This is the Waterfront. If you follow me on twitter and see a "happy hour." tweet around 5pm PST on a random day, now you know where I am.
We stumbled on to this self-proclaimed dive bar our first night in our new apartment. I think Yelp said it had good beer. And, for us, that's all it took. We've been faithful patrons for the past year and of all the things I'll miss about San Diego, this bar/restaurant is up at the top.
Seriously.
Reasons : The beer selection is great. And the happy hour prices are good (at least for downtown SD). The bartenders are friendly and the service is quick. There is free popcorn & appetizers during happy hour and Taco Tuesday (one fantastic taco for $2) is amazing. Plus, the atmosphere is super relaxed. We are usually there on pretty non-peak hours (except for Saturday College Football days) which is perfect for us. We wander in wearing flip-flops and t-shirts and feel at home. (We have been there during crazy nights too, and it's just as awesome.)
But probably most importantly is just how nice it is to walk down the street and be there. I've mentioned this a lot on the blog (or maybe I have just thought it a lot) but when we lived in Maryland we were in a pretty suburban area. We couldn't step out the front door and walk anywhere and that really limited our activities. Places like Waterfront have made San Diego feel walkable. I have to pinch myself every time I realize how close we are to cute little restaurants and shops. It feels ridiculously good to say, "hey babe, I forgot ___, can you walk over to the market and pick some up?" without getting laughed at.
We have talked and laughed and fought and joked and talked and debated and talked at Waterfront over the past year. With Paul's intern schedule we don't always have a lot of free time, but we have made good with what we do have. Getting out of the apartment once or twice a week and sitting across a table, eating free popcorn and drinking good beer before coming home to cook dinner has been a highlight of our first year of marriage.
And yes, this is the bar with the (now working) photobooth. Which really, is just the cherry on top.
