San Diego Entertainment January 2007

2007 is here! If your 2006 was anything like mine it went by really quick. I'm not even sure if I got half way through my resolution list… but maybe that's why, I just keep adding new resolutions to those left on the list from years passed. So what's one of the biggies? Simple, to have more fun!

2006 was one of the most trying years as we spent months and months developing things behind the scenes where there is no instant gratification (like adding a cool feature to a live site for instance), and often long hours (16 hour days should never happen) communicating with people from all over the globe to make the pieces fit. So, with development wrapping up, the fun part begins (the promotion, marketing, and product development) and there will be more time for real world fun (no, not watching the MTV real world show). Nightlife and good dining take top billing on my list of San Diego fun.

San Diego Restaurants

I'm addicted to great food, I'll admit. So, while by no means qualified to be a food critic, I think I do pretty well choosing restaurants that pretty much everyone can enjoy when we go out in groups to eat. But really, there are so many good restaurants in San Diego that after while you end up with a solid list of staple places that really will never steer you wrong.

Here are just some of the San Diego restaurants I've never been disappointed with; along with an estimate of the number of times I've dined there:

Del Mar Restaurants
Cuvee Del Mar - (Countless) Great wine country feel, excellent seasonal menu. Although we occasionally lose a favorite dish to the evolving menu there are always many more great choices.

La Jolla Restaurants
Georges at the Cove - 5 Top Level, Countless Middle Level, 2 Downstairs Fine Dining
Sushi on the Rock - Countless (Both La Jolla location and Encinitas)
Zenbu Sushi - 8 Very fresh, friendly wait staff, and good dark atmosphere.

Downtown, San Diego Restaurants
Osetra the Fish House - 3, Great service, awesome food, very cool atmosphere with huge vodka bar.

Banker's Hill Restaurants
Modus - 3 Excellent food, really cool small restaurants in Banker's Hill area. Great cocktails.

San Diego Nightlife

So, that leaves us with the question where is the best nightlife in San Diego? Is it in an upscale beach area like Del Mar, or La Jolla? Is it in a hipster spot like North Park, Hillcrest, or Kensington? Or is it where the bright lights are, in Downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter?

I guess it really depends who you ask (I know, I just asked about 6 people randomly this week), and what your idea of a good crowd is, what music you dig, and what you consider a fair price to pay for your ideal slice of intoxication.

Feel free to add to the list in the comments area, but here are the San Diego neighborhoods I frequent and some spots I'm familiar with:

Del Mar Nightlife
Jimmy O's - Sports Bar
En Fuego - Cantina

La Jolla Nightlife
Jack's Lounge - Semi-Nightclub, Lounge, Live DJ
Excelsior - Large Lounge, Indoor/Outdoor, Live DJ

North Park / Little Italy Nightlife
Dmood - Bar, Lounge, Live DJ
Airport Lounge - Lounge, Live DJ, Indoor/Outdoor

Downtown and Gaslamp Quarter Nightlife
Red Circle - Large Lounge, Live DJ, Go-Go dancers
Belo - Large Club, Often featuring huge DJs (dance music)

All of the above places really vary from night to night. That goes for the music, the crowd, the promoters, etc. so I won't even try to detail things as by next week it could be inaccurate

Anyone in the scene (industry people, promoters, etc) got the inside track on anything new opening up in '07, restaurant or nightlife wise?