Liars' Club Alpine Tavern & Grill

triggersd

California

5/5  rDev +14.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

If my name was Norm, then this would be my Cheers. The Liars' Club is the a destination for those seeking the difficult to find combination of fantastic beer and a creative menu with flavors that will have you driving from all over San Diego county to satiate your desires. Sure, you might have every intention of having only one beer. The bar staff is on their game and will likely have a suggestion that will meet your hoppiest cravings...so go ahead and have another! My friends and I refer to TLC as our home base. We can expect to listen to a variety of carefully chosen tunes on the best jukebox in San Diego, sit on the deck, and let the evening slip away. Thank you Luis and staff for giving us all a reason to search for that golden parking spot in mission beach.

04-24-2007 14:21:32 | More by triggersd

SkinnyElvis

Pennsylvania

4.9/5  rDev +12.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

In San Diego at the Convention Center so I snagged a cab to the Liar's Club & the $20 cab ride each way was worth it.

Atmosphere: This was my kind of place with a rock-a-billy feel to it. A great mix of local surfer dudes, tattoo'ed chicks, and beer geeks. Great juke box with a mix of punk and old soul. The bartenders were friendly & chatted me up since I was from out of town.

Service: Friendly staff who knew their beer. They were nice to all including tourists who wandered in looking for a Coors Light & ended up having their horizons expanded. I asked for some rec's on the local beers & they were spot on in their advice.

Selection: Simply amazing. PP, Russian River, and all the local SoCal and NoCal beers were on. I did not know where to start & what I did not get a chance to try makes me want to cry.

Food: Good bar food menu.

Value: I hit it at happy hour time so I had three beers plus food for under $20. My Lord!

Overall, my favorite beer bar of all time!

02-05-2006 20:26:03 | More by SkinnyElvis

rallison

California

4.83/5  rDev +10.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $

Also, a note about the glassware: If you order standard pints, they will come in standard pint glasses. But, you can always order 8 oz glasses of anything, and these are goblets. Not a bad way to do it, and you get to try more beers.

This is the best beer bar I've been to in the states.

A: Great place to hang out and enjoy a beer or two. Best if you go with a friend, as most people who come are with a group it seems. Great jukebox, always lively in the evening. Just a fun environment. Early day is nice too, more chill. Although earlier in the day it would be nice to have a nice big open patio or beer garden facing the beach. But I can't really complain.

Q: Can't fault this. Beers are all top-notch, food is top-notch, and both are cheap.

S: Service is usually quite good. Even when busy, the bartender was always there within a minute of me finishing my drink - more often than not she was there as I took the last swig. At the tables, it seems to vary a little more, but is usually good.

S: Selection is amazing. They will ALWAYS have something interesting to try, be it a barleywine from Mexico, and IPA from Belgian, or one of the many amazing San Diego brews. And it's all good stuff too. No BMC. Well, actually there are BMC taps. Over the urinal in the bathroom.

F: Delicious. It's always been full of flavor and just leaves you wanting more. Had the Fuego Steak Melt last time, and it was phenomenal. One of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Served with cajun fries. And only about $7 for what probably amounted to a pound of food. Simply amazing.

V: As is common with SD, things are cheap. And Friday night after 5PM is local beer night - pints of local brews for $2.50! Yes, that's right. Pints of Alesmith Speedway Stout for $2.50. That's about half what it would cost if you bought the bottles. This is one of the best values around.

In case you hadn't guessed, this place rocks. It's a must stop in San Diego. And hey, it's right off of Mission Beach area, so you can chill on the beach in the day time, and walk right over to Liars Club for the night.

01-29-2007 05:12:34 | More by rallison

pluto

Washington

4.78/5  rDev +9.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4

My home away from home when I'm in San Diego, which I visit with regularity since family members now live there. A small place with beach bum ambience, or as my older sister called it when I brought her there--seedy. But it's a seedy you can love, with a remarkable beer selection that always surprises. The stellar list of local California beers is simply outstanding. I find the staff to be quite knowledgeable and willing to share their opinions of the beer. The food I have had has been good, although usually I've gotten some sweet potato fries. I frequently meet interesting people here and like to hang out at the little outside nook gazing out on Mission Boulevard watching the hummers and motorcyclists and beach babes. Such a fine way to spend a warm afternoon. Oh and if you get a hat you get your very own lie stencilled on the back. My first one said "We think you're cool". (I lost it) The second said "It wasn't me."
Everything a beer bar should be.

04-13-2005 05:15:09 | More by pluto

Dukeofearl

California

4.71/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

With trusty Beerfly lists in hand, I venture forth to San Diego for a 2-day conference. Not knowing if or when I would be available to make any beer worthy stops, I keep my plans completely open (sorry San Diego BAs, would have loved to get together, but I had no idea of my availability until I got there). But lo and behold, I need to use my car charger for my cell phone since I forgot my regular charger, so hey, I guess I have to make an unscheduled stop at the Liar's Club (and I am telling the truth!).

So my first impression was completely and utterly terrible. Why? Even though most of the previous reviews mention parking issues, they completely underestimate the problem. It's located along a long, linear sand spit, with basically one road (and a lot of half-block long side streets marked with "Tow Away Zone") running up its length. So with all this, the closest parking I could find was over a mile away. I looked for almost 30 minutes and was ready to return to my hotel before I found the key. And here, my BA friends, is the key. Turn east at the stoplight a few blocks from the Liar's Club, at a street called Santa Clara. This takes you back to a marina/park area that has a very large parking lot (beware, the lot is closed from 2AM to 4AM!). Plenty of free parking (at least on a Monday night).

So what is the real atmosphere? A beachy beer bar with cheap but solid furniture, interesting stuff on the walls, a nice streetside outdoor patio area, and a jukebox filled with great music from the 50's to the 90's. I heard lots of songs, and can't think of one I didn't like. Clash, early Bowie, some others I don't remember now. Nice, but not overwhelming. I cut down on atmosphere review because of the parking situation.

OK, six chapters into this novel and no discussion of the beer. Well, all I can day is Damn. Incredible taps from Pizza Port, Russian River, Alesmith, Alpine, Stone, Ballast Point, a few Belgians, and a bunch of others. But the real problem is that their taps were broken- no refrigeration! Damn! They had 4 taps on a temporary keg setup for 4 very good beers, though (a couple of tastes of Ballast Point one-offs such as a very tasty high ABV honey apricot beauty). So I walk in by myself, and one of the barwomen (sorry, didn't get her name) sees me looking around and proceeds to walk me through everything, tap and bottles, and telling me everything I want to know. She gave me suggestions based on price, value, quality, style preferences, etc. The taps were out; that's ok because the 30 or so bottles were all first rate choices. She must have taken 10-15 minutes telling me about what they have before I settle on Russian River's Supplication. And oh, my, what an incredible suggestion that was!

Other patrons are real friendly, the crew is very friendly and they know and love beer. Didn't spend a long time (I was driving, so I was being very careful), had a nice long walk on the beach (a few feet from the door), and now I just absolutely love this place. And I have a reason to go back- maybe next time the taps will work!

07-27-2005 19:50:13 | More by Dukeofearl

Deuane

Pennsylvania

4.71/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

The new place out in Alpine is very nice indeed. Large building with handy parking. We were treated great by the staff with Pete tending the bar training Heidi, who was just learning the craft beer ropes.

32 quality taps and an entire cooler full of awesome bottles this place has it all for the hard to please BA.

Interior was simple yet pleasant. Nothing overly fancy but had a simple laid back your here to drink beer and socialize feel.

Visited shortly after gorging ourselves at The Alpine Inn Sunday brunch down the street so we were far from hungry. Although the food that came out did look good.

Can't wait to get back to Alpine again to see the expanded Alpine Brewing and give this place another go around!

09-14-2008 07:03:35 | More by Deuane

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.68/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Ha, we got lucky as a parking spot was found easily across the street in front of the fancy bike store during a slow Wednesday afternoon.

First off, no complaints to be had here. Maybe the only thing about it that could be considered a downfall is its very small. Small patio out front, 4 or 5 tables inside and a few boothes, and some seating along the bar. Somehow still charming as hell to enter as old classic punk rock is prominently displayed from the jukebox in back and the all black interior seems to welcome you in as you gaze in amazment across the board to find the list of locally made tap brews. Stone, Alesmith, Alpine, Ballast Point, Pizza Port, Bear Republic, Russian River, are all on-tap with some of the top notch brews ever made and to come out of CA. The also have a few bottled creations that lift interest on the list as well.

Our service was friendly and funny as hell. California nice, perhaps a bit forward and pushy with trying to get us to order but somehow made it work by keeping it light and conversational. With much pause I tried to pick something from off the menu. Which unfortunately has many dishes that would be too spicy for me. My company of XL and AleOha were to find out quickly, me and spicy food don't mix well. My overly sensitive midwest palate can't handle what they call mild. And I got some interesting looks and guff as I tried to explain my reasoning for it. So after much delay, I decided to go with a simple tuna melt sandwich. Our smiley, fohawked server asked what kind of bread I wanted it on; white, wheat, or jalapeno? And of course recommended I try the jalapeno. I was adament in my stance of not having to deal with spicey stuff. He kept saying, " dude, trust me, trust me,...its good." Finally after he saw I was unbendable he expressed if I didn't like it I could exchange it for another at no charge. Sold. So jalapeno it is.
The food arrived shortly after ordering. My plate came with a boat load of darkened fries, yum. But as I looked at my tuna sandwich I really wondered about my chances of survival in the company of these two BA's. At this point, we've already had a few beers and it was only about an hour after I landed at the airport. The sandwich was monsterous, it took up most of the plate pushing most of the fries over the sides and smashing others with its weight. The bread looking like texas toast and had little olive green specks about it. Obviously the jalapenos and my foe of foods. I ate as many fries as I could at first, keeping my distance from the possible chance the sandwich was gonna be my worst fear. It would suck to half to be a total whimp and send it back. The other fellas worked through there food easily as I stared irrevocably at the green specks. Finally at a point of what seemed like forever, the server came over and asked how the food was. Those guys all were like, "great" and blah, blah, blah, meanwhile I hadn't even tried my sandwich. He looked at me with interest and said something about not wanting it, but again I heard the "Trust me, dude, its good." So I looked the guys right in the face, grabbed the huge sandwich and took one huge bite. I chewed, and chewed...they waited for my response. My eyes lit up with content as I slowly shuck my head in acceptance with a yesing motion and then gave a thumbs up as it was actually pretty damn good. Spices were just right for my tastes as the cold tuna helped balance out any true hotness that may have been there. Needless to say I ate til I could it eat no more, nearly the whole thing, still leaving about 1/4 of it left as it was quite filling.

A memorable visit. One that will not be forgotton.

With the exception that with the horror that I thought I was going to endure with the spicy food I completely forgot what beer I was drinking, which was some kind of super awesome double IPA. That tells you right there how terrified I was of the food and my fears of being cast aside as an outsider for not liking it as it completely made me forget about my fantastic beer....Actually it was Pliny the Elder and it rocked!

A visit here again will be had when in town again and this time my fears will be dashed as I dig into my tuna sandwich will vigor and spirit.

08-23-2005 14:05:51 | More by tavernjef

brentk56

North Carolina

4.68/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

My family and I spent a week on vacation in San Diego and we went to a variety of beer bars and brewpubs but this is the place we kept coming back to - and I wish we had spent more time there.

The beer selection was exceptional, the waitstaff enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and the french fries were addictive.

We never ate anything other than the fries but the food looked pretty good all around.

Beers from AleSmith, Alpine, Ballast Point, Stones and a few other locals were clearly highlighted on the beer list as were the Russian River offerings. Roughly 25 taps and not a macro in sight, although you could order them in the bottle.

The best part was hearing the waitress pan the Bud Light that a group of early 20somethings ordered one evening. Now that's a waitress after my own heart.

03-31-2006 02:03:12 | More by brentk56

3frog

Arizona

4.68/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Stopped by on my way in from Arizona (told my family in SD that I'd left 2 hrs later than I did so that I could have a pressure-free visit here...).

As already said, it's a nice, clean, relatively large place, and I immediately gravitated to the front-and-center bar with the 32 taps and cooler.

Oh the humanity; 32 mostly wonderful selections. I'm a proud card-carrying beer snob with relatively frequent access to SD/its beer, and I thought the selection was truly awesome (7 I'd not had). Pliny-E had just blown, so I 'settled' for the GF Le Freak, Port Poor Man's IPA, and another Le Freak.
Serving temp was great. Nice attention to locals, along with ample room for quality stuff from elsewhere.

Greeted immediately by Ashley, who was quite attentive to me and the 5 or so others in the bar section. Later on, Louis, the owner stopped by and we chatted for awhile. Props for friendliness and accessibility.

Fish and chips at 10.95 were tasty, though the chips themselves didn't do much for me. Good coleslaw; I ain't a slaw fan but ate all of theirs.
Pricing for the food and beer was California quality beer place reasonable. Certainly not bud light prices, but I know that my hobby requires a certain level of investment.

Got a few Struise-Mikkeller Double IPA and the new Alesmith Decadence to go.

I have to say, this is has replaced my previous San Diego-favorite beer bar--you lucky SD bastards!

04-12-2008 16:48:50 | More by 3frog

MiScusi

California

4.68/5  rDev +7.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

I've been here twice now on very slow days. I've sat at the bar both times and have had good service with friendly bartenders. The tap lineup is always amazing, it's hard to get a better lineup than what they usually have.

Overall it just kinda looks like a little cheap sit-down restaurant, but the main attraction are the taps behind the bar. There are a couple TV's in there to keep you occupied while at the bar.

They always have a couple Alpine beers on tap, along with Green Flash, Stone, Pizza Port, Lost Abbey, New Belgium, Craftsman, Deschutes, Russian River (Damnation and Elder) as well as a bunch of special releases from many other breweries.

The only food I've tried there is the Fuego Melt which everyone talks about. It's too hot for me and I can't taste my beer afterward but damn it is tasty.

If this place wasn't 2 hours away from me I would go there way more often.

05-17-2008 14:14:27 | More by MiScusi