Shores Bar + Kitchen — Restaurant in San Marcos

Penny Lane is dead, stamped out like those elongated penny's you buy at amusement parks, but turned into something better.

Inland Tavern has redone the entire place, gotten rid of the grungy British theme and gone for a Carlsbad laid back almost surfer vibe. Contemporary lighting, furniture and a beer menu to be proud of. Where they are lacking is in the food department. When they say small bites, they mean "small". The layout is bigger and more spacious.

Service is always good when the 90's music comes on for the 30 somethings and it makes the 20 somethings uncomfortably young. Bartenders are great (Evan), friendly, so is the barbacks, regularly mixing it up. Price is ok, it sits between Church and Bellows. The menu I gave a fair shake at and it came up lacking. It's all bark and no bite.

You see Poutine on a menu and you get it, but when you realize it's got less fries than you find at the bottom of the bag when you go to a fast food place, your pretty unimpressed. They skimp on the gravy and the curds which are really supposed to be the star of the dish. Fries are good, crisp and fluffy. Gravy is only ok, the term demi just means half, but sounds fancier than it is. Flat bread is really quite good, but the entire dish is about the size of a Samsung Note 4/Iphone 6 Plus. Mind blowingly small. The bread is good, toppings varied, but missing the freshness of a herb'd sauce like pesto or fresh herbs in the tomato sauce used. Fried chicken skins, hell yeah. Super good and super bad for you. I'm a ranch fanatic and this does not go with fried chicken skins. Salt and vinegar would be the only real flavoring for this, maybe some cayenne. The ranch is runny and lacks the freshness of top notch ranches. Go with the hummus, it's cauliflower and light, the best value of the apps. Escabeche is great because they use fresh herbs and they use COP fish, shout out to Tommy Gomes.

Bahn Mi is far more torta, than bahn mi, not that filling or worth $12, that's a steep price increase considering down the street they serve the real stuff for 1/3 the cost. Wings are good, not over fried, of good size too. The sriracha buffalo is too sweet and I'm kind of sad they are missing a lemon pepper. Ginger teriyaki is mellow as is the habanero pink peppercorn. The dry rubs fall short on each flavor, not that the wet are amazing, just pretty good.

They have decent taco's, that's what I think they will be known for. They are large and meaty, but not all that well put together. The salsa's aren't specifically matched to each. Shrimp has great crunch, but is missing seasoning on the shrimp. Carnitas is interesting taking pulled pork, calling it carnitas, peanuts and kung pao seasoning. Carne asad is rich, various colors, textures and probably the best overall flavor. I like the pickled onions on the fish taco, the tempura battering is also nice, but wasn't that impressed with the fish itself, but I'm also not a fan of white fish. Personally I prefer shark for authenticity.

Beer menu is pretty legit with some one's you won't find around here or at many other gastro's. The cocktails are good, but not craft, strong and well made. They are supporting local Ballast Point spirits which I really like.

The crowd is a mix of the old drunk locals and the younger CSUSM crowd along with the Craft crawlers looking to change from their usual brewery runs. They aren't very busy midweek, or weekends and see the occasional party bus. Plenty of parking and a cleaner front façade is very inviting. TV's don't detract or make it feel like a sports bar. Enough side space for dinner, patio space for bunch and a side stage for karaoke.

They lack the signature dishes of other places down SMB , but they do fill a spot that finds Church too grimy, and Bellows to anti social. They are still finding their identity and it's a place filling in the evolutionary gap east of the coastal cities. While I hesitate to call them a gastropub it's a nice...

On Friday 1/18/19, my friend and I were extremely mistreated at the Inland Tavern. At around 10pm, we entered the restaurant/ bar and headed to the bathroom line. There are two bathrooms, both with UNISEX signs. There was a long line of females outside of one restroom, and the second had no line. A few girls used the restroom without a line before us, and once free, my friend and I decided to quickly use the available one instead of continuing to wait in the line outside of the second room. As soon as we entered, there was loud abrupt banging on the door. We immediately opened the door, to have a few men looking at us angrily. I promptly pointed out that there was a UNISEX sign outside of the door. One of the men, grabbed my arm and pushed me out, ushering me in front of him saying "alright, that's it, you need to leave." I immediately said "don't touch me" and tried to ask him why we were being (not nicely) asked to leave. He didn't care to answer, and continued to follow us out with a blinding flashlight on top of us the entire time leading to outside and down the steps. (The man was apparently a manager, of Asian descent). I tried to ask to ask the security, and a second manager that came out why we were forced to leave for using a unisex bathroom. The security said that at night time, the restrooms switch to male/ female.. but there was no sign, notice, or calm explanation.

I will NEVER go to this business again, and I will make a point to ensure this HUGE issue to brought to the authorities. My friend and I were Hispanic, and felt that we were being discriminated against as there were several other girls who used the unisex bathroom before us and didn't endure this mistreatment. The building is no up-to-code if females are being kicked out for using a UNISEX bathroom. It was a completely disgusting and despicable mistreatment. Don't support a business that kicks females out for no reason, is abusive to their patrons, and discriminates against...

Ok, so I went during the lunch rush on a Tuesday, then returned on Thursday. There wasn't more than 10 customers. Food was delivered hot (I highly recommend the turkey sandwich& Pacifico) excellent. If you have an hour lunch and need a break or separation for the stupidity of people you work with/ for I recommend this establishment. I was looking for quick food that wasn't overpriced , where I could have a beer without a coworker watching me eat amazing fish tacos on TacoTue and flushing it down with a Pacifico, this is it. Lunch&Beer under $20, then you tip $5, if your total is $18 then you still tip the $5+$2=$7 don't be a dick, you tip the staff because they asked you 5 times if they could do anything else to make your day go better. Next time I'm within 20 miles of Shores, I'm stopping by. I'll be back. To keep it simple: Shores!? I'd take your mom there, because she's a very nice lady and...