Best of 2003: Best North County Dive Bar

The Boardroom Bar
109 Diana Street, Leucadia
760-634-3415

The Boardroom Bar's been spiffed up and there's a new marquee in the shape of a surfboard. But the old "Cocktails" sign still blinks against the sky. Back in the 1990s, when it was called Our Place and Patsy Cline sang "Crazy" on the jukebox until it drove you out, the disrepair got so bad that rain gutters were installed inside to send the water out the door. Ceiling fans still coax the sluggish air around the two pool tables that dominate the dimly lit room. On summer nights the scents of beer and eucalyptus still collide in the tiny parking lot and trains still roar past just across Highway 101...and you can still lose yourself amid the noise of guys telling tales about the latest south swell at Beacons or Grandview.