American Junkie Reviews

Went on vacation in San Diego for my best friends birthday. A friend suggested we go to the gaslamp area to check out the bars. American Junkie must be somewhat new to the area but on a Tuesday night the place was awesome. Stayed out till bar time. Great mixed drinks. Definitely for a younger crowd. I enjoyed my time. Lemon drops were mixed to perfection! 👌

American Junkie is in the Gaslamp District and happily, a ten minute walk from the hotel I was staying at (the Manchester Grand Hyatt). We had no particular plans, and liked the look of AJ. It has a nice patio seating area, fenced in from the sidewalk. It's a great place to just watch the world go by. We weren't feeling all that hungry so just ordered appetizers. I had onion rings and my colleague chose shrimp. Both were really good. Margaritas accompanied the starters and I think I may have had more than a couple, as day turned into night. Just a good vibe, friendly place and great for hanging out at. Would recommend.

We walked through the Gas Lamp area stoking an appetite by reading menus ranging from super expensive and elegant to sleazy. So many choices! Seems like every possible culinary option was available, which ironically made the dinner choice more difficult. We found American Junkie in the middle of the oversaturated restaurant maze. It looked right. The place appeared clean, modern spacious, and welcoming. Surrounded by all sorts of falsetto theme restaurants American Junkie stood out as genuine. The staff was friendly enough and seemed to be cast as a typical cross section of southern Californians. The music fit the decor and was definitely Cali without the cliche. The waitress arrived quickly to take drink orders and the staff delivered promptly on our request for water. So far really good. The menu was straight-up and offered a reasonable selection of pub type food. Drinks were served expediently and passed all taste, temperature, concentration and flavor requirements. As we relaxed into the easy going vibe we had a glance at the dozens of TVs and projectors playing live sports. I wouldn’t have minded some canned surfing, snow sport, action sport or skating although we weren’t really looking for a sports bar per se. But go ahead and hurt me with multiple NBA games and I won’t complain. The establishment proved substantial California cred with their subtle display of skateboard decks which showcased a Roskopp. We ordered salads, a pizza and a chicken teriyaki bowl. They were served in the right sequence and at the perfect pace(not easy to pull off and possibly influenced by luck). The salads were large and fresh and dressing came on the side as ordered. I enjoyed the corn/avocado salad. I don’t think the corn was fresh and I don’t recall if it was charred. There wasn’t much corn and it had its own sauce that was a bit too sweet. There was a lot of delicious avocado and I wasn’t disappointed overall with the salad but I don’t think it won the right to use the ingredient corn in its name. The pizza was piping hot, loaded with veggie toppings and quite delicious. The pizza crust was halfway between Chicago and Brooklyn and tasted fine while supporting the generous pie. No complaints about the pizza. It was good and I wouldn’t change a thing. So that leaves the rice bowl and it was good too. The brown rice was perfect(and why shouldn’t it be). The veggies were cooked, crisp and freshly prepared. And the grilled chicken was lightly seasoned, juicy and served hot with delicious teriyaki sauce. It is our opinion that American Junkie serves good food, in a friendly, interesting atmosphere, at a reasonable price.

Bartenders are racists. I stood in line to get a drink for over 20 minutes and the bartenders took drink orders from people who arrived after I did. They didn't even look at me on purpose. It happened to other Asian-Americans as well 종업원들 인종차별 심해요 동양인 주문 절대안받음 바에서 계속 기다렸는데 절대 제쪽으로 안왔고 제 양옆 손님은 쳐다보면서 저한테는 일부러 눈길도 안주더라구요 결국 주문 못하고 기분나빠서 나왔어요

American Junkie recently opened and has a fabulous atmosphere and great menu. Good food and great prices. Watch sports, play ping pong, enjoy a cocktail.

Like my title says, great atmosphere here. Staff were great and food was amazing. Highly recommended for couples and groups but not so much a family environment.

We were looking for a place to watch The Ohio State football on Saturday afternoon and found the perfect place! The decorations were awesome, the drinks and beer were great, and the food was delicious. Every TV had the Buckeye game on! During commercials they played special music and the crowd even cheered together. It was an awesome experience!

If you are new to San Diego, or you just haven't eaten in Gaslamp in a long time, I recommend you get acquainted with GASLAMP with a Food Tour such as Taste of Gaslamp. On the menu for participants of the Food Tour was All American Beef Slider with shredded cheddar , Pickles on a Brioche mini bun. Side of Truffle Potato Chips. It's a bar atmosphere with multiple televisions tuned into Music Videos & Sports. Friendly crowd & service.

Happened to stumble across this place on a Tuesday and it was $5 for all you can eat tacos. You go through a line and they put either chicken, pork or beef on tortillas shells and then you pile on whatever else you want on it. Tried all three and they had great flavor. Plenty of fixings. Nothing fancy just great food and cold beer. We ate at at least a half dozen Mexican restaurants around the San Diego area and this was by far the best. Place was packed and sat at bar and had great friendly staff.

A sports bar/restaurant concept, I didn't go on a games day, but I would expect the crowd to be really good on games day. I gave 3 stars mainly for the poor service and average food. My server needed to be reminded 3-4 times just to fetch a lime for the corona. One moment she said all the chicken stuff were sold out, the next moment she suddenly said she remembered that the manager said chicken tenders were resupplied. Its not like she is super busy, in fact she was chatting away with the other staff. Food was not too bad, what you would expect from sports bar.

We were waling along and we here a group having a blast. We went inside and sat at the bar. It is a nice place if you want a beer and some food. WE just wend mainly for drinks. Stick to the beer. The old fashion was not so good. Then we came back on a Sunday Brunch to be in the sun on the patio. They had only 1 person working. We sat outside for 15 min. The hostess felt bad a got us some water. After another 5 min we got up and left. Have not been back since. Left a bad taste.

Arrived during late lunch and sat outdoors. Place did not look busy. A couple of tables away was a very loud party of three, so we moved further away. The hostess interacted with us a couple of times, each time informing us a server would be quickly taking our order. After waiting 5 minutes, and not even having our drink order taken, sitting on their hot terrace with noisy neighbors, was a complete turn off! Hostess should have followed up had she been effective at her job. We skipped out and had a perfect time next door at Henry's Pub where service was perfect as was food and beverages.

Had dinner here last Sunday, and while the food was actually really good, the service was atrocious. Our waitress was friendly, but she was clearly overworked, and had little to no help. It took about 15 minutes from the time we sat down for our orders to even be taken, and then another 20+ minutes for our appetizer to arrive. The bbq chicken pizza was delicious, and generously sized. Unfortunately, when my entree (chicken sandwich) arrived, it had bacon on it, which I had specifically asked to be removed. The waitress apologized and informed us that the kitchen had screwed up a number of orders that night. When my new bacon-less sandwich finally arrived, it was ok, but definitely not worth the wait. Fortunately the fries were excellent (double fried!), and my husband’s teriyaki bowl was very good. Good food, but this place needs to get it together.

Just dropped in for a quiet lunch with zero expectation. The food was great and the service was excellent. Attentive, but not invasive. I enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, I got the impression that I was somehow missing out - maybe a lunchtime or brunch special. Everyone seemed high on life - very entertaining. Keep it up - loved it!

Staff were very friendly and accommodating. The nachos were outstanding and very fresh. Good selection of beers. Good outside terrace of people watching.

Stopped in and ordered a drink and fish tacos. My wife had a glass of white wine and quesadillas. Told our server no cilantro. The tacos come with cilantro . I point out I didn’t want cilantro and she says it’s just a garnish, it’s not cilantro. I take a bite and yep, it’s cilantro. Then I confirm with a different server it’s cilantro. I could go on and describe how disgusting the tacos were. The burned quesadilla,and more .......but won’t bother. One of the worst places I have eaten at. Servers could care less.

Multi screen sports, table games (table tennis, foosball, shuffle board, etc.), good music and good food. The service was friendly, but could be more professional and attentive.

As mentioned in the title - we went there for some after dinner drinks ... and to have some fun with friends. So this is the experience we had: -we just walked-in no reservations for us and we sat outside (was our choice) - great San Diego weather allowed it and we had a good time seating out. - they have a variety of food available - but we just had dinner - so we were there just for the drinks. And the drinks list is fairly extensive - so you can choose from a large variety of drinks - I picked a Heineken (getting a little home sick so I went for the European brew) ... but also on the strong spirit side they where pretty well covered. Just an interesting thing we observed - a kind of San Diego thing - they serve the whiskey with a "big rock" - big cube of ice the melts slower and hence you don't get the drink watered up that fast but you have the cooling effect (at least that's what we thought to ourselves) - or to use my friends words -"it's a cool ice cube". Inside they are loaded with TV's so I think it can be a great place to watch games with your buddies and have some drinks during that. Service was very good - everything came out fast and the way we ordered it. So if you are looking for a spot in crazy San Diego - well try the American Junkie - I think you will not be disappointed.

Stopped here for wings on a wednesday, ordered 10 thinking they would be tiny little nuggets per usual and out came 10 huge nearly tender sized wings. Could hardly eat 5 of them. The buffalo sauce was good. The jalapeno honey sauce was very bland and flavorless. My friend had the bbq and also said that was great. Friendly servers. Outdoor seating for excellent people watching.

Drinks are great, food is good. Taco’s on Tuesday are sooo good!! Good stop in the gaslamp for decent food and service.

Such a great bar. The food was delicious and the service was amazing. We had so much fun watching football, playing beer pong and listening to great music. The prices were extremely fair and we will be back soon!

Went on a Monday night and spouse ordered a Washington apple martini and I ordered a mule. 10 minutes later out comes a appletini which we sent back. Several minutes later they came back with a new drink which was just the same appletini except they poured cranberry juice. We sat and waited for the waitrrsss to come back a third time. After another 10 minutes she showed back up. At this time I still had not even received my mule. On a street filled with a huge ammount of amazing restaraunts I wouldn't waste time with service like this.

A great bar. Good food at very reasonable price. Good choice of beer and drinks. Friendly staff and a nice atmosphere.

Came here as a group of four who were in town for a conference. Sunday night and the Gaslamp district was busy. The group wanted to eat outside on a patio and the more popular places were packed as it was after 9 pm. So we walked down 5th and came upon this place. Service wasn’t bad as in other reviews, kind of slow with the food but that was likely the kitchen. The server was friendly and made sure extra beer was offered. I had the chicken tacos which were ok at best. Someone had the prime rib sandwich and that plate was empty. The others had the crispy chicken sandwich and the poblano burger. Everyone had fries. Probably a good place for drinks but will try another place for food if ever back in San Diego.

My family ate dinner here on our last night of vacation. It was one of the best places we went in our nine days. The food was pretty good. We had some apps and I had the taco bar (which was only $5 for Taco Tuesday). Our server was awesome ... with I remembered her name to give her some cred. The atmosphere is casual and fun (they have beer bong tables). I recommend this restaurant if you're looking for good food and a fun environment. If you have young kids maybe sit outside like we did. The pub next door had live outdoor music, so you can enjoy that too.

I ate dinner here after arriving to San Diego for a work conference. The food was really good. I ordered a cheeseburger with fries. They also had a good babe menu and good beer on tap. The service was a little slow considering they weren't that busy, but it wasn't too bad. The atmosphere was a very casual sports bar feel. I recommend this restaurant if you're looking for good food and a casual environment.

We had the Caesar avocado salad.. It had a strong garlic flavor. We also had the chicken sandwich. It was crispy and the fries were great. Nice place for quick bites and some drinks.

I cocktail (11 dollari) non sono male ma il cibo è rivoltante. Siamo anche stati male durante la nottata.. Assolutamente sconsigliatissimo ! The cocktails are not so bad but the food is disgusting..we had a really BAD night with stomach ache later. DO NOT EAT IN THIS PLACE.

After a tiring day travelling we just wanted a relaxed dinner and American Junkie was perfect for us. We got one of the outdoor booths so we could watch all the fun of 5th Ave while having our delicious food and drinks. We shared boneless wings and a pizza. The portion of wings was huge but so good so we finished them and couldn’t finish all the pizza. Our server was a little clumsy but very sweet. We meant to return for more of the wings but never made it back. Maybe next time!

I haven’t eaten a great burger in a very long time. I caught a glimpse of another persons burger walking in, I just had to have one for myself. It was wonderful and the fries were perfection.

Shrimp tacos among the best I've ever had, however my friends ordered the pizza which was quiet under cooked / sloppy, and had a cardboard texture, with a tray/parchment imprint on the underside. I'd suggest learning how to make good pizza before selling it. The place was absolutely rammed with drinkers, which meant that the service was pretty dreadful. Especially when getting our initial order in, it took over 20 minutes. Same issue when paying, took over 20 minutes after receiving the bill to collar someone to come back to take the payment. So yeah, improve your pizza and get more staff and you'll be golden.

We had $5 unlimited tacos from a buffet that were delicious but spicey. A drink purchase is required but sodas are only $2. Great deal. I don’t know what the place is like late at night but the Hooters uniforms, dancing bar complete with stairs, and drinking game spinner wheel hints towards a wild time. During the early evening it’s a fun family place. We’ve also been here for the wings happy hour which was good. I am surprised it’s only been open since Apr 2017.

Great bar and grill setting with an amazing menu. Food is delicious, service fast, drinks were never empty. Huge Tv screens everywhere with any sport you could want. Two bars. Love this place.

Food here is good and on Tuesday they have taco's all you can eat for $5 the service was quick and the bar as a great atmosphere, prices ok music on later.

Loved this cool place for cheap but good beers and margaritas, burgers and baseball on the TVs. Free table tennis and table football too. Corey looked after us really well. Can't fault the food and service.

Went there on an evening when they were running a special for their chicken wings and when they had their weekly pub quiz on. That should explain it. Had couple of good beers and two plates of their nice Chicken wings in different flavours. The service was good and had a great time.

Went on a night when not much was going on, but we had a good meal and great conversation with Brie, our waitress. She was a good waitress, and a very interesting person. The food was pretty decent and came out pretty quickly. The setting looked like it would be good on a more lively night. We really enjoyed our experience.

We stumbled across American junkie during our first evening in San Diego. Initially enticed by the very reasonable drinks prices we were quickly coaxed into the $5 unlimited tacos (Tuesday night deal I should add!). In fairness I didn’t expect much from these but suffice to say they completely blew expectations. A choice of 4 meat options, plentiful fresh salad toppings, cheese and fresh sauces. Fantastic. Add to this $8 margaritas where the bartenders were happy to cater my glass to traditional margarita / chilli coated rim so I could try both and I literally could not fault this place!

The gas lamp district can be a little overwhelming when traveling alone. I found this gem for solo visitors or groups. Staff is super friendly (Sage at the bar was my favorite!), professional and seemed interested in making sure everyone felt special and welcome to enjoy. Fun atmosphere. Good music. Seemed like everyone was having a good time! Being on keto, the Hangover burger was the bomb! Loved it. If you haven’t selected a place yet or are along, this is your place. Go.

My family and I met a second family, 5 kids in all, here during their taco Tuesday happy hour ($5 all-u-can eat taco buffet). The restaurant was loud, but it did have a table that for all 9 of us. The tables are low tables, more for resting your drink on than four eating; they also have high tables, like in a traditional bar. There was also fooz ball and a ping pong table which was great for the kids. The restaurant wasn't crowded at first, but it turns into a nightclub at 10pm, and it got progressively more crowded as the night went on. The food was good, we got onion rings, homemade potato chips, chips/salsa/guacamole, hamburgers, and the taco buffet. Nothing was incredible, but it all was good. There is a decent beer selection as well. The taco buffet did start getting a long line after about 8 pm, so get there early if you want it. They had the standard beef, chicken, and pork on very small, freshly heated, corn tortillas with a variety of salsas and toppings. Lastly, there were tvs everywhere showing many different sporting events. The service was good, and the staff was very friendly.

Great tasting jalapeño chicken, tender and juicy. Killer fries. If you are a people watcher, wait until mid-afternoon when the patio is in shade. Most pleasant and enjoyable. Everyone was gearing up for Labor Day festivities. Service was excellent. Our server, Bree, took good care of us. The hostess sold us on this place. American Junkie is worthy of a return visit.

Great outdoor area, nice to people watch at night in the Gas Light District. Service was really poor but the food was pretty good, so we might go here again on our next trip.

Stopped here by chance as we walked down Gaslamp. The bar is very trendy, with outdoor and indoor areas. There are numerous screens showing different sports. Originally we were just staying for a drink (50% off all drink between 16:00 and 18:00 - 19:00 on Fridays!) but the food looked so good, so we decided to order food too. We were so glad we did - the burgers are amazing! The service was fantastic and we left feeling very well fed, watered and looked after. Thank you so much.

The place was at maybe 40% capacity at 4:00pm Saturday, we ordered two appetizers and two pizzas. The appetizers came separate 30 minutes apart and the pizzas one hour later. When we asked the waitress why it was taking long she said there were 5 pizzas ahead of of us in a rude manner. No water in the restrooms and they were very dirty.

American Junkie hosted the opening party for the 2018 Zombie Crawl and it was insane! The restaurant/bar is very spacious and accommodated tons of party-goers. There was a separate little dance floor and people were even dancing on the bartops! I never thought I'd dance on top of a bar in my life, but the Zombie Crawl brought something out in me and I even got up there for a few minutes! It was so exciting and everyone in the bar cheered me on. The staff and bartenders were super nice and attentive, and served drinks really fast even though it was really busy. I thought the decor was super chic and cool, and I just loved the overall vibe of the bar. American Junkie was an amazing venue and I think it was a great choice for the opening party for the Zombie Crawl!

Beer good, food good, portion size gooood! Service decent, reasonable prices and they also show live sports

This I should relatively new and seems to cater more to a younger crowd. Lots of TV's to watch sports and tables games too. Inside, it's pretty loud at night, but if you can get a table looking out in the street, it's a great spot to people watch. Food was good higher end bar food and about what you'd expect fir casual dinning.

Stopped in for a small bite to eat and my wife and I shared the honey jalapeño chicken sandwich and a order of house made chips. Food was great and the beer selection was great. Enjoyed sitting outside and people watching too!

This is the best HAPPY HOUR in SanDiego! All the tacos you can eat for five dollars every Tuesday 5-7 .

Personally love this place! Stayed in San Diego for 2 nights on our road trip and ate dinner here both nights. Staff (especially on the first night) were very friendly and welcoming! Our server (i think her name was Lily) was so lovely; she even remembered us when we returned on the second night! She was very patient and made us feel very welcomed by going through the menu with us and making conversation. The food here is well priced for what you get and was really tasty (between us, we tried a selection of the burgers and a pizza and all were enjoyable). We sat on a table outside on both nights as it was quite warm for us Brits and wasn’t too noisy. We felt safe from things going on outside of the restaurant. If we were ever back in San Diego, we’d rush back to this restaurant as we all loved it!!

After a long trip, finally in San Diego. went out for dinner in the gaslamp district and stumbled into this place. Beer is refreshing especially the Pacifico, and I can recommend the shrimp quesadillas

In order for me to write a bad review I would have had to have an awful experience. This was it. We were a party of 5 and decided to eat dinner here because our husbands wanted to watch the football games and the outside looked really nice. That’s where it ended. The place was NOT crowded. We had two servers and one food runner. My husband placed a drink order with the server who seated us as soon as we walked in. After a while, he went to the bar to place the drink order directly with a bartender bc no one came back. He was approached at the bar by the lady who seated us asking why he was ordering there vs with our server. It was because we never got a drink. About 10 min later I asked the the male server about the drinks bc they were literally a double bourbon neat and another with Coke. These were not complicated and the bar was Not full. At one point there were 5 ppl behind the bar! One bartender with the Santa Paws sweater and hat was drinking what looked like a dessert martini behind the bar. Our food runner literally brought out our food in increments of 7-10 min. My friend’s wings tasted weird and my son’s wings were the wrong sauce. The pizza was fine. My house salad was literally a bowl of lettuce with maybe two slices of red onion and tomato chopped in. No cheese or croutons or a cucumber slice. Because of how long it took for the initial order to come out we canceled his and he ate some of my pizza. We got both wings taken off the order. Having two servers may have complicated things bc we told one that we had 3 ppl on one ticket and 2 on the other. After 5-7 min she comes back to tell us the manager needed to correct our checks. Turns out the manager is one of our two servers who actually took our order. When we finally got our checks they were split evenly. Not what we asked for at all. I got fed up and left our booth to stand beside the manager to itemize who should have what on each ticket. I did tell him that I’ve worked in a bar and restaurant and this was all bad. He agreed. So to sum up. This is more of a college hangout with beer pong and what appeared to be friends also allowed behind the bar. I would recommend going elsewhere if you want more than a drink.

This must be a relatively new place, since it did not show up in any of my pre-trip research of must-see places in the Gaslamp District. Layout: large and very wide open. Great patio on the sidewalk Food: Very good. Great beer selection on tap. Plus, enjoyed the 16 oz Kona Longboard tall boys. I highly recommend the Honey Jalapeno Chicken Sandwich - just the right combo of savory & sweet

Was in town for the weekend and the family wanted to watch the OSU game, what a great choice! The entire environment was around the game, they must have 60-70 TV's and keep the fans involved the entire time. Great service and food! They had the cleanest restrooms I have ever visited at a sports bar! Fun time had by everyone! If you are going to watch a game, I would recommend arriving at least 1 hour prior to kickoff! PC USA Rating: A+

We just dropped in on this place while walking in the Gaslight district and the food was delicious.my wife had a salad with chicken and just raved about it while I had a sirloin steak sandwich was very tasty. We went here in our last day in san Diego and wished we would have found it easier as we would have gone back again.. Laidback atmosphere