It has cool vibe to it, but food and drinks are very expensive relative to their quality. The charcuterie board was nearly 30 bucks. I’ve had much fancier and better quality elsewhere in San Diego for the same price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
Paul \"P Man\" Howland
This a listening bar rather than a nightclub. It's set up for listening to music and socializing, not for dancing. The vibes were great during my visit, I got into to several pleasant conversations with other patrons. I didn't encounter anyone who was over-served. The staff was friendly and professional.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alvaro Sandoval
Great drinks (try the El Golpe) and great music. Highly recommended. I drive from Palm Springs to come here because of the unique vibe.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jennifer
I sure hope this place makes it! Love the unique vibe outside. I've only come in a few times but each time has been a delight!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dante Faulk
Sound by the Sea is a wonderful concept fusing bites and drinks with hi-fi audio and live DJs. I absolutely love the concept. However a few things in my visit kept me from having the full Five-Star experience. I really would like to see a place like this succeed but I feel as if I should offer some constructive criticism.
Here’s a couple things that are neither a pro nor a con that I would have liked to know:
This establishment does not have a full liquor licence. It’s beer, wine, and soju based cocktails only.
The food is really to be treated as an aperitivo with drinks. Portions are quite small.
Music is the primary focus of this business and audio levels hover around 85-90dB.
Pros of my visit: I love the ambiance and interior design. There are couches and tables for patrons to congregate at, featuring a DJ booth in the centre of the establishment with places to sit 360° around the DJ. The lighting was excellent being dark and cozy, but not so dark you can’t read the menu.
The central theme being HiFi audio is a huge draw. It isn’t every day that we can enjoy vinyl records played off of JBL 4350A monitors. Music is loud enough to enjoy but not so loud you can’t hear the people at your table.
I love what this place stands for as a third space that isn’t a traditional bar but is also open late. As a musician and audio engineer myself the theme is absolutely something I could have only dreamt about.
Food was quite good and seemed to be made with high quality fresh ingredients.
Staff was friendly and answered questions that we had in a very detailed and thorough way.
Now the cons:
The food is *outrageously* expensive for how small the portions are. We had two empanadas ($13) and the mushroom flatbread ($18). When I say small, I mean the flatbread was about 4x7 inches. Perfectly fine as a snack with a drink, but at $18 this is insane. The empanadas were also disappointingly small for how expensive they were.
The cocktails are very sweet. We didn’t try every drink on the menu, but to my eye based on the ingredients, and the 4 drinks that we did try, everything seems to be much too sweet. There isn’t a balanced array of flavour profiles for the cocktails. I understand mixing without hard liquor makes this harder, but it isn’t impossible. For the price of the drinks I would expect a more varied selection of flavours rather than just sweet. Ingredients on the menu weren’t labeled properly for all the drinks either. One of the drinks we got was a sour style drink with egg whites which wasn’t indicated in any way on the menu.
The service is barely attentive. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but with the prices this business is charging I would expect it to be better. $15+ cocktails should come with better than dive bar service. The service isn’t bad, everyone we talked to was very friendly and would answer questions, but it was quite difficult to get orders in.
Overall I would rate Sound by the Sea 6/10. I would definitely come back but likely will never get food here again. The vibe of this place is phenomenal, the products they are selling (in particular the prices) tarnish the experience. As a place that seems to be “by artists, for artists” the price bracket that it has placed itself in alienates the clientele that would otherwise be very interested.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
julio saldana
I visited Sound by the Sea last week. The food and drinks were good, and the music was amazing.
However, my experience was ruined when I ordered dessert — a slice of cake and a latte. Halfway through enjoying it, I got up briefly to use the restroom. When I returned just a minute later, both my cake and latte had been cleared away, even though there was half a cake and 3/4 of my latte still on the table.
When I mentioned this to the server at checkout, his only response was, “Was the half you ate at least good?” He then explained that the staff is always quick to clear tables, as if that justified the mistake. I was not aware that I needed to notify staff before using the restroom.
After some back and forth, he offered to make me another latte, but I was short on time and the restaurant was busy. At no point was I offered a refund or even a partial refund for my dessert.
Overall, this left me with a very negative impression. Despite the good food and atmosphere, the poor handling of the situation and lack of accountability made for a horrible experience.
Desiree彭偲禹
My dogs gave this bar a 10/10 — good vibes, awesome staff, and a DJ that even got their tails wagging! We’ll definitely come back 😌
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
RJ Coleman
A unique venue, one of a kind atmosphere, and great service
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Sandra JC
Loved the vibe at Sound by the Sea! Retro and stylish without trying too hard. Cool without the hype. Great happy hour combos with delicious, high-quality comfort food.
Mark
After driving by for a year I finally peeked my head in and checked it out, it wasn't what I expected at all..... it's a really cool place, seems like a great hang and very cool music, and a good upscale but subtle bar. Trendy, but not trendy. The focus seems on atmosphere, good vibes and mostly.... 🎶 Music
Cool spot. Chill vibe, retro speakers, and a great vinyl collection. Drink and food selection is sparse, but the music and vibe make up for it.
T Vamp
We loved the atmosphere here.. they need to fix their hours on google maps. They closed earlier than listed.
Nate
Amazing repurposed retro furniture store turned classy bar. Went Saturday night and they had a DJ playing great music, the Tago Mago drink is amazing. A great spot to relax and chat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
nat gg
Fun place and funky vibe! Reminded me of SF but the music isn’t so loud and you can relax on comfy coaches. The drinks are great! Even the mocktail! :) I had the mocktail called the “wild night.” Yum ?!! We didn’t try the food but it looks delicious!!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Ian Ferguson
Fun vinyl bar with a relaxing vibe. They were playing bossa nova when I went, the focaccia was really good too.
It has cool vibe to it, but food and drinks are very expensive relative to their quality. The charcuterie board was nearly 30 bucks. I’ve had much fancier and better quality elsewhere in San Diego for the same price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
This a listening bar rather than a nightclub. It's set up for listening to music and socializing, not for dancing. The vibes were great during my visit, I got into to several pleasant conversations with other patrons. I didn't encounter anyone who was over-served. The staff was friendly and professional.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great drinks (try the El Golpe) and great music. Highly recommended. I drive from Palm Springs to come here because of the unique vibe.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I sure hope this place makes it! Love the unique vibe outside. I've only come in a few times but each time has been a delight!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sound by the Sea is a wonderful concept fusing bites and drinks with hi-fi audio and live DJs. I absolutely love the concept. However a few things in my visit kept me from having the full Five-Star experience. I really would like to see a place like this succeed but I feel as if I should offer some constructive criticism.
Here’s a couple things that are neither a pro nor a con that I would have liked to know:
This establishment does not have a full liquor licence. It’s beer, wine, and soju based cocktails only.
The food is really to be treated as an aperitivo with drinks. Portions are quite small.
Music is the primary focus of this business and audio levels hover around 85-90dB.
Pros of my visit:
I love the ambiance and interior design. There are couches and tables for patrons to congregate at, featuring a DJ booth in the centre of the establishment with places to sit 360° around the DJ. The lighting was excellent being dark and cozy, but not so dark you can’t read the menu.
The central theme being HiFi audio is a huge draw. It isn’t every day that we can enjoy vinyl records played off of JBL 4350A monitors. Music is loud enough to enjoy but not so loud you can’t hear the people at your table.
I love what this place stands for as a third space that isn’t a traditional bar but is also open late. As a musician and audio engineer myself the theme is absolutely something I could have only dreamt about.
Food was quite good and seemed to be made with high quality fresh ingredients.
Staff was friendly and answered questions that we had in a very detailed and thorough way.
Now the cons:
The food is *outrageously* expensive for how small the portions are. We had two empanadas ($13) and the mushroom flatbread ($18).
When I say small, I mean the flatbread was about 4x7 inches. Perfectly fine as a snack with a drink, but at $18 this is insane. The empanadas were also disappointingly small for how expensive they were.
The cocktails are very sweet. We didn’t try every drink on the menu, but to my eye based on the ingredients, and the 4 drinks that we did try, everything seems to be much too sweet. There isn’t a balanced array of flavour profiles for the cocktails. I understand mixing without hard liquor makes this harder, but it isn’t impossible. For the price of the drinks I would expect a more varied selection of flavours rather than just sweet. Ingredients on the menu weren’t labeled properly for all the drinks either. One of the drinks we got was a sour style drink with egg whites which wasn’t indicated in any way on the menu.
The service is barely attentive. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but with the prices this business is charging I would expect it to be better. $15+ cocktails should come with better than dive bar service. The service isn’t bad, everyone we talked to was very friendly and would answer questions, but it was quite difficult to get orders in.
Overall I would rate Sound by the Sea 6/10. I would definitely come back but likely will never get food here again. The vibe of this place is phenomenal, the products they are selling (in particular the prices) tarnish the experience. As a place that seems to be “by artists, for artists” the price bracket that it has placed itself in alienates the clientele that would otherwise be very interested.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
I visited Sound by the Sea last week. The food and drinks were good, and the music was amazing.
However, my experience was ruined when I ordered dessert — a slice of cake and a latte. Halfway through enjoying it, I got up briefly to use the restroom. When I returned just a minute later, both my cake and latte had been cleared away, even though there was half a cake and 3/4 of my latte still on the table.
When I mentioned this to the server at checkout, his only response was, “Was the half you ate at least good?” He then explained that the staff is always quick to clear tables, as if that justified the mistake. I was not aware that I needed to notify staff before using the restroom.
After some back and forth, he offered to make me another latte, but I was short on time and the restaurant was busy. At no point was I offered a refund or even a partial refund for my dessert.
Overall, this left me with a very negative impression. Despite the good food and atmosphere, the poor handling of the situation and lack of accountability made for a horrible experience.
My dogs gave this bar a 10/10 — good vibes, awesome staff, and a DJ that even got their tails wagging! We’ll definitely come back 😌
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A unique venue, one of a kind atmosphere, and great service
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Loved the vibe at Sound by the Sea! Retro and stylish without trying too hard. Cool without the hype. Great happy hour combos with delicious, high-quality comfort food.
After driving by for a year I finally peeked my head in and checked it out, it wasn't what I expected at all..... it's a really cool place, seems like a great hang and very cool music, and a good upscale but subtle bar. Trendy, but not trendy. The focus seems on atmosphere, good vibes and mostly.... 🎶 Music
Restaurantji Recommends
Cool spot. Chill vibe, retro speakers, and a great vinyl collection. Drink and food selection is sparse, but the music and vibe make up for it.
We loved the atmosphere here.. they need to fix their hours on google maps. They closed earlier than listed.
Amazing repurposed retro furniture store turned classy bar. Went Saturday night and they had a DJ playing great music, the Tago Mago drink is amazing. A great spot to relax and chat.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fun place and funky vibe! Reminded me of SF but the music isn’t so loud and you can relax on comfy coaches. The drinks are great! Even the mocktail! :) I had the mocktail called the “wild night.” Yum ?!!
We didn’t try the food but it looks delicious!!
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Fun vinyl bar with a relaxing vibe. They were playing bossa nova when I went, the focaccia was really good too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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