Cow Shed Bar & Grill

Great little dive bar. Some friends wanted to stop by so I joined them for a drink and some pool. Love that they have ping pong, foosball and the punching machine as well. When we went it was a Saturday so that means really… Unique singing during drunken karaōke. It was also someone’s birthday so that meant even more singing than usual as friends tried to embarrass each other. Seems like a lot of locals go in and hang out, so the place feels like it should have a bartender named Sam and any minute the postman is going to go sit on the stool next to you. The bartenders were nice and knew my friends so that added to the homey feeling as well. The funniest part of my evening was when a woman gave everyone in the place cupcakes! That’s the first time I’ve been given a cupcake for drinking but this is a trend I wouldn’t mind continuing!

The epitome of a dive bar, right down to the toilets by the doors used for your cigarette «butts». An obvious locals only place as my group was looked at like we were from another planet. Old and dirty describes the décor. Unless you like to go to dumps, avoid this place

Whenever I think of my worst bar experience I think of Cow Shed. Just everything about it was distasteful.
(However keep in mind this was a few years back.) Though I doubt much has changed. It was so awful though my friends still give one person crap for it since he just picked a bar in San Marcos at random. He always laughs, apologizes and then cringes rembering it.
They had a toilet on the outside of the entrance to use as a desk.
One of the employee’s there was drunk and hitting on as well as making physical contact with the drunk female customers.
The environment was just awkward, raunchy and depressing.
There was a decorative sign that basically said something along the lines of Women not being allowed to speak unless a man gave them permission.
And if that’s not classy enough they had restroom signs read «Standers» and «Squatters».
Then some lady in the little «Squatters room» was just peeing with her stall door open.

Whenever I think of my worst bar experience I think of Cow Shed. Just everything about it was distasteful.
(However keep in mind this was a few years back.) Though I doubt much has changed. It was so awful my friends still give one person crap for it since he just picked a bar in San Marcos at random. He always laughs, apologizes and then cringes rembering it.
They had a toilet on the outside of the entrance to use as a desk.
One of the employee’s there was drunk and hitting on as well as making physical contact with the drunk female customers.
The environment was just awkward, raunchy and depressing.
There was a decorative sign that basically said something along the lines of Women not being allowed to speak unless a man gave them permission.
And if that’s not classy enough they had restroom signs read «Standers» and «Squatters».
Then some lady in the little «Squatters room» was just peeing with her stall door open.

Great dive bar. Stone on tab. Friendly staff.
Who cares if it is tacky and not perfectly clean? The atmosphere is great and the music box has a host of German Heavy Metal choices.

The cowshed… my favorite bar by far. For one, Taylor is a rad dude and always takes care of me when I’m in there. The style of the bar is awesome totally a biker bar with pool tables, a stage, and a ton of odd things to look at! It’s relatively cheap and just a fun place. It’s often hit or miss on how busy it is but I like it that way. It’s not for everyone though. If you like a super clean, proper date night bar this is not it! There are dollar bills on the ceilings, random signs, interesting people, and quite a bit of booze. I forever will love this place.

This place is horrible! I’ve been here twice before so I knew what to expect. A dive bar with grimy & sticky floors, standard dive bathroom, bras and undies on the walls (seriously?) and a rowdy and randy crowd of regulars. This experience was over the edge, I had to review.
A friend and I went to karaōke because the usual Smitty’s was closed. Parked, ID checked and a stamp to verify, got our drinks and put our names in. 7 people sung, doing their thing, as we enjoyed the smoking patio and people watching while we waited. A girl did two songs in a row, so we asked the DJ how long our wait would be. He told us it was short so we ordered the next round and waited some more. It seems that unless you have been going here every night since you were 15 and could drive your tractor into the parking lot to perform a drunken harassment on a woman, you won’t get to sing, while others can perform two in a row. Good riddance.
So I won’t be coming back here. Stiff drinks at a decent price but should be cheaper for a dive bar. A bunch of regulars who get better service? No thanks.

The bald peck**wood bartender hates his life and takes it out on customers. Maybe it’s his whale of a girlfriend that’s got him in a bad mood…

Jesus H Christ… 4 double WELL whisky n cokes = 38 $. I’d expect top shelf at that price or a ride home. If you’re not a regular they price gouge so the $ review reflects that.

Too much fun at this bar, It is the best dive bar in San Diego County. Dollar bills on the ceiling, confession booth, all kinds of unique items on the walls to entertain every personality.
The owner Ray makes the night if you happen to catch one of his performances. This place is unique and rare to fine in California. I bought a t-​shirt also

Love the live music on fridays !
The crowd changes all of the time, great hang out.

Hit or miss– I can’t explain it– it’s either for you or not. That is why there are one star reviews and five. I’ve been going there for 8 years-​ish and the pros outweigh the cons.
Pros:
Cheap drinks
Fun Karaōke
Melting pot at times
Pool table
The employees get to know you and are cool
Hilarious on your birthday! Tell the bartender it is your birthday
Cons:
People are trashed and do shady stuff that makes you want to knock them out. (Yes one time a chick walked by and put her leg up as if she were kicking my husband in the balls– guys pick up on u right in front of your husband– so disrespectful)
Not a lot of parking but there is parking right next to it and you probably shouldn’t be driving anyway!
Karaōke guy shows favoritism– for sure– time and time again. The girl doesn’t though.

About 4 months ago we moved into the neighborhood and so we have driven by the Cow Shed oh about 100 times… kept saying we needed to try this place. The outside looks very inviting and because the wife and I consider ourselves dive bar aficionados when we we finally had some free time last Friday… we took the leap.
Let’s start with the outside is cleaner than the inside ! We walked in and with a quick scan around the place it met all dive bar criteria.
For as large as the place is, the bar itself seemed small and… cozy.
We had to squeeze our way to the far side of the bar and slide between the couple of patrons already sitting there and the wall… bit of a squeeze.
But hey they music on the jukebox was some good ol’ real country music
The bartender (female…I’ll touch on this in a minute) was all kinds of friendly and the patrons… well seemed pretty friendly (despite some pretty boisterous and vulgar language)
So were seated and order some drinks … Drinks were ok. Maybe a bit on the weak side.
What was apparent was that the dozen or so guys that were there were all regulars.
Then my wife leaned over to me and whispered «I’m the only woman in here other than the bartender»… A quick scan… yup she was the only female !
Now suddenly the wife is kind of creeped out… especially when she noticed the guy across the bar giving her weird looks… I never noticed it but she says she did.
About that time the funny old guy (who I found out later was the owner) came over and kindly asked us if we wanted some food …“heck yeah“
We ordered up some munchies: stuffed jalapeños and wings… nothing special, pretty sure they are the ones you can get at Costco.
Then we both got curious about the burgers we’ve been seeing coming out… they looked damn good.
Jalapeños cheddar bacon burger it is. We were both pleasantly surprised, really good, tasty meat, good bread, crispy bacon. Not bad at all !
So in closing the place could use a good cleaning, everything felt sticky, bartenders/​owner were fantastic and friendly, food was good + …
When we got home we looked the place up and low and behold there several other reviews by women who were creeped out by some of the guys there.
We would have to agree that while this seems to be a pretty good dive bar my wife like other female reviews didn’t/wouldn’t feel comfortable going there by herself or with her «girls».

Absolutely the WORST experience here last night. My wife and I are new to the area and were enjoying our first date night in over 6 months. We arrived here at 9 PM and arrived to an interesting but empty bar. We were stoked and sat at the bar to enjoy a talk and drink. About 30 minutes into our stay here, the bar started to get busier and we were approached by a man named Dave who stuck a conversation. We were discussing our child and his grandchildren when a man, ex military, hit on my wife. No problem. She is a beautiful woman. He then proceeded to ask to see her tattoo on her upper back and touched it, without consent. I was uncomfortable as was my wife. The tattooed and heavy set gentlemen then touched her side talking about how much a tattoo on your ribs can hurt. She was very uncomfortable. We asked for a check and settled up. This guy than started talking about a tattoo on his member. Inappropriate to say the least. We left and called our cab, waiting outside next to security. My wife has had some bad experiences in her life and this brought back some painful memories that shouldn’t be felt again.
The service was good. Environment could be cool but the patrons who attend this place suck. My gut tells me that the large tattooed man and Dave work together. It was clear they knew each other. It was a VERY uncomfortable situation that we both wish to avoid. We WILL never visit this place again and I hope that these two gentleman get what they deserve.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to my worst enemy and I highly advise to AVOID this place with your family or wife. Sketchy and inappropriate.
Lesson learned and noted. I wanted to share so no other couple has to deal with that.

This is one of my all time favorite bars! Really great atmosphere, good energy. Love Western Wednesday’s! The owners of this place are real gems! If you’re looking for a cool fun bar I would definitely check this place out!!!

My dad had his 50^th birthday here so it has a special place in my heart! The staff is very friendly and it’s a great place to have parties with large groups. It’s a dive bar so don’t expect amazing decorations but that’s what makes it special. Definitely a fun place to hangout with friends when alcohol is involved :]

The best hole in the wall place in San Marcos. It can be better if they could have live music on the weekends.

Really cool place. Lots of random interesting stuff throughout the bar (like $ 1 bills uniquely signed and stapled to the ceiling, vintage souvenirs etc). They have pool, ping pong, foosball too. Staff was nice and respectful. And fries and wings were great! Will def go back

First Time Visitor.
Great place, but its more of a locals/​family owned and usual suspect type dive.
Played Baseball on the TV,
Line Dancing on the Dance Floor,
and Jukebox /​DJ playing music after.
Heard of this Local Dive,
popped in on a Wednesday looking for Wing Wednesday specials.
Happened to walk in on the owner «Ray’s» birthday.
There was a crowd, and seemed like everyone knew each other.
There was cake too but that wasn’t on the menu lol
Ordered the Mad Cow Burger with an order of wings on the side.
Wings were Spicy BBQ and the Mad Cow Burger was BIG and had double everything. Split this with a friend and it got us full and the wings had a little kick.
I had a stone ipa while my friend enjoyed a moonshine margarita which was
being suggested to us by the birthday boy.
Nice little spot, all kinds of decorations everywhere.
Seems like everyone knew everyone.
Might come by again, but not for those who aren’t into dives,
or afraid of getting lost in place where everyone knows everyone.

Ah! Anxiety! There isn’t one corner not touched with some tacky decoration. I’ve driven past here and always wanted to give it a try. Today was the day. Ugh I love dive bars and I will totally give it some credit because yes I was here mid afternoon and of course it wasn’t super fun.
I just couldn’t stand the smell. The bartender was really cool which is why I added the third star. Also, tons of time and creativity clearly has been put into this place.
The outside patio was dirty dirty gross. The bathrooms were fine.
I don’t know, maybe I’m being a diva but this place just gave me bad vibes and I can’t explain why. I recommend at least walking in though, it’s actually quite hilarious. Make sure to check out all the stapled BRAS hanging on the stage…

Ok… you WANT to come try this place. First of all, you never know the crowd you’re gonna get. Sometimes it’s live music with a bunch of young people, other times is a group of seasoned regulars who will chat and get to know you.
Bekah is an AWESOME bartender and so much fun to sit and chat with. Expect the unexpected here and have a blast.
The bartenders also COOK, so you can order hamburgers, pizza, wings… etc
There are two pool tables and a ping pong table, an outdoor patio for smoking, and tv’s to watch sport and other shows. There’s also free WiFi, so bring your laptop and get a little work done during the day.
FREE POOL on Sundays and Wednesday nights
KARAOKE starts at 9pm on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Live music Saturday nights (karaōke if no band is scheduled)

Last night, after finishing a few Brews over at Booze Brothers, I really wanted to sing karaōke. I pull up the Unilocal app and Cowshed. From the reviews, sounded like a dive bar. I’m in!
The place is a nice size and had a great crowd. There was a stage area where the gentleman was setup for karaōke. The guy who runs it was super nice. His equipment is also top notch! I hate singing karaōke on bad equipment. He kept a fair rotation and everyone had a good time.
My only complaint would be their lack of a craft beer selection. However, it’s a dive bar, what does one expect? They did have Stone IPA, which I enjoyed throughout the evening.
The crowd was pretty awesome and I can honestly say I’ll be back!

I just can’t with this place.
It’s one of those bars that forms a regular crowd and people know each other and are looking forward to getting drunk as all hell together. I understand it’s appeal and have a place like this of my own I enjoy going to. The difference between my place and this place is the Cowshed is GROSS. It’s so dirty in there I seriously felt myself start itching. I’d rather pee in the bushes then go into their bathroom again. I couldn’t relax enough to have a good time.
Oh and getting in and out of there is stupid because parking sucks balls.

Ok, it’s a dive. I get it. Still is an awesome place to go to for a cheap drink though. During football season they give free chili cheese dogs until half time on Monday nights. Free food and cheap drinks. I dig.
The bartender Will is a great guy. Not sure how he bar tends and cooks food at the same time but that guy has mastered that multi tasking.
They have a couple of pool tables and a dart board. If they’re playing music or doing karaōke though you won’t be able to play that dart board though and Monday night is typically when the dart league plays. The karaōke has been alright but it always depends on who’s there because let’s face it, alcohol definitely does NOT make you sing better.
Great place though. Cheap drinks. Cheap and delicious food. The tots are pretty dang amazing by the way.