Rock Bottom Brewmaster Dinners

Great for groups! Came here on a Sunday night and enjoyed the chips & guac. The 2am burger was exactly what I expected, greasy and delicious. The egg on top of the burger was a bit overdone & small but that was really the only negative takeaway. I wasn’t drinking but it seemed like they have great beer/​food pairings.

First off, I did find the food to be good. It’s just when you are left sitting there forever before you place your order and then takes even longer for your food to get to your table, it’s a bit disappointing. There was a group of four of us, and we sat in the bar area, and were surprised at the wait when the restaurant was not busy during the lunch hour.
Not sure what was going on with the floor, but we all stuck to it while walking through the bar area.

Would like to start by mentioning something pretty important: we opted to eat at rock bottom because we had a great overall experience when dining at the rock bottom in long beach this past oct. the experience we had with this rock bottom (in swanky La jolla) was as distant as the miles between those two locations.
HORRIBLE SERVICE… ALL ATTITUDE. Twenty something male server with longer dark hair. Gave us massive attitude literally from the moment we sat down. We were completely stunned at how nasty and terse his entire demeanor was.
This yielded a very uncomfortable experience for us.
decent food and nice décor. Dimly lit but not in a ghetto way.
overall, this place truly lived up to it’s name: rock bottom.
San Diego is a restaurant mecca. Too many other options to ever return here.

In addition to the fabulous customer service, their appetizers are very good and fresh and they are services in large sizes. Couldn’t order a main dish after eating appetizers.

Do not come here for beer. The beer isn’t worth mentioning at all. End of story

The food here sucks!
They really produce fOod that is below anyone else

The food and beers are unremarkable. The service is indifferent at best.

Good Beer, and Appetizers Fun with co– wrkrs!

I liked my beer and chicken sandwich but I will have to give it a rating of 1 solely based on the service.
The food took quite a while to be served. I understand that it could have gotten busy at lunch hour (although it was pretty empty) or a chef might have called in sick but our server never took the time to update us as to why the food was late.
Also, I had asked for ranch on the side and she delivered my sandwich with ranch. Adding to that, she was never around for me to get her to correct it after the fact.
And even in the beginning when she was supposed to get my colleague another menu as she said she was going to do, she never did return with it after having been absent for quite some time.
I liked the food but I would not recommend it if you are on a lunch break or do not have the time to wait. I will not be returning to this restaurant.

Came here not too long ago for a friend’s birthday. actually. I’ve only come here for friends’ birthdays (back in 06, 07, and even 09).
Came here AGAIN to just buy my lil’ pal his 21^st birthday shot (s).
They were closing, but the waiter just let us in. I felt kinda bad b/​c we were the only ones there, laughing loud, and giggling a lot. But he served us a like champ. +1.
But food wise, from what I remember, it’s w/e’s. (3 outta 5 stars) I remember getting the steak, medium done and it was just ‘egh.’ (hellaaaaaa pricey too)
And the shots are pretty pricey as well. But, that waiter did the job right. Hats off to you good sir!
Happy hour probably has the best prices for beer selections. And they got a TON that I have never even heard off. Like White Angel or something like. LOL. I’ll come back just to try THAT one…

I was just here last Saturday and had the jambalaya. When Sunday rolled around, started feeling sick in my stomach, now it’s Monday, called in sick to work, and my stomach is twisting in pain and I’ve barely been able to eat all day. Thank God I already had an appointment scheduled with my doctor tomorrow for a physical.

Was here for happy hour a couple days ago. Had their Belgian style beer which wasn’t bad. Ordered the quesadillas, fab five pizza, and pulled pork sliders. The quesadillas were pretty horrible IMO… but the pizza and the sliders were solid. Prices seemed to run a bit on the high side, even for happy hour. Our waitress was awesome though — cheerful, friendly, and attentive throughout our time there.
Wasn’t impressed, but wasn’t disappointed either. Solid 3 stars from me.

I absolutely disliked this place from the moment I walked in, seeing the hostess wipe her nose barehanded, then handled the menus. My friend and I were sat at a table where people constantly brushed against my back. It was very loud, and a little warm temperature-​wise for my liking. I was looking over the menu for a good while, that my friend decided to order the cheese spinach and jalepeno dip with chips. It was way too cheesy, and I couldn’t taste any spinach. By the time we finished the chips, there was still about half the container of the dip, and we’re generous dippers.
It took me forever to figure out what to order, I asked about the hazelnut crusted chicken but the waiter recommended the chicken fried chicken instead and that’s what I ordered. My friend ordered the bourbonzola burger, which he seemed to be enjoying until he found a long hair in it. My chicken fried chicken was okay, it had WAY too much breading and the mashed potatoes that came with the meal were just so odd.
I actually liked our waiter. Because of the hair in the burger and the fact that the appetizer really wasn’t that great, he had comped both and even offered a dessert on him. We politely refused, but it was a nice gesture.
I won’t be coming back, and I’m not even sure why we had eaten there in the first place. We didnt really have a desire to go, but we were really hungry and I wanted a beer.

HAPPY HOUR:
Love their happy hour menu. Bar area is pretty big compared to other happy hour places around the area. My goal is to hit up every place in UTC area for happy hour. Rock bottom was pretty good. We had a big happy hour group and managed to get 2 tables. Waitress was nice, service was okay.
Good selection of beers, happy hour menu had a good selection. I tried the seared ahi tuna, it was good. Also the calamari, the pizza was good! Overall a good happy hour that was suppose to be 2 hours, turned into 4 hours. It’s a good hangout spot after work.

I came here for a late lunch w/​a friend while on vacation.
We weren’t super hungry so just ordered apps, shared a salad, & drinks. KOBE Sliders… basically is like crack… I could probably eat 10. wouldn’t be cute but it’s true. The salad was a salad. nothing special. Drinks were good so no complaints about that.
Service was a lil slow… but not everything can be as fast as NYC.

I went here on a Sunday night to celebrate my birthday aka have all my friends buy me drinks. We were seated next to the billiards. It was pretty chill and quiet. We got great service from Bob and at the bar Marc was beyond accomodating… giving me low-​down on all the best drinks.
I had a ton of drinks… of which I cannot remember. BUT I do suggest getting the beer sampler they have. It’s a great price and you get to sample some amazing brews.
Other than that, I highly recommend the macaroni with fried chicken… like heaven on earth… what a buttery cheesy sensation!

The service here sucked!
I came here around 3:00 pm on a Thursday afternoon with my girlfriend for a late lunch and despite being two of about ten people in the entire place it took forever for a waitress or hostess to even come over and even longer for our food to come.
When I walked in with my girlfriend we had to wait about 15 – 20 minutes before anyone even came to the front to seat us. When we finally flagged down a host we were seated at a table away from the bar and then had to wait another twenty minutes before we got a waitress. It was during this time I Unilocaled this place and saw how many other people said the service sucked. And with that I just braced myself for a crappy experience.
We were absolutely starving when our waitress finally came and she took our order and then skipped off into the distance. We waited about half an hour or so before our food finally arrived and we both wolfed it down in less than ten minutes. The wait wouldn’t have been so intolerable if it wasn’t for the fact that barely anyone was there! I can understand those kind of times on a busy Saturday (if this place ever does get busy) but not on a mid afternoon Thursday when barely anyone is there. Rock Bottom didn’t seem to be understaffed or anything either.
I ordered the 2 am burger which was appropriate because it felt like 2 am by the time the waitress came again to give us our check. The 2 am burger included bacon, eggs, and hash browns all on the inside. I don’t even remember if it was that good or not because I was so hungry so I’ll just say it was edible enough. The fries were really thin and bland tasting though, but I ate them all anyway.
Overall I would not recommend this place to anyone who wants their service or meal to come before its time for your next meal. I will not be coming back in the future.

I would come here for beer and some snacks at night with my boyfriend and it’s usually pretty crowded here, definitely an older crowd, not so much for college students, but drinks are not that expensive here and it is goooooood.
Service is usually pretty good.
I got the pretzel last time and it was wayyyyy too salty and I had to take all those salts off but other than that, it was a good experience! :)

We went for a work party and I was disappointed with the service. The food was okay. I didn’t drink because I didn’t want my boss to think I am an alcoholic, but there beer menu (they have a huge chalk board) looked like a good time. I may go again and just sit at the bar.
Parking was terrible! but that is to be expected in UTC/​La Jolla

Every couple of months, the La Jolla Rock Bottom hosts a special «Brewmaster Dinner» in their upstairs bar. The head chef and brewmaster get together and create a unique menu centered on seasonal foods paired with whichever specialty beers are currently tapped. The cost is around $ 35 + tax/​tip, reservations required, and always seems to sell-​out.
In terms of mouthgasms, the food/​beer combos at these events could go head to head with The Rabbit. Last Saturday, the theme was Beer and Bacon; here’s the menu (with pairings and my comments**):
Beer of your choice to start
**Full pour of any beer in the place
~~~~~~~~
Prosciutto-​wrapped Melon & Figs — Tender Italian prosciutto around fresh melon and Figs with a bit of tangy goat cheese.
Paired with Liquid Sun Belgian-​Style White Beer
**I’m not big on figs, but stuff ‘em with goat cheese, add a little prosciutto and throw a beer into the mix and that’s one less bowl of Total needed for the ol’ daily fiber allowance.
~~~~~~~~
Shrimp Diablo — Large shrimp stuffed with a jalapeño sliver and fresh cilantro, wrapped in bacon & topped with a spicy bbq sauce.
Paired with Hop Bomb IPA
**I don’t have anything to say about this course other than it was f’n delicious.
~~~~~~~~
Pork Tenderloin with Cocoa Spice Rub
Crusted with Cacao Nibs, chili powder, coriander and brown sugar. Served with sweet potato mash.
Paired with Samurai Imperial Stout
**The pork was so tender that you could’ve cut it with a spork; a knife was definitely overkill. It was so amazing, in fact, that my pants may have puffed up a little during this course.
Butter Cream Gelato over shortbread with Maple Bacon
Freshly made gelato from Gelato Vero over house-​made shortbread with Maple Bacon
Paired with Naughty Scot Scottish-​style Ale with Rum Soaked Oak chips.
**Um, hello Maple-​soaked bacon, where have you been all my life? It was like breakfast knocked up dessert and they spawned a shortbread love child. Bow-​chica-​bow-​wow.
The next dinner will be for Valentines Day and will be a beer and chocolate-​themed pairing. If it’s half as good as the one last year, there won’t be a dry seat in the house.