Rocky's Crown Pub — Restaurant in San Diego

Rocky's is a dark and dimly-lit cash-only dive bar in Pacific Beach with uncomfortably flat, hard, round bar stools. If you stumble into Rocky's at lunch time, even on an off-season Wednesday like I did, it's going to be way too crowded. I don't care if they're serving the best burgers in the city (they're not - that would be "Balboa Bar & Grill" hands-down, don't @ me about this), this place is too cramped and congested, the wait for a simple burger and side of fries is too long, and I felt claustrophobic and cranky throughout my time here.

That said, there are redeeming qualities to this operation. The cheap 1/3rd pound cheeseburgers are indeed excellent, even if on the greasier side of the burger spectrum. Here, the burgers are served with a slice of red onion, a slice of tomato, pickles, and a flat piece of crisp lettuce. Ketchup and mustard are provided on the side. The untoasted squishy sesame bun is not my preference, though it does allow the meat to be front-and-center, as it should. The patties here are "airy" for lack of a better term, and packed very loose, resulting in an exceedingly moist burger. Charring of the meat is minimal, and I suspect these are not grilled at a high-enough temperature to get a crust - perhaps an intentional decision to prioritize "juiciness" over "flavor." I muchly enjoyed my burger here. It was different, though in a good way. I also enjoyed the fries, which were ordinary, and didn't need to be more than that for the price I paid.

But, again, I waited 32 minutes for my food from the time I ordered. Prior to that, I waited 10 minutes for a seat at the chaotic bar. The waitress was congenial and friendly, but this is a harsh venue for a meal nonetheless. Also, there is nothing on the menu other than burgers, fries, and booze.

It's been over a year since I went to Rocky's, and I haven't been back - whereas I've been to other burger joints such as the aforementioned "Balboa Bar & Grill" and "Hodad's" several times over in that same timeframe. I'm sorry, Rocky's - your burgers are spectacular, but I'm a busy man and can't abide the long wait combined with being physically...

Today I went over to this establishment because my girlfriend found it online and we wanted to try it out because it really looks like a cool place to eat and drink, well unfortunately we were not able to enjoy. We were having a little bit of trouble finding parking so we parked behind the establishment where it said “customer parking only” but it did not say for what bar or restaurant, so we decided to park there and ask inside if it was ok to park there or move. Once we got inside Rocky’s pub the first thing that happened is that a large man (for lack of a better word), I believe he is a waiter there, asked for our ID, something normal because it is a Pub, but when we showed him our Mexican passports he made a weird face and just handed them over back to us and walked away, I found it a little bit rude that he didn’t have good customer service and showed us to a table or maybe ask us if we wanted to sit in the bar if there were no tables available, he didn’t do anything just walked away, so I followed to ask him about the parking situation and in a very rude manner he told me “we don’t have parking here you have to find somewhere else”, since I’m not from the area I asked if he knew where I could park or if he had any suggestions and he replied “I don’t work for the parking department” and started giving me a “lesson” on where I could and could not park, basically saying that I’m ignorant or shouldn’t be there, I don’t if he was having a bad day or something but I don’t think that is the correct way to treat new customers that find establishments like these and want to try it out, I believe that is very bad for business. My one star reflects in the customer service that this person showed, the place still looked like a cool pub that we would like but after that we decided to find somewhere else to enjoy our afternoon. I believe you (Rocky’s pub) should train your employees a little better in customer service because this can even be misunderstood as not wanting to give service just because we our not locals or United...

You can’t be a true foodie and not appreciate the simplicity of a burger and it’s a good thing that’s all they do here. You want bacon, gtfoh, you want chili, gtfoh, you want RANCH, gtfoh, you want something cusom, gtfoh.

Once you come here and see they have a beer combo with burger and fries, you’ll wonder why there is even any other kind. Always go with the ½ lb versus 1/3, trust. It’s not that the 1/3 is small, but it’s about proportions to the other ingredients. Cheese is proper cheddar and the fries are perfectly cooked. You gotta have that sesame seed bun. They are generous on the pickles and onions (red’s so be prepared to possibly remove some). You can add peppers afterwards. As much as I’d like a bigger burger I do find that it’s a perfectly sized burger and doesn’t need a diaper and if you’re not trained in the proper burger eating arts technique you could still mangle it to oblivion. The burger patty is hand formed and little crumbly

Best burger in PB, or should I say this side of the bay. It’s one of the top burgers in the city. CASH ONLY, no bitcoin or cc you bunch of yuppies. It’s good eats at a good price. One of the best parts about Rocky’s is no kids. First off it’s a pub and this burger is too good for their grubby little hands. Go early, best nights are mid week or you can order pickup, but then you can’t get the burger/beer combo and what fun is that.

It’s usually pretty busy and communal seating, so make friends over your burgers and beer.

Décor is casual, plenty of tv’s, maybe slightly dated sports bar vibe, service is high volume but decent, but don’t be that person trying to fancy up a cash only minimal menu burger experience. I’m a huge ranch fan and though I’m not that guy, I’ve seen people bring their own, though they do offer sriracha and tobacco which imo are maybe less classic than ranch, but that’s my own...