Socal’s Tavern

The bouncer with the long beard at this bar is aggressive and over reactive and unprofessional. My wife and I were dancing happily together and she pulled my shirt down a little and we were threatened to be kicked out of the bar. The owners need to address how this place is run. People having fun and purchasing drinks should not be threatened with expulsion… this is a super cool bar with a lots of fun people but if you employ assholes at the door it’s going to be an issue

Made my inaugural visit to Socal’s recently for a friend’s celebration (and as the drinks were flowing freely, forgive me if I forget certain details about the venue. Ha.) Socal’s is a chill little East Sacramento dive bar which, apparently, gets crazy busy on weekend nights. Getting to the bar to get drinks felt a bit like salmon swimming upstream– but once drinks were acquired, they were strong, well-​mixed and cheap. There’s plenty of seats in the main room and the next room over has pool tables and shuffleboard. We all had a blast, with the exception of someone making a poor jukebox choice. To whomever played «Alice’s Restaurant»: my friend, don’t be a jerk. Save that garbage for Thanksgiving.

Came in here with a friend after work one night and wasn’t expecting much. It’s the staff that make this place worth going to. Julie the bartender made us feel welcome and made us some awesome drinks! She’s always keeping an eye out for all the patrons as well. The next time I came in she remembered my name and drink as well. Those type of «old school» bartenders are hard to find these days. Nice and local neighborhood bar. Kinda like Cheers lol.

Run from this dive bar! I’ve been there a few times and never had a patron in any bar tell me to «F-​off» twice for saying, «happy birthday» before the bar tender turned their juke box off before calling authorities because someone played «Straight Outta Compton». And all this after paying to play pool with paid drinks while we listened to Mariah Carey, which I guess was appropriate music, oh wait I just threw up in my mouth. Socal is the number #1 worst bar I have ever entered in my life! There are plenty of other good bars in East Sacramento, so choose wisely. Aren’t bars supposed to be fun?

Big Ed behind the bar set me up with one helluva bloody Mary. Had some good conversation with the regulars and got a history lesson or two on the area/​scene. Will be back for sure.

Pros: Beer selection and lots of room.
Cons: Rude staff, rude staff, rude staff, dirty bathrooms, smells of urine and stale beer, territorial regulars, poor customer service, bartenders have more than a tendency to over serve drunk patrons.

Chill bar in East Sacramento, Jules is a fun and fantastic bartender ! There is shuffle board (people say best in Sac) and 2 pool tables. They have great beers in rotation too. If you want a nice low key neighborhood bar, this place is it.

The divey-​est of bars. Cheap drinks, jukebox, shuffleboard, pool table, darts, what more can you ask for? The dart board doesn’t work but because of this, you get free play.

Great location! The shuffleboard is pretty live! It has little breaks! They have a nice selection on tap and a wonderful list of specials! Will be back for sure! They also have a menu for The Shack across the street.

Great customer service, thank you Stephanie! Also a tremendous amount of love from local folks, treating us homeward bound Seahawks with respect.

Oh yea this is a dive. But there is nothing wrong with that now.
Cheap drinks of course, pretzels in huge communal bowls, and what… free nachos with stadium cheese?! Omg. You had me at hello.
In the back you can lay shuffle board and billiards. Gets kinda tight, so if you’re not playing I’d try not to hang out there. It’s also where the ladies are, which can get awkward if you’re just standing there waiting…
There’s a smoke porch our front, and it’s seriously the tiniest smoke porch ever. But hey, it’s a welcome sight.

Tried to play sunshine the werewolf by Dillinger escape plan tonight. Instead I’ve been met with insipid indie trash all night. I guess I’m just not meant for these times.

I came to Socals Tavern on a Friday night with fellow Unilocalers Michelangelo, Lucy, Evangelina and Jackie because we just had dinner down the street and weren’t ready to end the night just yet.
Parking was easy (street parking) as was finding the place located next to the Trader Joes shopping center. I enjoyed the inside of the bar (I love dive bars) with plenty of chairs and tables to sit at around the bar and at the bar. This was half of the bar and the other half was pool tables and shuffleboard as well as the Ladies Restroom which was awkward entering or waiting for it while everyone was playing pool and staring.
Drinks were good and plentiful, but I wish they served food. I’m not big on eating while drinking, but do like to snack while drinking.
There were a few arcade games and TVs located inside the bar as well as a jukebox that mainly had 80s to early 90s flashback songs. It seems to fit the crowd though because I managed to find the one hip hop song in the dang thing and it stopped everyone from dancing except our group.
Opps…

This is a very cool place for a dive bar. The crowd is a great mix of people… very friendly and easy to talk to. I met up here for a quick drink with some of my friends and we loved the music and the «1990’s-ish» ambiance. I found the lending library that Evangelina mentioned in her review… and yes its pretty cool. I have a few books I will bring next time I come here to set on the shelf for others to «borrow» and read.
There happened to be an Anchor Steam beer special the evening of our visit where you pay $ 5 for any Anchor Steam beer and you get $ 3.50 refills and you can keep the glass. I actually was able to purchase an extra glass for $ 2.00 as well (that way I had pair to take home.)
This is a great bar to play pool and table shuffle board. The only downfall I had with this bar is the fact that the ladies RR is in the back of the bar downstairs near the pool tables rather than in front near the bar and pub table seating, other than that I most defiantly with return to SoCal’s.

Love this place! For all the reasons listed below:
–Almost every day there is a daily special.
–I can walk there from work.
–The have a lending book library! English Lit major here deeply appreciates this.
–Pool tables! And darts but last time I was there the dart machine was broken so you have to write your score manually on a mini chalkboard. I don’t mind since its free!
–Friendly bartenders who don’t mind the chatty bar-​goers, young girls that don’t know what to order, and newbies who don’t know that yes, the little patio is for smoking and yes you can go out there.
I have been here a quite a few times after work and during evening adventures with friends. It’s divey and dark with a very casual atmosphere. Check it out, bring your friends for a couple rounds of 2.50 well Wednesdays, and bring your quarters to play a few games of pool.

Time for a Time Traveling Review… come with me, back through the mists of time… to a long-​ago era known as 2002…
I was living here at the time, fresh back from Seattle, soon to return to my native San Francisco, working a crazy amount, and traveling to the Bay Area when I wasn’t working; my first experience in Sacramento didn’t afford me much opportunity to explore the town. I saw a lot of my office and the causeway as I hightailed it out of town on the weekends.
Shortly before I moved, I made a point to try to get out and explore the town. I drove around and took in the sights and sounds of the River City. In doing so I stumbled into the Socal. It was like something out of a dream. An amazing relic of a bar, seemingly unchanged in 60 years, cool on a hot afternoon, with old timers quietly sitting around nursing beers as soothing music played on the juke.
It was enough to almost cause me to cancel my upcoming move. It was like stepping into heaven. I pulled up a seat at the bar, ordered coffee (don’t judge) and started working a book. (Think it was Log of the Sea of Cortez, maybe? Some Steinbeck…) The afternoon I spent in Socal’s, drinking coffee and reading was magical. Unreal. Like the best dream — the kind you don’t want to wake up from. A pleasant setting that seemed wrapped in a green felt and old-​timey furniture and quiet old-​timers having pleasant conversation. Just a hell of an experience.
Years go by, and I move around, and ultimately end up back in Sacramento. Of course I’ve returned to Socal’s. It’s slightly updated; it seems more crowded, and with a lot more young people. The noise level kind of ebbs and flows and it seems like there are more decorations for… like… Jagermeister and energy drinks and an attempt to focus it as a sports-​bar, but despite all that, it’s still a pleasant place (more so in the afternoons than evenings) to sit down and relax with a drink.
I think it’s a rare thing; an awesome pleasant bar where you can relax. My early bar experiences were lounge type places where you could sit by a fireplace with a coffee and enjoy a book, and I’m always on the lookout for something similar, and this comes close.
The staff is super-​friendly and for those interested, there’s an attached patio for smoking.

I love this place — it’s a dive that’s not too divey. Shuffle board & pool tables, decent priced beers, eclectic crowd. Parking sucks a bit, but c’mon… deal with it.
Never any drama, although I will say that the jukebox gets loud and sometimes people play BS on there just to mess with the customers… I can appreciate the humor, others in my group did not :).

Socal’s a dive bar that’s popular with the student crowd who can take over the shuffleboard and pool tables on many evenings. The activity level can range from totally dead during mid-​afternoon to «call 911» on a Friday night.
Bartenders are amiable and easy going, even if you happen to accidentally set off the fire alarm like I did (hint: place your hand over the speaker and it’ll reduce your embarrassment considerably!).
Smokers will enjoy the enclosed mini-​patio that occupies part of the sidewalk. I don’t think non-​smokers will if it’s crowded, though!
Honest pints of Guinness poured here, served in 20-​oz Imperial pint glasses. Every pour’s «over the line.»
Great for St. Paddy’s Day with genuine (and complimentary) corned beef & cabbage!

Cheap drinks, great bar staff, FREE SHUFFLEBOARD, pool tables, trivia, and juke box. Unilocal — me likes!
I’ve been here a few times and I have enjoyed every experience! The bartenders are great! Super friendly and helpful. Even if you’re not a regular, they make you feel like one! The drinks are stiff and cheap and frequent.
I really like that they have a separate area for the games. Two pool tables, a couple arcade games and, eh hem, FREE shuffleboard. Seriously folks, why is it so hard to find shuffleboard tables?!
The trivia is fun too! I’ve never been much of a trivia player, but I’ve played a couple times in here and had a lot of fun.
I wish I lived closer or this place lived closer to me. Then again, I would probably become a regular so maybe it’s best we only meet occassionally.

We were driving by during a day of running errands and my boyfriend commented that we had driven by a million times and never stopped. SCREEEEECH! Why not today?
It was like 2:00 pm on a Saturday, not exactly party time. The bar was about ¹⁄₃ full with a 50+ crowd watching football and eating pizza (not from the bar, so that’s kind of interesting). When we walked in, it felt like walking in to a friend’s living room.
The barkeep greeted us at once and was super friendly. One thing that I really dig about this place is that they actually have a menu, clearly marked and easy to read, with what they have AND all of the prices. I got a $ 2.50 PBR tall boy and the mister got Boddington’s on tap — Nice!
We scored a table near the smoking patio, which is a hilarious teeny patio on the other side of a sliding glass door, and enjoyed our chilly beverages. The bathroom was clean and stocked, and on my way there I noticed they have an adjoining room with pool, shuffleboard, and an arcade game or two.
All in all it was a nice, relaxing break in our errands and one will be probably repeat in the future. Given the distance, I’m not sure I’ll end up here at night, but I still think this is a pretty solid neighborhood bar.