Soda Bar

I have been to the Soda Bar twice this year for two awesome acts: Wolf Alice and Veruca Salt.
First, the good. Great intimate venue. You are literally in the face of the bands, and if you are there seeing your favorite act, this is priceless. Just a couple hundred people total, I think. The bar right in the middle, and never difficult to get a drink. The staff are really friendly, and I recall the prices being pretty fair.
So why not a 5 star rating? I love this place! The sound i really bad. This really bummed me out on both occasions. I am not sure if is too loud. I am not sure if the speakers just need to be serviced. Maybe the shape of the venue is difficult to work with. I have no idea, I am not the expert in this. But they should be, and the sound quality is horrible. Even right in front, or right in the middle.
Fix that, and Soda Bar will be a solid 5 star venue!

Nice laid back venue with an old fashioned bar and an open (circular) layout. A little off the beaten track which means easier parking than right in North Park. I liked it.

It was a good night, I went there with my boyfriend to see Michael Malarkey performs and I like that place! People are cool, nice and bartenders are very good too. The place is clean, large choice for beers and the location is pretty good too. Anyway, I like that place as you can see!

I need to update my review to 5 stars. I had a problem and contacted the management and they are great!

Awesome place for shows! Great live sound and good drinks. Been coming to this place since it opened and will definitely come back again

Love this spot! I have seen so many great bands and met good people here. This place is a superb music venue; anyone who likes live music should follow their calendar and support the scene.

Nice, intimate music venue with a bar in the center. Awkward setting because you can only access the bar from one side of the room, and the stage is located on a corner on the opposite side of the bar. On the side of the entrance where the booths and bar are, you can’t really see the stage. As another reviewer stated, it seems like the stage was added as an afterthought. I luckily had a seat at the bar, close to the stage. The view was okay, but the sound system could be very much improved. I couldn’t make out some of the lyrics, but the performers were amazing (Gayle, Leroy Sanchez, & Kate Voegele). For the last and main performance (Kate Voegele), I stood close to the stage, but my view was kind of blocked by other people’s heads. The stage is small and low, so you’ll have to stand a while from the beginning to get and keep a good spot.
There were 2 bartenders, and they were friendly and quick. Beers were $ 6 each. I saw someone drink at least 4 martinis in a row; they must have been really good. Overall it was a nice experience, but the awkward layout and mediocre sound system earned this place 3 stars.

This is a great small music venue to get up close to your favorite artists but definitely could use some improvements.
The sound quality was very muffled during last night’s show with three different artists. The first singer had a softer, lullaby-​like voice, so it was hard to discern her lyrics when she performed. The two other singers that followed had louder, stronger voices — enough to power through the muddle of the sound system. They sounded great but could have been even better. Having seen the third singer, Kate Voegele, at House of Blues previously, I knew that the mike at Soda Bar was not giving her the best system to work with.
Soda Bar is a large space, with a long bar separating two areas and a few cocktail-​lounge type round booths facing the bar. I watched the show from the two different «rooms,» facing two different sides of the stage. I highly recommend being in the back room side near the arcade machines, as it has better, less-​muddled sound, cooler air, and is less crowded so you can get closer to the stage. It’s not obvious the room is there when you walk in, and most people also probably don’t notice it as the majority hang out in the main room right in front of the bar. I made the same mistake initially as it seemed the only place to watch the show, but my show companion and I accidentally found the other room after hydrating at the free water station that is kept on the right side of the bar.
Overall it’s unpretentious, easy to access, has a handful of taps for dive bar prices, and is a good spot for indie or lesser-​known musicians. I’ll be back if a favorite artist is in town but wish they could improve the sound system here.

Went to see Jukebox the Ghost at Soda Bar last night.
When we first got here I was pretty excited. A small venue can be a really awesome and intimate experience. The excitement lasted until just after the first opening band started playing. The sound system at Soda Bar is just not good. A shame too, because all the bands that played were good (Secret Someones and Twin Forks both played before JtG).
The vocals for Secret Someone were almost unintelligible and the rest of their sound quality wasn’t great either. A testament to their ability that they still sounded fun and had great energy — I enjoyed their performance but couldn’t get a true idea of what their actual sound was until I got home and looked them up on youtube.
Twin Forks spent a little time adjusting and their set sounded a little better (also great energy, really enjoyed them).
Jukebox the Ghost spent a long time trying to work and get the sound system adjusted better. I’ve never been to a concert where the band had to spend so much time getting adjusted, and you could tell they were frustrated. The sound was better for them than the previous two bands, but still lacked sound clarity. A shame, they’re so great.
It was still a fun show and all the bands did a great job. We ended up having a decent time, but it had nothing to do with the venue. A part of me wished I had driven up to see them in LA over the weekend (and I HATE driving to LA). Wouldn’t go back unless a band I felt really strongly about was playing there.

Did not care for this place. Hipster gone bad.
The layout is funky and it smells like a dirty bathroom.
I would not come back.

A bit of a hole in the wall, but cheap beer (a friend and I drank all night for $ 20) and good music make for a good time whatever the setting. The layout is a little odd, but there’s enough space for dancing and sitting, depending on your concert-​going preferences. It is loud — not by too much, but enough that holding a conversation is tough. That said, fun venue and I’ll def go back (tho maybe with earplugs).

One of the premier intimate venues in San Diego.

For shows, this place is great. Super accessible, nice booths. Long bar. For shows in SD you can’t go wrong as it is easy to get the spot in front of the band that you want. There is really nothing to eat around here, so we ordered a pizza and the staff was cool with letting us bring it in. Took a Lyft home as it was super foggy and couldn’t get a cab. Nice spot in North Park.

Awesome venue to watch great bands. The drinks are inexpensive and it’s easy to find parking in the surrounding area. I am definitely coming back!

Some nights a guys just wants to listen to independent music, in a dark bar, with sticky floors and cheap wells. On those nights, he goes to Soda Bar.
Moving from the home of Sub Pop, to an area that is famous for the Beach Boys can be somewhat traumatic for a music lover. Thankfully, Soda Bar brings a taste of Seattle to San Diego. The only big difference is that the patrons at Soda Bar are a lot friendlier than they would be in the Pacific Northwest. Everyone seems to be a regular, but they are quick to welcome in the new guy.
My only gripe is that they tend to go with quantity instead of quality when it comes to their sound system. I think that they play the music loud just to play it loud, which is kinda lame. I’m just saying, turning it down a few decibels wouldn’t kill anyone…

One of the BEST venues in SD

The bartenders seem like they hate their life. And there’s only one ladies room with a waiting line that wraps around the stage. Blargh. The $ 12 cover for some no-​name crummy band is a rip. Plus they don’t have a full bar. Just the cheap junk

I’m a huge fan of live music, and Soda Bar is an awesome place to see up and coming bands when they’re in town. It’s like a more intimate Casbah with lesser known bands, and a chill, divey feel. The drinks are cheap and strong, the bartenders are always really nice, and when I go to shows alone, I always make new friends. The floors can get pretty sticky by the end of the night depending on the show, but it happens everywhere, so I don’t mind.
I saw King Khan & the Shrines most recently, and it was an awesome show. The crowd was totally into it, and the bad delivered a solid show. I have, however, been to Soda Bar and been disappointed by the band, but that’s not the venue’s fault. It is cool that the stage is only half a foot off the ground, so you’re really on their level when they’re performing. And the openers usually hang out in the crowd or in a booth once they’re done, so there’s a good chance you could chat with the band once they’re done.

Cool little undercover dive bar that offers a interesting/​awkward placed stage. A strong pouring bartender and a great beer selection awaits you at Soda Bar.
I came to see Blue Sky Black Death and love the smaller venues. I was happy rolling in as the place has a mellow speak easy vibe. A small venue that will you have hanging with the act you are going to be seeing on stage. The bar is a decent size and quick to serve a drink.
The stage/​main room is a long narrow hall with some arcades at the end. The opposite side where the booths are your view of the stage is going to be very little or none at all. If your coming to hang out and listen to music then that is where you want to be. If you came to see an artist get yourself up to the front to get a good view. They have some low key good acts coming through. I recommending seeing a show here. CHEERS!!!

Happy hour until 9 = $ 1 off beers. They have some good craft beers along with the usual Guinness and High Life and what have you. Avery White Rascal, Sierra Nevada Pal Ale, Green Flash Pale Ale, Russian River Damnation, Ballast Point Sculpin. I think all those beers are $ 6 — Sculpin might be more, but I’ve never ordered it so I don’t know.
I’ve only been here for shows, and it’s always a good time. The stage set up is kind of weird because it faces the corner of where the bar is, so the crowd kind of gets divided into two sides. It’s hard to explain, but if you go there you’ll know what I mean.
There are also some high tables and booths to snag if you get there early enough.
I’m always glad when I see a band I like is playing here, I’m a fan.