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

The appeal of 98 Bottles

Choose from about 20 rotating taps, six-packs, sake, wine, soju... agave wine, and local, organic appetizers.
Choose from about 20 rotating taps, six-packs, sake, wine, soju... agave wine, and local, organic appetizers.
Place

98 Bottles

2400 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego

Taking their name from a twist on the drawn-out folk song (the 99th bottle presumably being the one in your hand), 98 Bottles lends its own flourishes to the bottle-shop/beer-lounge arrangement that is on the rise around town — especially in its Little Italy neighborhood.

The lounge invites you to choose from about 20 rotating taps, bottled-brew six-packs ($1.75 to $7.99 each), sake, wine, soju, agave wine, and local, organic appetizers (including some of the best homemade kimchi I’ve ever had at $2 a plate) to enjoy in their polished living-room atmosphere, but it’s the Back Room that sets 98 Bottles apart from other shops in the area.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“My business partners are from the theater world,” says co-owner Chris Hjerling. “They used to perform on Broadway. Back in the day, lots of clubs had live-music places behind their bar. We wanted a big back-room space where there is something always going on.”

Perhaps ample spectacle space is only to be expected from a trio of owners including the former owners of the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town and Hjerling, whose eclectic history most recently saw him managing the traveling cadaver anatomy exhibit, Bodies, in Hawaii.

The Back Room’s lineup includes regular installments of Painting and Vino — an art class paired with wine — trivia, CD-release parties, fashion shows, private events, and jazz nights, many formerly presented by the renowned Dizzy’s (check out Robert Bush’s Jam Session blog reviews for more).

Ditch the cover charge for a free monthly concert presented by the Homegrown Hour, San Diego’s longest running local-music radio show, showcasing up-and-coming talent. This month’s presentation features Caresa Lynnett, Sunday Hustle, and As the Crow Flies on Friday, January 18.

Street parking is readily available and is free after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday. Airport Parking Garage is a few blocks away at Kettner and Laurel ($9/24 hours).

Anticipating the arrival of three new bars down Kettner, Hjerling says, “It’s such an art-and-design district. It’s definitely the burgeoning area of San Diego.”

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m. ’til midnight. Last call for to-go beer, 10:30 p.m.
Happy: 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday and all day Wednesday — $5 off bottles of wine; $4 drafts and house wine; $2 off sake samplers, big bottled beers, and flatbreads; $1 off wine and sake glass and rice bowls
Cards: cool

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Next Article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
Choose from about 20 rotating taps, six-packs, sake, wine, soju... agave wine, and local, organic appetizers.
Choose from about 20 rotating taps, six-packs, sake, wine, soju... agave wine, and local, organic appetizers.
Place

98 Bottles

2400 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego

Taking their name from a twist on the drawn-out folk song (the 99th bottle presumably being the one in your hand), 98 Bottles lends its own flourishes to the bottle-shop/beer-lounge arrangement that is on the rise around town — especially in its Little Italy neighborhood.

The lounge invites you to choose from about 20 rotating taps, bottled-brew six-packs ($1.75 to $7.99 each), sake, wine, soju, agave wine, and local, organic appetizers (including some of the best homemade kimchi I’ve ever had at $2 a plate) to enjoy in their polished living-room atmosphere, but it’s the Back Room that sets 98 Bottles apart from other shops in the area.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“My business partners are from the theater world,” says co-owner Chris Hjerling. “They used to perform on Broadway. Back in the day, lots of clubs had live-music places behind their bar. We wanted a big back-room space where there is something always going on.”

Perhaps ample spectacle space is only to be expected from a trio of owners including the former owners of the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town and Hjerling, whose eclectic history most recently saw him managing the traveling cadaver anatomy exhibit, Bodies, in Hawaii.

The Back Room’s lineup includes regular installments of Painting and Vino — an art class paired with wine — trivia, CD-release parties, fashion shows, private events, and jazz nights, many formerly presented by the renowned Dizzy’s (check out Robert Bush’s Jam Session blog reviews for more).

Ditch the cover charge for a free monthly concert presented by the Homegrown Hour, San Diego’s longest running local-music radio show, showcasing up-and-coming talent. This month’s presentation features Caresa Lynnett, Sunday Hustle, and As the Crow Flies on Friday, January 18.

Street parking is readily available and is free after 6 p.m. and all day Sunday. Airport Parking Garage is a few blocks away at Kettner and Laurel ($9/24 hours).

Anticipating the arrival of three new bars down Kettner, Hjerling says, “It’s such an art-and-design district. It’s definitely the burgeoning area of San Diego.”

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 5 p.m. ’til midnight. Last call for to-go beer, 10:30 p.m.
Happy: 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday and all day Wednesday — $5 off bottles of wine; $4 drafts and house wine; $2 off sake samplers, big bottled beers, and flatbreads; $1 off wine and sake glass and rice bowls
Cards: cool

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
Next Article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader