best live bands he’d seen in ages was in town that night and he was on his way down to make sure we went. Who are we to turn down a rockin’ Blues show?
We were pretty satisfied with what we found: PBR on tap, plus plenty of quality beer and booze to sample at our leisure. The place is small, which is fine, and dark, which is also fine. The staff and much of the clientele are pretty committed to their images, but only the college girls will give you attitude about yours. The sound isn’t great, but it isn’t the worst. If you’re smart enough to pack earplugs (spend the money, get good ones and keep them with you – it’s worth it) it cuts the pure LOUDness and actually helps the overall sound. And that’s not a dig at the bands playing.
We’ve had plans to return since that first visit, but so far they keep falling through. I think I would have really loved this place about 5 years ago (and I’m adding a star for that nostalgia factor), but now it doesn’t quite have enough pull on its own to get me in the door. But I’ll be back next time there’s a band there I want to see.

I like punks. My first impression of the Zombie Lounge was walking in and seeing what looked like a child being tossed around like a shoe in a dryer by what looked like the Lost Boys (Kiefer Sutherland’s, not Peter Pan’s). It turned out to be the singer of a rockabilly punk band «working» the crowd during her performance, but I will never forget the combination of distress and delight I felt when I thought the Zombie Lounge was a hangout for 12-​year-​old girls and vampires. I mean, that is like Really punk.
AV

Rockabilly kids mixed with punk rock kids and stringy-​haired hipsters – the crowd is somewhat unbearable. But it’s the size of the Zombie Lounge that really blows. It’s so small and it gets so crowded; it’s like being in an elevator, only the music is live and it’s a local band that kinda sucks.

The Zombie Lounge’s turquoise and red rockabilly interior ignites with artistic authenticity and registers as San Diego’s example of slick and cool garage style. Before they booked bands on a nightly basis the bar hosted punk rock trunk shows, sexy games of pool over cheap drinks and your neighborhood rockstar playing the midweek dj role. Though I love the owner and most of the locals, the Lounge has turned a bit more hard core since the onset.
The venue doesn’t have the same bands that you’d find spread all over town but lacks the quintessence of The Tower Bar. Like most, the intensity thickens as the night drums on so pick your time to visit depending on how rock n roll you’re feeling at the moment.
Fondest memory: Convincing Publisher Kevin Hellman to host CityBeat’s Locals Only show here as they presented the first indie band (Wilderness Survival) to trash their set up on stage followed by the first and only Hip Hop act.
Not to miss: The girls’ bathroom has mad style.