O’Connells

RIP O’Connell’s
We just happened to be driving through the area when we noticed the place was boarded up and their parking lot was empty. I just had to look through the interwebs to find out about what happened. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any specifics details regarding the closure, but I did remember that there was a shooting a while back. Maybe ownership was looking to revitalize the joint because business suffered since the incident.
I’ve been here a couple of times several years ago in support of a friend’s band. The bar was typical for an old dive. Nothing spectacular or remarkable. There’s not really much more that I can remember other than the news about a homicide shooting from 2009. Well, there goes more votes about my review being funny. Wah-wah…such a downer.
I hope that when it reopens as The Griffin in mid-​July, it will be a cool place and keeps the low-​key laid back atmosphere. If the remodel project breathes new life to the bar, then maybe they should rename it The Phoenix? We’ll see. I think that the location is just far enough that the brotastic douchebaggery should remain in PB, just as hipsters will remain in NP/​SP. I’m sure nearby neighborhood bars like Morena Club, High Dive, Silver Spigot, and Offshore Tavern will be most interested on how this develops.

One of the top bathrooms ever!!!
Now this is a dive bar. It satisfies my needs in terms of the patrons inside and the ambiance of the place. My drink was not that strong but still for 3 bucks, yah, I can still come here (if I’m in the area) and get some more Bay Breezes. They do have daily happy hour until 8pm, where wells are 3 bucks, $ 2 for PBR pints, $ 6 PBR pitchers and other cool deals.
The upholstery. man…completely destroyed, but thats cool tho. Both the stools and the arm rest on bar itself looked like some dog had been using it as their chew toys. And it was ALL their stools, and pretty much ALL of the arm rest all along the bar. Now that’s what I’m talking about. ah yah…
They have a couple of pool tables, some tv’s including one giant one to your left. There’s a dartboard game and a deer hunting video game. But what’s ironic about this dive bar… is that their bathroom was IMMACULATE. I mean… I’ve seen some dive bars that were clean, and even super-​clean, but this one was above that… yah IMMACULATE. I should have taken a picture… looked pristine.
I felt conflicted because as I was pissing, I thought I would have ruined the pristine condition. So I made sure on the way out that I tried to leave the bathroom the way it was before I came in.
Honestly…this was one of the BEST bathrooms, if not even better than most hotel lobbies bathrooms too. If I were you… I would actually just go inside the bar really quick, and check it out yourself. The drive is worth it. Again… one of the best bathrooms yet.

Just ok. It’s kind of a dive bar, but the beer tasted weird and the crowd here is iffy

Two pool tables. Live band. Now those were the positives. Watered down liquor. Like seriously?

I don’t know how or why some giant douche lord felt compelled to rev the engine of his shitty little motorcyle outside this joint for a good 5 minutes as we were standing outside attempting to converse, but I do know that it really set the tone for my dislike of this joint… and it gave me a clear picture of the type of patron that frequents this place. Just a tip, having a motorcycle doesn’t make you cool and reving its engine certainly won’t help you get laid.
This place made me realize why I don’t «go out» in the Morena Blvd area if I’m looking for a fun time… or unless I want to hang out with people who are a good ~10 years older. I wouldn’t have found myself here had it not been for a friend’s band performing… just had to throw that out there.
$ 8 entrance fee? I guess I can overlook that because of the live entertainment, but I found it a bit irksome that I was told to «get up off my ass» and get crazy along with the other 20 people in the room… no thanks! I paid good money to be here and I certainly will not fold to your demands!
They do have $ 1 Peach Pop shots which were pretty tasty… I don’t know much about this place, but I do know I likely won’t be coming back!

–1 star for only 1 pool table. Other than that it’s a cool place to perform if you’re in a band or see other bands perform (and they usually have some good bands playing). It has a comfy dive bar feel to it. Prices are okay, but could be better.
Oh, –1 more star for the stage size.

O’my god, O’boy… O’Connells. I went to see a band I didn’t know because someone else knew them. They tried to charge me $ 8 at the door. Really? Where do you think we are??? I mean, I didn’t even KNOW where I was, but still! Plus. they were a pretty awful band. I mean not skill wise, just like. everything else.
ANYWAY. I do like my dive bars, but just apparnetly not this one.

Owned by a really nice guy and frequented by really nice folks. However, I was served 3 drinks with little to no alcohol. Foul!
I probably won’t be back.

A dive bar with ample parking, foosball, pool, and a small stage which packs in people coming to see their friends play (like us.) $ 2 PBR, $ 5 cover. The bar is long, so if you want to hang in the back if you want to talk instead of watching the show.

O’connells, from outward appearance, seems to have been something other than a bar in it’s previous incarnations. The cover for when I went was $ 5, not outlandish. PBR pitchers were $ 6, my wife got a mixed drink which was $ 3.50 which she said she wasn’t thrilled with the quality. It is dark and dingy, but it is a dive, so what else could be expected? I saw some fun performances of local bands as well. It has a parking lot, but not much of one to speak of, there was also ample street parking.

I’m not gonna completely go ballistic on this place… I’m just not in that kinda mood.
But I will say a few things:
We’ve tried this place out twice in the past two weeks and both times we found ourselves trying to find reasons to go back.
The first time we went, the bartender was pretty cool.
The second time we went, she ignored us because we took too long to order our first round.
The karaōke book there is surprisingly good. A lot better than some higher end downtown bars.
They have a lot of beers, including Pabst cans (???)
Kinda different I guess… I guess?
But the prices are a little on the high end, especially for a place of this caliber.
Its big. Its local. Its easy to get to.
I just wish someone told us that the door that «looks» like the front door is actually a fire exit and that the alarm WILL sound when one walks through said door to excuse one’s self for a cigarette break.
Funny thing was, they must be used to that, because NO ONE seemed bothered by the loud constant noise. Not even the guy singing!

Nice throw back bar. Safe area, off the beaten path. Fun Blues Jam Session on Monday nights. Lot of local talent and swing dancers. Very fun and friendly crowd.

It’s kind of hard to slam a place like O’Connells when at least they’re trying to book bands to play there. Sure, I’ve never heard of them and they all have terrible names, but more power to ‘em.
I went for the first time on Sunday night to go to their trivia night and that was pretty bad. There was some guy in his 50s wearing a Hawaiian shirt who asked questions on Trivial Pursuit cards, so that was pretty lame.
They also had complimentary nachos with what I was told was «recycled» cheese sauce and I’m sure if I had more than two bites I would have missed most of the trivia because I was in the bathroom. Also, I read in the other reviews people didn’t seem ok with drink prices, wells were $ 3 when I was there, but that might have been Happy Hour prices. Bathrooms were clean and spotless.
I’d go to this place all the time if it were in North Park, but it’s not. Alas.

I visited O’Connell’s Pub the other night, and besides the seedy exterior and location next to the gas station at the end of West Morena, I think it’s a cool bar.
Finding the entrance was a little confusing. It’s not clearly marked or anything, so you’re walking around to the other door to find that it’s the staging area for the bands. There was also a cover. Cover? For a shit hole like this? Luckily, we were on the list. After making it inside, the bar actually seems pretty decent. Arcade machines, pool tables, nice ramp to the music and bar area. A friend’s band, Manganista, set up to play and all seemed well until I ordered my first beer.
I ordered a Guinness, as I do many times throughout the week at different bars. The Guinness was averaged priced. I think I paid $ 5.00. It’s kind of an Irish pub right? Sure. The bartendress pours the Guinness and runs off to do other things, coming back to retrieve it and give it to me. I leave my tab open.
I looked at the beverage. It seemed darker than usual with less foam. I decided to take it back to my area and drink it down — after the first sip, my taste buds cried tears of disappointment.
The Guinness was flat.
I promptly walked over to the bartenderess and told her, «Hey, I think the Guinness is out of carbonation.» She just stared blankly at me as if she didn’t care. Then she asked what I wanted her to do… Confused at the lack of service, I told her, I just wanted her to know the beer was flat – I’ll drink it, but no one should suffer the same fate. She walked away from me.
I got through a third of the beer. My friends felt sorry for me and bought me a Fat Tire. It was okay.
This place as a bar is poor.
This place as a music venue is average. The sound wasn’t awesome. I’ve heard better sound at a coffee shop with a rented PA system. I was a little disappointed with O’Connell’s. It should definitely not sport an Irish name, especially since it can’t even poor a proper pint of Guinness.
You won’t see me coming back here anytime soon.

Eh. Can’t say I love this place, but can’t say I hate it either. I’ve been here for a few shows, and it looks like they have renovated and there is an actual stage for the bands to play on, which is kinda nice.
The patrons are random, that’s for sure — it’s a little bit of everyone. Friends of the band, the old dudes who are always there, etc. Last night we encountered some bros who were apparently military and celebrating something or other. They found it to be extremely amusing to get obliterated and then dance around in some pseudo-mosh-thing…when no one else was. Outside I heard them talking trash about New Jersey (boo — don’t dis on my homestate!), picking each other up and carrying each other around bridal-​style, and other such Abercrombie-​clad douchebaggery.
Then there was an old guy who proceeded bum a cigarette off of a friend of my boyfriend, then tell us how he was from Florida, had a motor home and a «sweeeeet» Trans-​Am with Mazarati doors or something, and how his lady decided she’d rather live on the streets with «this bald, toothless, ugly motherfucker» and how heartbroken he was. He went from top-​of-​the-​world to bottom of the barrel depressed in about a minute and a half. He then went to the Shell station next door to buy cigarettes. He came back with a pack of USA Gold Lights for the guy he bummed a cigarette off of just a few minutes earlier.
Then it looked like some random drunk dude tried to make off with some of one of the band’s equipment — security and one of the band members stopped him, so that’s what appeared to be to me. Weirdness.
One of my boyfriend’s ex-​bandmates is a bouncer there, and one of the other ex-​bandmates does shows with his current band and does a lot of management/​booking of shows. So unless one of those bands, or my friend’s band (Mama Red and the North Park Band — good blues!) is playing, you probably wouldn’t see me wandering there of my own free will.
Never mind the fact that EVERY TIME we venture there, we get lost. Circling around Morena Blvd and the side streets for 15 minutes getting there AND leaving there. Without fail. Weird.

This is a pretty typical bar. There’s nothing amazing about it, but there’s no reason to avoid it either. If you’re in the area and want a place to chill with friends and drink beer, O’Connells will get the job done.
There’s an area on one side of the bar with several small tables where live bands play. The night I went with my friends the guy singing sounded decent, but the music was too loud to talk in that area so we hung out on the other side of the bar. That area has two pool tables, a dartboard with plastic tipped darts, a foosball table, and even on old school Donkey Kong game from 1981! I know this is nerdy, but the DK game pretty much made my night because I haven’t seen one of those types of games in years; it’s the type where the screen is embedded in a small table. I had to clear off my friends’ beer glasses to play it, and I sucked at it, but it was entertaining, lol. The bathroom was surprisingly clean the night I was there. I was expecting a lot worse. The décor of the entire place is… well, forgettable because I don’t really remember it (and yes I was sober).
The clientele is random, I wasn’t paying too much attention but it seems like this place mainly attracts older guys. However, I didn’t notice anyone too creepy and everyone left my rowdy group of law student friends alone, even when we did stupid stuff like throw the darts toward the dartboard backward over our shoulders. I guess one of the bartenders told my friend not to sit on the pool table, which is understandable, so make sure you don’t do that.
Overall, very chill place.

The bartenders are really nice here and treat the local industry peeps right. It’s not my usual type of place, but i always feel comfortable and welcome here. It’s close to my work, so I usually only go here for last call if I work late and don’t have time to go any where else, you know what I mean?
My favorite memory of O’Connells is my co-​worker singing «Chocolate Salty Balls» (Chef from South Park) at Karoke night. omg.

So this is i guess the closest bar to my house. It’s on a pretty dumpy street across from morena club if you want to ‘bar hop.’
Inside is pretty typical dive bar. Pool tables, foos, golden tee and fake darts are the games. The crowd is kind of odd, mostly older folks and ‘lets do something different tonight, how about oconnell’s?’ younger people. I pretty much don’t come here unless a friends band is playing, which in that case is usually still pretty empty. They seem to be renovating so maybe better things are to come.
in short, decent dive bar, but nothing to write home about

Got a chance to visit O’Connells last night… was pleased to catch the shows of two of the best up-​and-​coming San Diego bands, Wendy Darling (
) and Brave Monster (
)!! A superb show; if you get a chance, be sure to check these bands out.
The pub is large. has a couple pool tables in the back and a full bar with an assortment of delicious beer on tap (and bottled)! I had a Fat Tire and my wife enjoyed a Newcastle (bottle). came to $ 8.50.
O’Connells is located on the east side of I-​5 at the Sea World exit (right behind the Shell gas station). As of last night (5÷29÷2007), they were in the middle of renovating the pub — the owner said he expects the work to be done in a month.
Need a booze mop after O’Connells? Head down the street to JV’s Mexican Restaurant… delicious shrimp ceviche, but that’s another review =P
I’ll be returning to O’Connells in the future.

I wish I’d drank here more often when I was living in Clairemont. The place is just cool. Mellow-​cool, not flashy-​cool. Sure, it’s called «O’Connells,» but it doesn’t really have an Irish Pub feel. There are tables and pool tables and an area for live music, which is cool. The décor is… vague. If pressed, I suppose I’d say it’s a working man’s punkrock Irish cowboy bar. Does that make sense?
There is a decent, but unimpressive selection of beers here. You shouldn’t be left wanting unless you’re really into rarer imports and microbrews.
My band played here once, which was fun. The dude who coordinates that (the owner? just some random dude?) is cool and accomodating, though we weren’t comp’d enough drinks.