Bully’s Del Mar

Great place to get a quiet drink in Del Mar.
There aren’t a lot of bars that are open late in this area… which makes Bully’s one of the «go to» places in the area. Bully’s has a full bar, and a fair number of beers on draft.
PROPS: Everything you could want from a dive bar & restaurant!
SLOPS: Dive bar in Del Mar? I quite enjoy the vibe of this spot, but I could see the dive bar build out turning people off in Del Mar that are expecting something more «high end.»

Older establishment themed around the Del Mar racetrack. I have been a customer for Forty years. Enough said. Not fancy, but solid steaks, prime rib, French dip, salad and drinks. My children enjoy this place.

Bully’s east is like a Denny’s. You want a classy place with great prime rib Bully’s Del Mar is the place to go.

Local place, décor is ‘historic’ and horse race like. We Ordered prime rib for 2 — which included 2 salads & 2 sides. All was very average & service was good. With all the steak options, in the area, I am not sure I would return but overall it was a good dinner.

This place is a cool old throw back with a real oak bar. The prime rib sandwich was amazing. Order the steak fries extra crispy.

Okay, it’s a given that those who are used to the clorox clean of suburbia may feel out of sorts in Bully’s. That said, if you’re a transplant from a city, the David Lynch décor may give you one of the few local moments that isn’t akin to beach culture, (or money with the stink of tanning oil.)
The bar service was very conscientious. Jen could have easily been confused with a girl who invented ‘nice’ but was too kind to collect on the patent. The pours were old school and the clientele eclectic. I’m told the food is quite good but was only there for a nightcap… Oh, that’s another plus of Bully’s, it’s one of two ‘last calls’ in town if a late sip is in your plans.
It’s also a regular haunt of industry folk in the area… not a bad sign.

I don’t know why people are complaining. Good service, good food (no cold bread), loved the steak, love the lobster. Awesome experience.

This place rocks! Ahi was on point. Abdullah made the evening for us. Great bartender!

Ok so I should’ve trusted the reviews.
This place looks nothing even close to the mission valley location.
In fact I actually had to ask if they were even owned by the same owner.
Which they used to be but they split ways.
This place is a junky dive bar, with washed up locals and the putrid smells of stale sour beer.
The booths are sticky.
The bread was microwaved
We could tell so we decided before we ordered dinner we should try a appetizer. The steak quesadilla was HORRID. How can you screw that up?!
The waitress was nice.
There was a escort and her John sitting next to us which was awkward. The conversation was interesting.
Anyway the food and environment was so bad they’ve got to be kidding with those prices lol
DO NOT COME HERE FOR DINNER

So this was my first time this evening. So pumped to go on my birthday as I’ve heard nothing but great things! I’ll make a long story short. I won’t say it was horrible because after I got passed the almost cold prime rib it was decent but over all the dining experience was garbage. The crab stuffed mushrooms we soo awful. The complimentary bread was stale and cold. And on top of that the beef veggie soup was tasteless and the meat was tough.
I think if I paid an average price I wouldn’t have been so disappointed but it was Ruth’s Cris prices and not a fraction of the service or décor. I get that it’s a beachy old staple but come on.
Anyway obviously others have had a great experience but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone and I certainly would never go back.

Want to have dinner some place circa Mad Men? It has the ambiance of prowling cougars and lounge lizards. Booths of red naugahyde with rows of large brass tacks at the seams and formica tables supported by a single pipe allowing one to easily slide into the booth. A vibe of quiet desperation permeates the room. Shifting eyes and nervous glances; middle aged men with receding hairlines and belts let out to the last notch ordering manhattans and a big slices of beef. The only thing missing at this place is that haze of old cigarette smoke.
Due to the 3 star Unilocal rating, I did not expect great food here — but I got great food. I stayed safe with rare prime rib, the manhattan, baked potato and salad with blue cheese dressing. I demolished it all! It was delicious! So delicious I also had a huge slice of praline pie. I was out of there minus $ 40. A $ 40 well spent! I would have had a second manhattan at the bar so I could soak up the Man Man experience, but I was with people and didn’t want them think I’m a lush. They were drinking St. Paul’s and single glasses or house wine.
Be careful when you go into Bully’s. I read the wine list and was shocked to see they serve Mark West Pinot for a Wednesday night half price of $ 17. Mark West. Mark West is a notch or two lower than Charles Shaw in quality. Stick with the prime rib and traditional cocktails and I think you may survive.
I give this place 4 stars because the experience coupled with the food is worth every star. Think about it; you go on a roller coaster ride to scare yourself right? Well, the ambiance of this place offers something unique that you can experience while you are served some very good food. Just think: lounge lizards and cougars. Name one place where you could expect to go and have a great meal to boot?

I came here on a Saturday afternoon for lunch. The place was totally empty– should have been my first sign that it would be bad.
Everyone raves about the French Onion Soup in these reviews. It was cold and just full of croutons. All 5 people in my party ordered it, no one enjoyed it. We also got the calamari strips. I’m pretty sure it was imitation meat– it was thick strips of «calamari». Calamari is squid, not rectangular chunks of meat. All of the French fries were cold and the salads were just doused in dressing. Yuck!
And to top it off, the coffee was burnt, tasted like it had been sitting in the pot all day.
Our waitress was very sweet and attentive and she ended up taking the coffee and soup off of our bill.
It is also very run-​down and dreary inside. Kind of pathetic. I don’t understand how they are even in business in an area like Del Mar.

The truffle fries are very good, I like the crisp and flavor but I wish they pht more considering it’s $ 7.
It’s fries sprinkled with parsley, has a bit of a garlic and the truffle hillbilly oil taste.
The prime rib steak was really good as well.
I requested medium rare however it geared more to well done.
But the burger is a MUST! Burger was very delicious as well as the french onion soup. The icecream cake & pienapple juice were freaking good too. Geez everything was worth it!

When we come to Del Mar for track season we overindulge. You can find us at bully’s 2 – 3 times/​week. It’s just that good!
I go for the French dip with the loaded baked potatoe each and every time while my boyfriend kills the huge prime rib.
Never anything less than an A+

First time at this Bullys location in Del Mar as we usually eat at the ine East location off of I8 and Qualcom.
Very quaint atmosphere of Del Mar and the street shops and restaurants in the area.
But you have to come here for the corn feed Prime Rib, this is one of the best prome rib cuts you will have and would recommend ordering medium rare to get the tenderness of the beef and soak it with the au jus. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
I would put it up to one of my other favorites in Lawry’s in Chicago.
Service was excellent, but the parking is difficult at best.
These 2 locations are separate because we were given a gift card for the east location and the Del Mar location would not honor it there.
That is okay we will definitely be at the other location when we are back in San Diego.

Great service and food! Our place we come to when we go to the races. Prime rib is good!

The place looks a little run down. They told me they are going to be upgrading the area in the back, but not quite sure when that will happen. The prime rib was awesome.

What is that smell?
Second restaurant in a week that reeks — what’s up with that? Had to take a star off for it as it was really awful.
The waitress was wonderful — excellent communication and very accurate. The warm bread and butter are still very good.
The dinner salads were delicious and came with the best croutons, which they bake daily. The blue cheese dressing was rich, pungent, and creamy and the produce was very fresh and crispy. The crushed pepper was a nice addition.
They sadly no longer offer the crab stuffed mushrooms appetizer, but the waitress mentioned a happy hour special: the beer battered crab stuffed mushrooms and we said alright. They are good. Very good. I prefer the ones they used to have, but the crispy beer batter really adds to the experience.
The prime rib was good; it did not have as much flavor as I had hoped, but the au jus helped. The mashed potatoes came out stone cold, but the waitress immediately replaced it; sadly, other than being piping hot this time around, it had little flavor and was anything but garlicky or creamy. I was a tad surprised to only having one side — I was hoping for veggies as well…
Honestly, the best part of the meal was the service. Our glasses were always full and she was very efficient and friendly. The food was nothing to write home about and the smell was really bothersome.
I couldn’t give it two stars because of the service and because the food was not horrible… Just bland. But this is a very weak 3 stars.

I’ve been coming here for 20 years and it would seem they have lost a bit of their quality. I’m willing to accept an off night, but after reading so many of the recent reviews, it would seem they weren’t just having an off night but their quality is starting to drop.
They are located right in the heart of Del Mar and generally there is free street parking available. During the «off season» it’s pretty easy to get a seat here almost any night. A bit busier on the weekends. But during the season, basically the summer with the Fair and Horse Racing seasons, it’s considerably busier.
Definitely an «old school» feel to the place. Dimly lit inside with big naugahyde booths and a bar area with a big traditional wooden bar counter top. We were seated rather quickly but once seated, we were basically left alone for quite awhile. There was only one other table in the dining area with people sitting down so it was odd that no one even came by to get a drink order. We contemplated even leaving after 10 minutes when someone finally came up to ask about getting us drinks. Figuring this might be the way the rest of the evening was going to go we went ahead and put in our order.
We started off with an order of the Peel-​and-​Eat-​Shrimp. I’ve had this countless times and this time was quite different in the shrimp was very warm. Traditionally it would come very chilled and sometimes even on ice but these were quite warm. The shrimp were large but the cocktail sauce lacked a bit of spiciness. They should put the horseradish back in or give it on the side. I had the French Dip Sandwich. There is no question that Bully’s serves the best Prime Rib but they are cutting back on their portions. It’s funny because they aren’t cutting back on the prices. They used to serve a sandwich loaded with the prime rib meat but now it’s just a couple of pieces. Again, the meat is the best and add a little of the juice and some horseradish sauce and it’s a great sandwich.
Overall, just an average meal. Again, I’ve been going to this Bully’s for 20 years and they are definitely going downhill with their service and food. I don’t know at this point if I would go back. I like the old school feel of the restaurant but unless they improve their service and get back to the great food they used to serve, there are too many other great places in the area to eat.

Go for the prime rib, it’s their specialty. They do it well! This place is not about fanciness, if you want that… go elsewhere. Mondays are a good day to go for the Petite Prime Rid special, $ 5 off. Service is ok.