Bare Back Grill

Best burgers in PB. Love this place and their lunch specials! Burger, beer, and fries for about $ 10. Can’t beat that. Try this place, you won’t be disappointed.

I had extremely DISAPPOINTING AND HORRIBLE experience last night which turned me from a regular client into NEVER GOING THERE AGAIN. I feel the urge to share it with everybody, and my hope is that this gets to the owners.
My friends and I went for dinner on a Thursday evening (not the busiest time of the week, right?) and were given attitude from the beginning, while waiting on the list to be seated, for asking to verify we are getting a table. We were seated at a corner/​window table and a waitress took our order. While waiting for our water and fries we noticed that the neighbor table which was seated after us was getting their drinks and food before us. They had finished their appetizers and we still had not gotten ours. The food runner was attending all needs and questions of our neighbors but we stayed on an empty table. Waiting. I tried to make an eye contact with the food runner but he ignored me. The third time he stopped at the table next to ours I politely waved my hand at him to gather his attention. He looked at me and sharply told me to wait a minute. He finally stopped by after three more runs to our neighbors’ table. He first told me not to wave at him anymore, hadn’t I seen how busy he was, and then asked me what I wanted. I was shocked but kept my tone of voice respectful and said we had ordered French fries and we hadn’t gotten them yet, and if he would check for us. He turned and said nothing else. In a moment he tossed the fries on our table and threw some plates at us as we were dogs. Then we went back to waiting for our burgers. And we waited, and waited, and waited. I made a joke to my friend that this time I won’t wave my hand but I will try to catch his attention by making an eye-​contact. The first time he passed by, he ignored me. Second time he passed by, I inquired, saying «Excuse me?» — he ignored me. Third time he passed by, I waived and said «excuse me» again. And oh, you should have seen the look on his face — what an unhappy miserable person this was, and evil, and hateful. If he could, he would have killed me with his eyes. Our other friend had arrived 10 minutes ago and nobody had come to attend her. That’s why we were trying to get somebody. It was getting late and the restaurant was getting empty. The food runner rushed to me and angrily started yelling at me asking me if I can’t see how busy they are. He called me RUDE several times. In this case, I said, we WON’T COME HERE AGAIN so that they/​he are never so busy ever again. I was pissed. I asked to speak with the manager. HE GAVE ME ATTITUDE AGAIN, then made his way telling us he will call «her.» The manager who was in no rush to come see what was happening, finally came by — surprisingly it was the same waitress who took our order initially. She first took our friend’s order and then told us she is the manager and without asking what had happened, she stared talking to us offensively and stated we had been rude to her staff since we had arrived. She turned and left without saying anything else. My friends and I were in total distress and shock. THE MANAGER OF THE PLACE WAS CALLING US RUDE!!! That was unacceptable. I was ready to get up and leave the place immediately. The only thing that stopped me was the fact my other friend just got her food and she had to eat. We could not believe what happened. This manager lady was unsuccessful managing not only her employees but herself, too! This is unheard of! What kind of manager is she??? We were done with this place and was looking to order the check when another lady, a blond one, came by saying she is the other manager there and asked to tell her what happened. She was polite. We told her the story. She kept apologizing and trying to justify and defend the other two staff members but she did not convince us. Saying that on Thursdays they have half the staff and that’s why they were having difficulties was NOT OUR PROBLEM — this is THEIR MANAGEMENT PROBLEM! I expressed my disappointment as a regular customer and sincerely offered my advise to take this occasion, make and apply changes so that this never happens again with future clients. I hope this message will reach the owners and they can take measures. In our opinion, the food runner and the waitress-​manager should be fired for their unprofessional demeanor. Everybody has hard and busy days at work, but one must question their capabilities when they choose to work as service providers. And if they are not suitable, they must look for other job opportunities.
The mediocracy of the food runner and the waitress-​manager at the end is what convinced me I am not going there again — the fake food runner’s smile after he had ruined our evening, and the «Thank you & Sorry» note on the zero balance check brought to us by the waitress-​manager are NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE ME EAT THERE AGAIN.
Food, btw, was excellent, except for the undercooked burgers.
Please, Management, don’t try to contact me to edit my feedback — I will not.

Best burger place in San Diego. I am never disappointed at their burgers, which come with chips and fries are sold separately, :(. They also have great seasonal local beer on tap. Our server, Adam, was super cool and checked on us frequently.

Favorite spot for quality natural burger or chicken. Very tasty and great casual atmosphere. They do take time to prepare your order so plan 10 – 15 mins for that.

Came here for cocktails and snacks.
Food: Ordered hot wings and sweet potato fries. Very happy with both. Food was delivered very quickly. Wings were crunchy on the outside (we had sauce on the side) and still juicy on the inside. ½ lb comes with 3 wings and 3 drummettes. Sweet potato fries had crumbles of blue cheese on it. Wish it came with a special dipping sauce, besides just ketchup at the table.
Drinks: Loved that they had a special holiday cocktail menu! Kudos for that. Some great cocktails on there. Ordered the hot buttered rum and hot chocolate — both not bad, but a bit «watery.» Bloody Mary’s are really good here as well. Good for beer and cocktails.
Overall, pretty good. Nothing that knocks your socks off, but good and consistent. Would come back, especially for those wings!

I can’t get enough of this place. Literally every sandwich I’ve had is amazing. The BBG sauce makes every burger better… especially my fave Hogs & Heffers burger. Put on a side of sweet potato fries with blue cheese and I’m a happy girl.
Their beat the clock mimosas are a great deal. Breakfast is solid. Such a fun way to spend a weekend morning.
The only downside is parking, but you’re likely having a couple drinks anyway, so just über. :)

I think these are the best burgers in PB, and I don’t give that away lightly. I love the options, and have tried most of the menu (even the veggie burger) and have loved everything!
I think the standouts are the Queensland burger, and the bleu cheese covered fries, so good! Great beer selection, friendly staff and great handling of even pretty large groups! Love this place, and recommend to anyone looking for a great gourmet burger and good beer selection!

Absolutely hands down the best burger in San Diego. Prompt and friendly service! Shout out to Kristen and Lauren. A place is only as good as its employees for an overall experience and this place has it locked down. Keep it up Bareback Grill!!! Definitely coming back and telling friends.
*Atmosphere is chill and relaxing. Love the décor and the wood work with live edge table tops.
*Only thing I can think of that I dislike is sometimes it gets really crowded but that’s just good business and it’s worth the wait. P

This place delivered! The only bummer is, we were headed out of town so I couldn’t get a flight of beer! Next time for sure.
I got the hogs and heffers burger, lettuce wrapped and it was perfect. Cooked medium, delicious beef, loaded with bacon, cheese and avocado and of course lettuce, tomatoes and pickles! Kids split a grilled cheese and it was big and tasty. Hubby had a lame burger… that’s what he likes :)

I love this place! It was go to spot for lunch or dinner when I lived in Pacific Beach. It’s conveniently located next to the beach and boardwalk. Perfect for a quick bite or drinks after a day at the beach. They offer outdoor and indoor seating. I surprised to find out they now offer breakfast until noon with great drink specials that go past noon.
My favorite item on the menu is the Cluck and Squeal, it has grilled chicken breast, bacon strips, tomato, lettuce, avocado, awesome aioli sauce and their special BBG sauce. This time around I ordered the Wake and Bake which is a grilled swordfish sandwich topped with an amazing spicy coleslaw. Defiantly coming back for more of that! As usual I always order a side of sweet potatoes topped with blue cheese crumbles. I splurged this time and ordered their delicious onion rings too! If you haven’t tried this place check it out! Two locations one in Pacific Beach and you can also find one in downtown San Diego.

Lamb Burger subbed blue cheese for pepper jack & who would’ve thought that blue cheese pairs so well with sweet potato fries and wasabi mayo dip. Food was fresh and seasoned well, staff was friendly, very chill environment.
This one girl’s shrill of what I think may have been giddy laughter? even brought the kitchen staff to the window with the O_​o?! OMG/​WTF looks on there faces that mirrored mine, my friend and other patrons eating at the bar counter.

I am a PB local and I have heard such good things about Bare Back, so I thought I would give it a try. Service was very good, our server was very attentive and greeted us as soon as we sat down. I got a bloody marry and it was AMAZING. The mix was the perfect balance of spice, and it was only 3 bucks! My boyfriend got a Cadillac margarita and that was also very good, the bar tender defiantly had a heavy hand (; !
Aside from the drinks, the food was also pretty tasty. My boyfriend and I shared a burger, and some fish and chips. The burger was so yummy, the fish and chips were decent (not the best I have had, but still good).
I will be back!

It’s a decent bar with decent food. Gets very crowded here. Brutal parking in this area. I was trying to catch up with an old friend visiting over dinner and drinks and they sat us 2 ft from the live singer. Major pain in the ass having a conversation here. Too loud. Patio looks like the place to be at night. Menu is actually interesting. Nice array of seafood, some cool looking lamb dishes and a solid beer line up. I started to second guess them executing these dishes and last minute played it safe. I got the fish & chips and a couple Sculpins. They have good happy hour deals and nice looking daily specials.
Fish & chips were decent. Fresh fish and decent batter, but the fish kept falling right out of the batter. I love fish & chips and theirs is around average. Their steak fries are too thick. Only because they can’t cook them all the way through. Got solid uncooked chunks in the center of most of them. Especially the big ones. If they cut them a little smaller, they’ll be good. I said «decent» way too many times and that pretty much sums up my experience as just decent.

Normally, my feelings about the actual food at restaurants on Mission Blvd is mixed. Great bar scenes but typically mediocre food. So I was hesitant to try Bareback Grill, but I was gifted a groupon so I stopped in!
I love their flights. 4 tasters for $ 8. I loved trying a great variety of less common local craft beers. Yum!
For dinner, we ordered the Queenstown burger and the cluck and chuck to share. Let me start with the burger. It was really good! If you choose to get a burger here, get one with the BBG sauce. It kind of tasted like a mix of barbecue with tomato. Whatever it was, it was delicious. Especially on their tasty focaccia like bun. I also definitely recommend going with the Edam cheese. I had never heard of it before but our waiter described it as similar to Gouda. So good!!!
I was, however, disappointed by the chicken sandwich. The chicken was pretty dry so I focused more on the burger that we split.
Fries are separate. The sandwiches just come with chips. It was definitely a little pricey with the cost of the additional fries but still good! I don’t know if I’d come here without the groupon discount but I did really enjoy the burger that we had!

This is a NZ/​Aussie-​themed restaurant with the appropriate décor and is also reflected from the item names on the menu such as Kal Maori for calamari — I enjoyed the brilliant word play here!
The vibe is your classic casual open air sports bar by the beach with bar outdoor seating if you want to catch some ocean breeze, perhaps with your dogs or ferrets too. They’ve got two small TVs behind the bar and a bigger screen on the back wall. The place is not big so depending on where you sit you might get to watch all 3 TVs, well pointless if they’re all playing the same channel…
Food was pretty good here! Could be better but decent for bar food. We particularly enjoyed the lamb burger that was what I consider a creative burger. It had a delicious patty of lamb, strips of beets, cheese, mint jelly and of course the runny egg that we felt compelled to add! Delectable, but what a mess when we’re eating it! If you have a weak stomach, I strongly advise not to take the runny egg because it was at most cooked over easy (or you can specify how well you like it cooked). The haddock fish in the fish and chips was excellent! Flaky and scrummy fish meat with crispy well-​seasoned batter. However, the batter at the bottom of the fish was soggy including its adjacent fries as well. Definitely need some improvement on the deep-​frying and oil-​absorbing skills.
Service was efficient and pleasant. Very chill crowd and really good lamb burger, all in all great experience.
Get the groupon if you can!

Date of visit: 5÷29÷2015
Cam and I went to Bare Back Grill on Friday to celebrate a great end to Bike to Work Day. We also had one of their Christmas surprise gifts, so we were hoping to win that snowboard (or at least a free burger). We won the burger, but according to our server, the snowboard has never been won, so if you have one of those Christmas gift envelopes, take it in before June 30^th!!!
Bare Back can have hit or miss service depending on the crowds. At 7pm on a Friday night, I was expecting slower service, but their kitchen staff and our servers were ON FIRE. Everyone was super friendly and the food came out quick (important to me since I was super hungry). There’s usually open seating in this restaurant, so the host who greeted us suggested that Cam and I sit at the end of one of their communal tables.
Emy: Queenstown Fave, no onion, no cheese, cooked to medium. My burger was cooked perfectly and my requests were met to the T. The patty was cooked with just enough pink to know that it wasn’t overcooked, but warm enough to know I wouldn’t get sick from the burger. The brown (homemade BBQ?) and white (homemade mayo?) sauces complement the patty perfectly and the bread is great. Since we had sweet potato fries too, I only ate half the bread, but that’s a personal preference. The only thing I didn’t like were the complimentary chips and pickles. I hate wasting food, but I had no intention of eating either, so I felt kind of bad when the server was picking up our plates.
Cam: Average Joe, no onion, no tomato, add blue cheese, cooked to medium. I know Cam loved his burger since he literally ate it in 5 minutes (yes, I was counting). We’ve come here before and his burger was overcooked, but today, it was spot on.
Shared: Sweet Potato Fries (small) and Rough Draft Amber. The sweet potato fries are great to eat with the burger. They are served with blue cheese, which Cam gobbles up, but I avoid like the plague. The small is definitely more than enough to share between 2 people. The beer was also great. I love seeing local breweries featured on Bare Back’s draft list.
Overall Bare Back is great when you’re looking for a good burger in PB. Their prices are definitely higher that Five Guys down the street, but it’s probably because of the organic ingredients used in all of their dishes. I’ll pay to support that!

All natural, grass-​fed beef burgers. Been here a bunch of times and always a great place to grab a burger and beer. Burgers are typically more dry because grassfed beef is more lean, so don’t expecting a fatty burger. Definitely flavor from the grassfed beef though.
***Goods **
+ Lots of variety of different burgers
+ lots of cheese to choose from
* nice location right by the beach
* craft beer on tap
**Favorites **
* QUEENSTOWN FAVE — more of a classic bbq style burger. their sauce is homemade and not overwhelming sweet
* SHEILAS CRACKED — the egg sunny side egg makes the burger but definitely makes it messy.
* BARE, BIG & DIRTY — get this if you’re hungry. you won’t regret it.
* Sweet potato Fries — its hard to go wrong with these.
** So So **
— Burgers get messy.
— sides are extra
** Service **
+ Waitress checked on us a frequently throughout the meal and we sat outside.
+ Food came out quickly as well and it was almost a packed house.
Overall, i’d come back. It’s a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for in terms of quality.

I’m not really one to order burgers at a restaurant, but after trying the Fergburger in NZ and being told this was the closest thing to it, I had to try this place.
The burgers are great, but both times I’ve been here, the service has been slow and my food has been semi-​cold, which definitely ruins the quality!

Have recently visited on a couple more occasions and had a change in heart for this establishment. While in a great location, a good atmosphere and good happy hour specials. The base menu for what they offer and what you get for your money is a little more than we care to pay on a regular basis. While I love their pretzel, $ 10 is a lot to pay, and being that price I wouldn’t think you would charge me for a side of ranch to dip it in…
That being said, I would give an average rating. I like going here, they have a good selection of drinks, and if visiting during happy hour a reasonable deal.

The sliders I devoured coulda given Rocky’s a swift kick in da chops! Little ninja-​turtle shells of meaty-​mayhem packin’ a punch like Pacquiao. Like Rocky’s, limited seating, but hey, that’s life. Got a decent seat at the bar even though the joint was crowded, which turned out to be the best seat in the house w Carlo bar tending. A truly generous man who knows his way around a drink.
I had the ‘Tequila Drink’, a special concoction not found on the web’s menu. Couldn’t find the ingredients of it on the web or elsewhere. Suffice it say, it was the prefect companion to the setting PB sun’s golden rays.
Burgers/​Sliders: I always order ‘however the cooks eat them’. And you should too. You’ll get the best flavor, (as intended by the cooks) and they won’t resent you for ordering it well-​done. Mine was so meaty-​juicy-​seasoned-​perfect that I fell in love right there, warranting a certain return trip!
Beer selection: A bit limited but considering the available space, forgivable. For what they do have it’s varied incredibly well and transitions weekly. Plenty of local unique IPA’s, Porters etc. Try any of them. Get out of your box.
Spicy Strawberry Mule: Drink this at your earliest convenience. Do not pass go. Do not collect $ 200