The Hole San Diego — Restaurant in San Diego

We are from Seattle and visited this gem last year in July. We are big fans of gay dive bars because they usually lack the pretentiousness of a lot of gay bars. As a queer transman and my partner who is a queer cisgender woman, we sometimes are uncomfortable and feel like we aren't welcome in any LGBTQIA+ bars. The Hole in the Wall staff was warm and welcoming to us, made us feel comfortable and truly made us feel like they were happy we were there. The bartender even informed us of all of the upcoming events that the bar was hosting while we were in town. The drinks are strong, but delicious, and fairly priced-especially for a big city. The bar itself has a really cool setup. You walk down a long set of outdoor stairs and enter an outdoor courtyard. There are a lot of tall bar tables with plenty of room to sit and a few rows of bleacher type seating that is set a bit above the courtyard, which lets you overlook the courtyard and bar. The "indoor" section of the bar is still pretty open air, but it does have a roof. Inside you can play beer pong (which we did and it was great fun), play pool and I think darts as well. We arrived pretty early and weren't expecting many people, but were pleasantly surprised as the place quickly began to fill up with people ready to karaoke. We didn't take the stage, but had a fun time watching and singing along. We ended up staying for hours. We still talk about this bar and the amazing time we had. Thanks Hole in the Wall staff for being so sweet...

I highly recommend this bar! I have worked as a bartender for a very long time and I was blown away by the atmosphere created here. The owner has the vision and they know exactly how to accomplish that by hiring the right staff who can make that come alive. It's hard to find a bar where you feel welcome, I felt more than welcome here by the staff. Even the patrons were friendly, lively, and fun! I felt like I could walk up to anyone and strike up a conversation. Beyond that - the prices are fair, service is quick, drinks are made right, and they keep things interesting with pool and karaoke! Also, THE BATHROOMS ARE CLEAN! The whole establishment is just very clean. Also, plenty of security and I feel completely safe here at all times even when the place is packed because security is quick to end any unnecessary rowdyness that may come up, in a very peaceful and respectful manner might I add. Kudos to security.

I have made multiple new friends since being here and have good memories, that's something I haven't been able to say in over a decade since my previous favorite bar was closed down. This isn't just a place to get drunk (support the bar and staff though and order something!) But this is a place to genuinely enjoy a quality night out with some great people.

You won't regret stopping by here. My new favorite place to enjoy a...

Very interesting interaction as we were basically told to leave. My partner, myself, and a friend of ours went out tonight (a Sunday night) for casual drinks and we were excited to try this spot as we all had heard positive things about it through friends and social media. We were quite surprised when we got there at 6:30 to have a man come running out from the back to tell us they just made last call and we should go to another bar, yet there were 15+ people sitting around comfortably, not seeming as though they were about to close because they didn’t until 8pm. We saw online that happy hour was 6-8, so we were quite confused about there being a last call, and even if happy hour wasn’t a thing anymore why is last call being made at 6:30 when the bar closes at 8pm…? We are all in our 20s and got the vibe that we were not welcome(we definitely didn’t feel like it), which was saddening as we were specifically looking for a LGBTQ+ friendly place. I would like to try again maybe on a busier night because it seems like a cool place, but we were all pretty shocked by what seemed to be a lie to get us...