Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

La Mesa steakhouse moves charcoal to outdoor hookah lounge

Charcoal House puts the kibosh on karaoke night.

The Charcoal House's new outdoor hookah lounge draws a younger crowd to the former "Wrinkle Room."
The Charcoal House's new outdoor hookah lounge draws a younger crowd to the former "Wrinkle Room."
Place

Charcoal House

9566 Murray Drive, La Mesa

Sequestered on the eastern end of La Mesa on a recent Wednesday evening, I headed over to the Charcoal House (9566 Murray Drive) with my girlfriend and a buddy visiting from Colombia to dive into the combination bar/steakhouse’s infamous karaoke night.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Over the years, the Charcoal House has earned the (mostly) endearing moniker “The Wrinkle Room,” thanks to its regular congregation of eccentric cougars and geriatric karaoke kings.

But as we approached the bar’s remodeled patio, a hulking doorman assured me, in a tone that would be hard to mistake for anything but defensive, that “this isn’t the Wrinkle Room anymore.”

Taking a seat in one of the maybe 15 outdoor cabanas, we began to see what he meant.

A crowd of 20-and-30-somethings lounged around puffing on hookahs and — though the servers assured me that the steakhouse in the back is still a major attraction — it was evident that the namesake charcoal that was once dedicated to charring New York strips and ribeyes had been rebranded to suit younger crowds who prefer blowing open-air smoke rings to the now-vacant steakhouse and karaoke hall.

These days, the scene and selection is not unlike what you’re likely to find at any of East County’s numerous hookah dens – bubbling bowls of fruit-flavored tobacco and molasses for $15, a selection of foofy martinis at 11 bucks each, a light Mediterranean menu ranging from around $6 to $14, and — on this visit — a three dollar special shot that involved a few ounces of pomegranate juice and a conservative splash of vodka.

This review may be coming off as condescending, and maybe it is.

Truth be told, it’s always disappointing to see a weird gem of a bar rebrand itself into generic, homogenized obscurity.

My own prejudices aside, there was no shortage of customers eager to buy what the place was selling.

At the end of the day, it’s just another chapter in the Charcoal House’s saga – one which includes three structure fires, a 2011 change of ownership, and now, an al fresco hookah hangout.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

The Charcoal House's new outdoor hookah lounge draws a younger crowd to the former "Wrinkle Room."
The Charcoal House's new outdoor hookah lounge draws a younger crowd to the former "Wrinkle Room."
Place

Charcoal House

9566 Murray Drive, La Mesa

Sequestered on the eastern end of La Mesa on a recent Wednesday evening, I headed over to the Charcoal House (9566 Murray Drive) with my girlfriend and a buddy visiting from Colombia to dive into the combination bar/steakhouse’s infamous karaoke night.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Over the years, the Charcoal House has earned the (mostly) endearing moniker “The Wrinkle Room,” thanks to its regular congregation of eccentric cougars and geriatric karaoke kings.

But as we approached the bar’s remodeled patio, a hulking doorman assured me, in a tone that would be hard to mistake for anything but defensive, that “this isn’t the Wrinkle Room anymore.”

Taking a seat in one of the maybe 15 outdoor cabanas, we began to see what he meant.

A crowd of 20-and-30-somethings lounged around puffing on hookahs and — though the servers assured me that the steakhouse in the back is still a major attraction — it was evident that the namesake charcoal that was once dedicated to charring New York strips and ribeyes had been rebranded to suit younger crowds who prefer blowing open-air smoke rings to the now-vacant steakhouse and karaoke hall.

These days, the scene and selection is not unlike what you’re likely to find at any of East County’s numerous hookah dens – bubbling bowls of fruit-flavored tobacco and molasses for $15, a selection of foofy martinis at 11 bucks each, a light Mediterranean menu ranging from around $6 to $14, and — on this visit — a three dollar special shot that involved a few ounces of pomegranate juice and a conservative splash of vodka.

This review may be coming off as condescending, and maybe it is.

Truth be told, it’s always disappointing to see a weird gem of a bar rebrand itself into generic, homogenized obscurity.

My own prejudices aside, there was no shortage of customers eager to buy what the place was selling.

At the end of the day, it’s just another chapter in the Charcoal House’s saga – one which includes three structure fires, a 2011 change of ownership, and now, an al fresco hookah hangout.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.