The Shout! House

Came here twice in the last couple of weeks for birthdays and both times were awesome. First time was Saturday which was super packed and a butt load of fun. Second was on a Monday. Little quieter but still just as fun. Service is alright. If you’re going on a busy nice you’re better off getting your drinks at the bar. Definitely will be coming back.

Shout house is my go-​to when it comes to a girls night out, date night, or showing visitors the best sites in San Diego. The servers and bartenders are very attentive. Every time I’ve went (4 — 5 times), I’ve been waited on by an extremely friendly male, Asian server. I wish I could remember his name, but he is awesome! Not to mention, the entertainment is stellar. The performers have a wide array of talents. Each performer can proficiently sing, play piano/​guitar/​drums, beat box, and interact with the audience ALL AT THE SAME TIME. They know almost every song from any genre. They recognize military, bachelorette/​bachelor parties, birthdays, anniversaries, and tourists. The humor can be adult, but never crude. Want to hear your song request next? Better drop a $ 10 or $ 20 to the pianist and he’ll sing your tunes in a jiffy.

I went for my birthday with friends. I love dueling piano bars !!! My favorite thing especially if you go with a good group of people and I did lol. The piano players AMAZING! Justin was our waiter and he was awesome… That’s always good when the waiter is good !!! The bouncers Randy wished me a happy birthday when he checked my ID so that was nice. Some of my friends had never been to the shout house and are looking for a reason to come back !!!
The only the that sucked is our party was so big we had 3 tables and they won’t let you move them together so you can’t all sit «together». I did a lot of twisting and turning that night but hey if that’s the only issue we did pretty good …
Can’t wait to go back and sing loudly at the top of my lungs and yes I’m an awful singer… But no one complains… :) it’s great

A must see stop downtown and especially if you have musically appreciative friends and family visiting that want a memorable night on the town. You can request just about anything to be played and with a tip its get played with a smile and sometimes a playful spin. You can belt out the tunes and even get on stage to celebrate a special occasion or just because… All the musicians are skilled at piano, bass, drums, jokes and some even things you would see on David Letterman’s stupid human tricks. There is bar food, lots of drinks and daily drink specials.
We are locals that love to come here for birthdays and friends or family who come to town. 21 and up unless it’s their holiday fundraiser night (as far as I know).

Pretty awesome entertainment in DTSD. I am a fan of Duel Piano Bar – it has a soft spot in my heart :).
We arrived a little before 9:30 on Saturday night, and the wait to get into Shout! House was about 20 minutes. There was a cover charge of $ 10/​person. Not too bad, but I would’ve given this place 5 stars if there was no cover charge. You’re going to make it up on alcoholic drinks.
Pretty packed house and the pianists were humorous. This venue is a lot more spacious than previous Piano Bars I’ve been to.
Highly recommended and make sure to come before 9:30pm.

Seems like a fun spot but we kicked it for 45 minutes and not a soul greeted us inside or took our drink order so we bounced and went elsewhere.

We went to Shout House on a Saturday night for my first time to visit a dueling piano bar, and while it was not 100% family friendly — there were some songs and acts performed by audience participants that were indecorous-​, it was all around a memorable experience. There’s nothing quite like being part of an entire room full of loud and lively people all singing the same song and having a great time!
Since The Shout House is in downtown, make sure to arrive early and find parking. The doors opened at 6pm on Saturday, so we planned ahead and lined up exactly on time. Attire ranged from casual (touristy/​jeans and sweatshirts) to dressy depending on the groups and individuals. With our reservation, we were let inside promptly and shown a table in the downstairs portion where the stage is located. However, the view was better from the center bar area, so we decided to sit there instead. The show started at 6:30pm, so we had plenty of time to order food and drinks. The upstairs perimeter seating doesn’t have table service, but ordering at the bar is quick and easy. I ordered a burger for $ 14, and it came with the works (lettuce, tomato, onions, cheese, etc.) and shoe string french fries, which were delicious. They even asked me how I liked the meat cooked, which made it feel even more like a restaurant as opposed to a fast food-​type place. The food was delivered in a timely manner, and was a large enough portion to feed two people. Yum!
The piano players started at 6:30 with some cheaper song requests (around $ 3), and the prices started increasing as the night went on. So, if your group is on the more frugal side, make sure you send in your request, special occasion, and some bills early on! The piano players/​singers were incredibly multi-​talented and equally good at reading the crowd and integrating chants, audience members, and games in between song requests. The highlight for me was definitely when James M. led the crowd in a rousing «Bohemian Rhapsody» and played/​sang the entire song. (He was going to save the song for later, but an extra big tip bumped it up to the «now» list… and it was definitely worth it!) Soon after, he and the other piano player switched to the guitar and drums, respectively, and they brought on two fresh piano players to create a 4 man band. I have to say, kudos to them for being able to play multiple instruments!
Sadly, we left early at around 8:30pm, but things were definitely still going strong, and it was standing room only. I hope to go back next time I’m in San Diego to watch James and Melissa (another exceptionally talented singer/​piano player who, unfortunately, was not there that night). Would love to watch them perform again!

«You b — -, you s — , you w — -«.
Hey, that’s my name, don’t wear it out LOL. Be warned: the Shout House is loud, crude & rude. This is not Masterpiece Theater, it’s a place to leave your inhibitions at the door & go have a hella good time. The show consists of dueling piano players who sing and take requests, talk to the audience and invite them onstage. Write your request on a piece of paper, give it to the piano player with a nice tip and your request will be granted, Bachelorettes and people celebrating birthdays are invited to jump up on stage to hit the cowbell or do a sexy dance. Copious amounts of alcohol being consumed releases inhibitions and adds to the fun.
You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to but there is no shortage of willing audience participants. The Shout House is a great place to celebrate your birthday, have your bachelor or bachelorette party or just have some wild fun.
You can either stand by the bar or grab a table near the stage. They serve food here but we didn’t have any so I have no idea how good it is. The staff and the performers are friendly & make sure you have a fun time.

The place was fun, energetic, & a great idea for b-​days, bachelorette parties, etc, but there are some bits & pieces that were a bit bothersome.
Sat. night– b-​day party w/​VIP seating– $ 30 a person. If you have a VIP reservation, you can skip the line.
The party gets:
— lollipops on each table
— some mints on each table
— a $ 10 gift card to use
— a few free passes the next time you go back (unsure of how this works, since there’s not cover Sun-​Wed)
— a ‘come up to the stage’ pass so they can sing a raunchy song
— a few buckets of beer (3, I think)
You can move chairs around, but not tables.
Pros:
— guys & girl who play are good. Entertaining & at times, outrageous if not all that funny.
— highly entertaining, but mostly due to mildly drunk crowd.
— once in a while, there will be a break and the serving staff/​bartenders do a number.
— server was great. Not pushy, but attentive. Somehow made it to our table w/​out spilling anything on anyone or stepping on anything.
Cons:
— songs will not get played on a busy evening unless you’re paying them more than $ 5 to play it. People in our party put up $ 2 each for a few songs (they weren’t weird, or off the wall songs or anything) & none of them were played b/​c other people paid more for 1 song. Essentially, we paid $ 10 for no songs, & other people paid $ 10 for 1.
— pianists auction off the right to stop playing your song (if they don’t like it, or they think it’s kind of a downer). So you basically paid them to play a song & a few seconds later, someone can pay a buck more & boom– no more song. Then they offer to bring it back for a buck more. Kind of suck if you paid more than a few dollars to play the song.
— if the pianist loves country music, they’ll have a tendency to play it more.
— if you’re there for a couple hours, you’ll see the serving staff/​bartender number more than once. It’s the same thing.

I come here all the time.
Pros: No cover Sun thru Wed. ALWAYS ENTERTAINING! I say its one of the happiest places in downtown. The musicians are absolutely incredible. Talented, can play the piano, drums, base, guitar, sing, shoot the s*** all while improvising or making it look like they are. The crowd is part of the show and people are normally good sports about it. I LOVE going here.
Cons: The food isn’t very good and weekends they definitely get packed enough that there is only standing room.
Recommendation — GO HERE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!! Just maybe eat before hand,

Came here the other night, and, standing in line met people from central Cali. and there were even tourists, or foreign students, from Brazil and France. But, I wouldn’t call this place a tourist trap, just an ol’ fashioned great time, once you get in that is.
The line: This was the shortest, longest line I’ve ever been in. There was a group of four and a single guy ahead of us, and we waited about a good 45 min’s to get in. They seat all their reservations first. Cool, but let some others trickle in a little. We got money to spend too! Some got tired of waiting and left, sure some other bar will gladly take their money. Ten dollar cover after 7. Well, we got there just after 6 before they start charging a cover and as mentioned before, waited well over 45 min’s. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we were let in just after 7, once the cover charge goes from zero to ten bucks.
The scene: Awesome! Loud, raucous, fun and engaging. Think of some random song, take your money up to the pianists, and hope they play your song. If they dont, you prolly didn’t give them enough, or, your song choice sucked. Lol.
The food: ordered some pretty good steak sandwich and tasty, crunchy onion rings.
All in all, five stars for your experience once you are in, two stars for the waiting line sitch.
I ordered food from the bar, when it was delivered, we got lucky and found a spot in a corner with barstools. Well, the server asked if I could close my tab at the bar and he would tend to us. I declined since it did not make sense for me to close a tab only to start another. Well, his attitude towards me, and some confrontation he had with my original bartender, made it clear he did not appreciate me encroaching in his area. I just think that was unprofessional and threw another kink in what should’ve been a 5 star experience.

This was even better than I remembered from college… Thank you to the staff for making our first bachelorette stop a huge success. You made me want to ditch our other plan, but that would probably anger my MOH… so I had to part before my song… *sigh*… the only regret.
The reason I prefer this over the SF piano bar is that it’s more of a dinner show than just a bar. You can sit, relax, enjoy the entertaining and talented musicians, as well as their creative humor. As I’ve seen in other posts, don’t be surprised if you hear the F-​bomb thrown around, or some derogatory phrases, usually toward women/​girls/​whores/​sluts. I had to be a good sport when I was asked to ride a strange man while he got on all fours. I mean, that’s funny. And a video that will last a lifetime, I’m sure.
The food is pretty decent, but its your standard American cuisine. They had good tequila, enough people to fill the place by 7pm, and fun props to embarrass the heck out of me and some other bachelorettes. When I was asked to compete against another bride-​to-​be named Courtney, we were given hula hoops, and lets just say she got creative with it… while I stayed true to my youth and kept on hoopin’. They called it a tie (pshhh) but we ended our stage time by singing «Goin’ to the Chapel» and it was quite, quite cute.
You won’t be disappointed by this place, but maybe hold off on bringing your conservative parents or young siblings the first time around. Or heck. Why not. That sh*t be funny!

We were super excited to come here. However half our party stood in line outside for an hour and half, starting at 6:30 (while the rest of our party was inside.) Looking through the window there were empty bar stools and plenty of space to accommodate most of the people in line. Within the hour of waiting, a total of 2 people were let in. Super ridiculous and not a great way to run a business. All the security had to say was when 1 person is out 1 person will get in. Not coming back here.
Within the hour, many people left due to the inconvenience of the long wait including us and our party inside.

What a fun time! And of course it took a friend’s birthday celebration to get us to even step foot inside. We always see the line out the door, and sometimes comment along the lines of, «Is it *really* that great in there?»
Having now been once, I can say, yeah — it’s pretty great.
As I mentioned, we went for a friend’s birthday party, so we had (or were supposed to have) one long bar area with tables specifically for our group. We showed up on time — most of us, at least — and were shown to our area in the back. They had signs on the tables saying that it was reserved for our group, which we thought was a nice touch… until they came around and told us that the rest of our group had exactly 8 minutes to walk through that door before they condensed us down to half of the area to allow others a place to sit.
Whaaa???
So, we all whip out our phones and frantically start texting, calling and FaceTiming. There were two people missing — it wasn’t like half the group of 22 were late. But still, when the last two people didn’t magically appear within the allotted 8 minutes, they came through and loudly (and kind of rudely) started to shepherd us to one side of the area to make room for a group of 4. Now, I know I’m bad with numbers, but how two missing people means that you can fit four new people into a space is beyond me. Is that new math?
At any rate, after a couple of the people tried to make a stand, we gathered up our things and squeezed in together. We were celebrating a milestone birthday, so we didn’t want something small like that to be a mark against the night (side note — the two people showed up about 15 minutes late).
We ordered a couple of pizzas to share, plus some of us (the hubs and I included) ordered our own entrees: steak frites for me and the short rib steak melt for him. We were also loading up on the Guinness (mostly because their other draft beers were disappointing).
Our waitress that night was amazing — how she was able to manage credit cards and names and faces is beyond me. Yeah, it’s her job, but I’ve seen less busy waitstaff fail miserably where she excelled. She was friendly and efficient, and she got back to us when she said she would. Can’t ask for more than that.
The musicians that they have working there are pretty impressive. Having never been, I expected two pianists, and that’s it. But there’s a rotation of musicians, who share space on the pianos and on the guitar/​bass/​drums behind the pianos. Plus, they all sing, and have engaging personalities. We were both blown away by the levels of talent.
Getting a song to be played was a bit of an adventure. We had originally used the song request sheet to ask that they play a birthday song for our friend. I went up there, dropped the slip of paper and our payment of $ 7 (because everyone there was all, «It can’t be more than that per song, can it?») and walked back to the group to wait.
Turns out that $ 7 isn’t enough, apparently. After waiting for over 25 minutes, the group started to get antsy, so one of the guys started a collection. With a new slip of paper (plus a note from me, saying that the birthday girl would hate it, so *of course* we had to get her up on stage) and a whopping $ 35, I set out to put our request on the other piano.
Less than ten minutes later they were calling her name and we were shoving her onto the stage. She was a good sport about it, and the musicians were great fun. We got video, of course, and will have that specific memory for years to come. Just — don’t go in thinking you can get your song played or your friend embarrassed for less than $ 10. (We’ve got some cheap friends, what can I say?)
It was a great night — lots of laughing, LOTS of dancing and lots of drinking. The music was fun and musicians were great. I really am trying to find another reason to go back again soon!

Cashier register dude was not at all friendly and this was our first time here… we were here to celebrate a birthday… that mad mug should be the first impression when you walk in all excited to participate in a fun place.
So first thing first… PEOPLE MAKE RESERVATIONS… I can not stress that enough. I wanted to make a reservation, however I would not get off in time to ensure it. So we came later and it was picked to the gills. I didn’t order food, because I stood most of the night. Luckily my friend and hubby are 6 feet tall. I am a shorty so i was able to squeeze in between people. The guards were kind of mean, they wouldn’t let us stand by certain area, only to see a few minutes later young girls in barely clad standing there the rest of the night… I thought that was a little unfair…
The show itself was okay… they had some guy tear off his shirt and some girl twerk off the piano… they sang a lot of 80s songs, nothing thatI got excited about.
What I really enjoyed was the talented young women with the blond hair. She owns a killer voice and the passion just drips from her hands onto the piano. She was worth seeing, i guess.
The men were okay, perhaps if I do back this will not be the same experience. Until then good night Shout House.

The best place to be drunk in San Diego. There are very few other locations where they allow you to throw money at a performer and force them to play Miley Cyrus. Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a cheap ass, and so my Ludacris requests went unplayed by the performers. I guess you have to throw down a lot more than $ 2 if you want some rap played here!
I’ve been to the Shout House twice now, and both times the pianists have been awesome– super talented with a bounty of songs in their portfolios. This last time we came for a friend’s birthday. This friend of mine is a true performer– singer, dancer and all around badass. Luckily, the pianists quickly realized this, and for her birthday she was not only serenaded by a 6 member boy band, personally selected from the audience, but she also got to dance as the players pounded out some Michael Jackson– moonwalking across the stage to the cheers of the crowd. Proof– your 15min of fame can happen right here in San Diego!
We got to Shout House early to get a good table on a Thursday, not having any reservations. We ended up eating dinner (I had the Ahi, which was surprisingly good) and then took advantage of the full bar to grab some much needed drinks (you will need some, just to get through the early country songs). They don’t have much in the way of drink deals, and both food and drink are pretty pricey, but if you’re looking for some rowdy performing then this is your place! Make sure to bring some cash for the pianos, get here early, and don’t be afraid to make a fool out of yourself.

Pretty fun place for live entertainment!
Although the wait was a little long, all the seating is open so we were able to find a table pretty close to the front. Our server Jennifer came over right away and our drinks were on our table pretty quickly. We enjoyed the music, the banter of all of the musicians and the interaction with the crowd.
The Shout House is walking distance from most hotels downtown. It does charge a $ 10 cover, but it’s a great place to keep you entertained for a night out, a birthday party or just looking for something to do.

I LOVE THIS PLACE SO DAMN MUCH.
It’s a dueling piano bar – I mean let’s be real people, if you aren’t having fun at this place it’s probably because you’re dead.
A few disclaimers though:
1. Every time I’ve gone it’s been standing room only. Make a reservation if you want to sit down near the piano players.
2. If you’re shy/​reserved at all, don’t sit in front. This is an audience participation based experience, so you better wanna participate!
3. Get there before 7pm and there’s no cover & happy hour pricing. You can’t beat that.
4. Parking sucks, but that’s just San Diego for you.
Alright. Saturday night. Grab your friends, get there around 6:30 to avoid a cover, grab a Big Ass Beer, and sing along until you lose your voice. Amazing.

Dueling pianos: super fun. That alone is 4 stars. The food was good as well for the place and price. Ribs are juicy and tender. Drinks are fairly priced according to my friends who drink cocktails.
There are specials everyday and if you make it before 7 it’s free. Great time, great music, great ambiance. You have to come!

Stopped in for a minute to check out the scene… super cool place! dueling piano’s …sweet! i’ve never been to anything like this before and would have loved to stay longer, but I was already on my way to my car and just had to come check it out.
Door guy was super friendly…
looked like every seat had a good view of the stage
bar area was raised up to stage level. but on opposite side of room.
i saw a sign in the bathroom that said free admission with meal purchase next door
gotta come check this out