Guide to San Diego Entertainment

The villages that make up San Diego offer a wide array of nightlife opportunities. The beaches offer a lid-back style, with live music venues and clubs that dot the landscape here. The area is also a favorite of the college crowd, making it crowded and chaotic on weekend nights.

The downtown and Gaslamp areas offer a more urban experience, with underground clubs, dance halls and dive bars permeating the streets and back alleys here. The village of La Jolla offers some upscale dance clubs, as do some of the other smaller coastal villages. If you are looking for nightlife without boundaries, then look no farther than the villages that make up San Diego.

Downtown/Gaslamp Bars, Clubs & Lounges

• Blues/Jazz Clubs
• Croce’s Jazz Bar & Top Hat - Live Music Schedule802 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.232.1193 Croce's Jazz Bar (pictured left) offers a variety of styles of live jazz nightly. Croce's Jazz Bar is recognized throughout Southern California for offering the best in traditional, contemporary and Latin jazz. When you purchase a dinner entree at Croce's Restaurant you receive free admission into Croce's Jazz Bar and/or Croce's Top Hat. Weeknights feature local favorites such as The Mississippi Mudsharks, Fuzzy and the Bluesmen, and Planet Groove. Friday and Saturday nights feature bands from Los Angeles, Phoenix and other national venues. Special events often include performances by national recording artists such as Basia, Jesse Colin Young, Rita Coolidge, Commander Cody, Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Maynard Ferguson, and our own A.J. Croce. (more)…..
• Dance Clubs/Bars
• The Bitter End & Gaslamp Underground 770 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.338.9300 The Bitter End is located in the oldest building in San Diego's historic Gaslamp Quarter. This 125 year-old building was remodeled in 1996 and won the award for Best Historic Exterior Renovation. Our three level bar and night club is the only one of its kind in San Diego and has the capacity to host as many as 500 people! On the main floor of The Bitter End you'll find a sophisticated San Francisco-style bar. The centerpiece of this being the 40-foot mahogany bar. The first floor also features hardwood floors, 20-foot molded ceilings, 10 oversized TVs and a pool table. (more)…..
• Rox Bar/Dance 901 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.234.4166 ROX, the Gaslamp's hottest new club, is located below award winning Dakota Grill and Spirit. State-of-the-art lights illuminate the dance floor Friday and Saturday nights. (more)….. Top 40 Dance Mix House Mainstream 100" Plasma Screen TV State of the Art SFX & Sound System Classic "Old" and New School Cocktails Kickback in the VIP Lounge
• Downtempo/Lounge Clubs
• The Blue Tattoo 835 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.238.7191With its prime location in the heart of San Diego's Historic Gaslamp District, state-of-the-art sound system, three full-service bars, nightly drink specials,and top noch DJs and staff, it is no wonder that the Blue Tattoo is recognized as San Diego's Hottest Night Club. Thursday: Elite Entertainment brings Club Flux to the Blue Tattoo. Some of the best Hip Hop, R&B, Top 40. Good music...good people...and $2.50 drink specials...what more do you need?Fridays & Saturdays: Resident Dj Rue brings you all the freshest vibes all weekend long...all the good stuff...all night.Sundays: The infamous Player's Ball. Where the real players play...hip hop, R&B, dancehall...doin it every Sunday... (more)…..
• The Onyx Room & Thin 852 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 619.235.6699 The Onyx Room, christened in August of 1999, has quickly become San Diego Gaslamp Quarters most sought after destination. This legend in the making was created out of the remains of the infamous 1960's "Famous Door" cocktail lounge. The essence of the Onyx Room is its revival of the "Classic Cocktail", along with vibrant lounge entertainment, and a cutting edge nightclub. Cocktails, urban beats, an energetic dance arena and just plain cool-what more could you ask for? With the understanding of what makes a club truly great is not the music alone, but rather the artists approach to the music and their own interpretation and arrangement of rhythms. The Onyx Room, variety of vinyl connoisseurs spinning everything from rare grooves and break beat to hip hop and house music, live Acid Jazz bands and solo jazz musicians, with our swanky piano lounge, has mastered this art. (more)…..