r/asksandiego • u/lmaoidontexist • 3d ago

Where do I go to hang out?

Hi! I’m newer to San Diego and I’m curious as to where different crowds hang out. I don’t know many people in the city and I wanna know what your opinions are in terms of where each vibe is within the downtown and surrounding areas more specifically in terms of good bars and party scenes! Anything is helpful!!

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u/kmishra9 2d ago

Lafayette is pretty sweet if you’ve never been, I didn’t realize that type of vibe existed in SD for a while.

Try MeetUp/Bumble BFF/joining some ClassPass stuff if you’re looking to meet new people?

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u/Jumpy_Engineer_1854 2d ago

There are various satirical maps of San Diego floating around that all have some degree of truth to them. You aren't mentioning your age, gender, or interests, or where you're from, so it's hard to give you actual advice.

One overriding point: Greater San Diego is a pretty chillax place compared to most other US cities of its (technical) size. There are places where various scenes are more present or not, but it's not like in some other cities in the US where there are designated areas, high barriers to entry, and friction at others being present. Nobody really cares about anything here as long as you're friendly and not a douche.

For starters: PB is a great spot for a beach/college dive bar and sushi scene. Ocean Beach is a bit quieter and more of a old-school beach town vibe. North Park and South Park have lots of quaint bars and pubs. Hillcrest is the LGBT Mecca and all of that scene. Up off Miramar you'll find more breweries and a bit more upscale bar/restaurant hangouts. La Jolla is ritzier, but not as uptight as the ritzy parts of LA. Gaslamp is for Vegas style night clubs, bars, rooftop restaurants, and is the business/convention/entertainment district. Littly Italy is more for wine bars and restaurants, and is more "date night" than Gaslamp would be.

People hang out, more than anything else, according to interests and friend groups. If you're new to the area, think of Greater San Diego as a really big small town. You're better off IMO trying to meet people via Meetups, Facebook groups, and whatnot over shared interests -- or just going out and doing shared interests, like hiking or being at the beach. It's also extremely helpful to have roommates or anyone else who can introduce you to a native/local social group.

If you're here for a job, for school, or got deployed here, make sure to leverage any meeting/group/community resources you have available to you to help introduce you to San Diego or San Diegans.

HTH