98 Bottles

San Diego, United States

4.1

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 619-255-7885
Website:
98bottlessd.com
Address:
2400 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA, 92101
b/t Kalmia St & Laurel St
Little Italy
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miMiddletown
0.4 miSan Diego Airport Loop Shuttle
0.5 miCounty Center/Little Italy
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Dessert
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
Live
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Wed, Thu, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Has Pool Table
No

Today

Today 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Diego) 09:07 Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Wednesday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Thursday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Friday 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Saturday 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Sunday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

98 Bottles specializes in live entertainment, fun events, and a lot of parties of all kinds. The menu features great craft beer, fun wine, soju cocktails and healthy but delicious food. With two bars, outdoor patio seating and The Back Room, an intimate entertainment and private event venue, there is always something fun going on. The Back Room houses all sorts of entertainment and events from live music to Painting & Vino. The Back Room is also available for private rental and is a great space for mixers, pop-​up galleries, receptions, fundraisers, seated dinners, or any other social events for 35 – 150 people. The Upper Bar is also available for rental for smaller semi-​private parties.

History

Established in 2011.

When we started planning 98 Bottles we knew two things… we wanted to create a fun and comfortable place for people to connect without TV’s blaring in the background, and we wanted to create a home for musicians and other entertainers. We wanted to get people unplugged, out of the house and into the moment just because spending time laughing and sharing good times is good for the soul. That’s why we called it 98 Bottles, because we invite you to take one down and pass it around, share great times with old friends and maybe make some new ones along the way.

Meet the Business Owner

Jill and Steve X.

Business Owner

Steve was a Broadway performer whose life story is portrayed in the iconic show, «A Chorus LIne.» He met Jill when she auditioned for him in NYC. The two traveled around the country performing, teaching, directing and choreographing. They settled in San Diego in 1992 where they produced for-​profit commercial hits at The Theatre in Old Town for 15 years including an unprecedented five-​year run of «Forever Plaid.» In 2011 they opened 98 Bottles featuring The Back Room entertainment venue, named for all the «back room» spaces the two would go to in NYC to hear great music.

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20 reviews of 98 Bottles

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Chula Vista, CA
I went back here for some before Christmas party drinks. The whole place was reserved with Christmas parties itself, but we were waved over to the bar by the bartender. Four of us shared a bottle, a very good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. I wish I could remember what it was called, but I guess that is the sign of a good night. ;)
This place does tapas very well. The hummus plate comes with pita bread and veggies and three different kinds of hummus. We were all making coo-​ing sounds while dipping into the different varieties. The bartender revealed that he is also the kitchen manager and made the hummus!
You can’t go wrong with a wine place in Little Italy with great service, wonderful tapas, a long list of great wine at good prices, and hidden Doctor Who and Star Wars paintings behind the bar. This place is always a must.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
What a fun little wine bar! I love coming here to play Trivia. Their food is pretty decent and they have a nice beer, cocktails and wine selection. I want not come to a show here, I love their back room!
I will keep coming back as I really enjoy the atmosphere!
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
An adults only place! In a beer town full of tap rooms catering to the family-​friendly crowd, it’s rare to find an adult-​oriented location that isn’t crammed full of strollers. Great beers on tap and in bottles/​cans, knowledgeable bar staff, and an upstairs space for parties.
Place rating: 5
Richmond, TX
I went here for the 3rd annual freak show Halloween party! This place was a great venue the people were awesome, service was great, and the stone brick pizza is on point I’d totally go again!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
We just held our event at this amazing venue, can’t say enough good things about the place! The owner was absolutely wonderful throughout the planning process, and helped us organize a lovely evening. We ordered the hummus platter, a cheese platter, and a variety of flat breads– all were a hit with our guests! (Not to mention the great wine/​beer selection!) The restaurant itself is a very cool open space right in Little Italy. We got great feedback from our guests on the food, bartenders an ambiance… all were a hit. Can’t wait to return for a date night!
Place rating: 5
Escondido, CA
Great atmosphere! Great wine and beer selection! Staff is incredible. The place is pleasantly relaxing and great to go with someone to have a conversation. Put it on your list of places to try!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
I just hosted my 30th birthday at 98 Bottles and it was a great event! I reserved the upstairs bar area and we had a dedicated bartender (Shaunce, but I’m likely spelling that wrong) who was amazing and very attentive to everyone. He handled the partially hosted bar part and helped me decide what to drink next. He was also a huge trooper with my party decorations and wore a miniature hat the whole night. Pretty cool. :)
Tina was also very helpful with the reservation process, and even helped me pick what foods to have out. We ordered flatbreads and cheese and veggies, and Shaunce helped us box up the leftovers, which was really nice. They let us stay and hang out even after the reservation was over and we closed the place down.
It was a fantastic birthday and I’m really glad I went there! We’ll have to go back for their other events.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Such a cute place in little Italy if you are looking for a calmer scene I highly recommend this place! Awesome cheese plate and they have the best Malbec.
My boyfriend planned a surprise birthday for me, the manager Jill is so sweet helpful she saved a table for our party and helped with the cake surprise. I had the best birthday and they also had live salsa dancing in the back room.
Thank you Jill for helping us we had a great time and we will definitely stop by more often.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Came here for Painting & Vino on a Wednesday night. We were in the private Back Room upstairs. They took our orders while we painted. Nice service!
I liked that in addition to wine and mixed drinks, they also had a few sakes on the list. We ordered the Ahi flatbread. The shoyu sauce was a bit overwhelming and messy especially when you’re trying to paint. I would ask them to be light on the sauce because everything else about was very tasty. There’s plenty of space to hang out with your friends and get a table.
This would be a good place if you wanted to host your own party or have a company event.
Place rating: 5
Mira Mesa, San Diego, CA
I wish I lived closer, so I could come here every day and eat their goat cheese caprese salad. Creamiest most delicious goat cheese ever, super fresh basil and tomatoes, and the balsamic was amaaaaaazing! Seriously, I want it again, like right now, at 9AM. My Husband had their chicken salad too, which was also amazing. Very well seasoned, lots of flavors.
The staff were super friendly and fun.
Like I said, I want to come here every day, eat that salad, read my book, and drink their wine.
Place rating: 2
Mountain View, CA
There were two cockroaches wondering around the bar and the place is not air conditioned.
The flatbread and the artichoke dip are pretty bomb though.
Place rating: 4
Rancho San Diego, CA
Stopped in here during a lazy early Sunday afternoon and was looking for something light to eat. I went for the Cobb salad and it came with Salami, instead of the traditional bacon. It also did not come with Blue Cheese as well, but he lovely bar keep took care of that, and brought me a small bowl full, which I quickly places on top. The salad was $ 12.
Their version of the Cobb salad came with Baby spinach, roasted herb chicken, the said salami, tomatoes, pickled onions, avocado slices, and blue cheese dressing. It also comes with hard boiled eggs, but I axed those. The salad was great, and I rather enjoyed the abundance of fresh spinach. The chicken was warm, tender, and tasted of good herbs. The Salami was a thick cut variety and was served at room temperature. The salami was meaty with a good salt level, and almost creamy like. The avocado came topped with a coarse salt which was a nice touch. The blues cheese dressing was good, but the side of home-​made vinaigrette mixed in with the blue cheese was fantastic. Overall it was a great salad, but they have to make with the blue cheese crumbles or at the very least, offer it on the side.
The female bar keep was quite awesome. She was a great conversationalist, quick on her feet, and best of all, she brought me some well needed blue cheese. If you like a good Cobb, check this one out.
Place rating: 3
Pleasanton, CA
Three stars for the variety of beers found on tap at 98 Bottles.
I’d give them even less for running out of that quality beer so early in the night.
Worse yet, the food is pitiful! I had the Chicken Pannini… help me, but that was sad! Worse yet was the overly priced fudge brownie… heavens, that was worse!
It’s an eclectic crowd they attract here so kudos for that… but the food? Go somewhere else!
Place rating: 5
Boston, MA
We absolutely love the food n the people here. Today, we stumbled into this place when our car was parked near there. We heard live jazz n immediately got drawn there by the amazing sound. I hurried n cancelled our reservation to another Italian restaurant and decided to stay. Not knowing what to expect of the food, it didn’t matter. What a musician’s paradise! While my drummer guy admires the talents of music… I was admiring the food also:
Omg.the best chicken pesto panini n flatbread pizza we’re ever had!!! What more can we say… Matt Smith and the Nue Jazz Band really rocked it out! They were so good! Best of luck n many success to them! So many talented people there too. They get to join in to jam with them. We also brought their CD n have been listening to it while driving the Silver Strand, Coronado… n up north towards L.A.
We’ll definitely be back!
Place rating: 1
San Diego, CA
1) wine list sucks
2) beer overpriced — $ 10 dollars for Stone Mutt ale? Comical.
3) cocktails are soju based only
4) food is mediocre.
5) one bartender — long wait for drinks
6) lots of empty space — weird atmosphere.
7) weird vibe — think unemployed hipster
Go someplace else. Save your money.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I think I found my new favorite place to grab a glass of wine in San Diego. There is something magical about 98 bottles. Maybe it is the hearty wine, beer and food list. Maybe it is the friendly bartenders. Maybe it is the relaxed vibe of the entire place. Or maybe it is just a combination of all the above.
I love to come in here and grab a few glasses of wine and some appetizers. My absolute favorite menu item is the Epic Cheese plate. It is $ 16, but I promise well worth it! It is honestly the best mix of cheeses I have had anywhere down here. To steal it straight from the menu it comes with, «Brie with truffle honey, manchego, white cheddar with house-​made caramel, goat cheese with pesto and sun dried tomato, salami, etc.» The white cheddar and house made caramel is quite possibly the most delicious combination I have ever eaten.
Anyways, I could rant about my two favorite things, wine and cheese, all day long. Or I could end my rant and tell you that you should absolutely go and try it for yourself :)
Place rating: 3
Rowland Heights, CA
A buddy came here a few times before for their Thursday Trivia Nights, so I decided to tag along this time. We parked a few blocks away, because street parking was very limited. We got here just in time happy hour (5pm — 7pm) was about to end. Their happy hour deal is that you get $ 1 off beer, glass of wine, flatbread, and/​or rice bowl. $ 1 is a such a small saving, but it’s better than nothing. They have a good selection of craft beers on tap and wine, so that $ 1 saving could add up if you order a few brews. When we first walked in, it looked pretty empty. As soon as trivia night started, more people trickled in. I was pretty hungry, so we ordered the Ahi Tuna Flatbread and Chicken Pesto Flatbread.
Ahi Tuna Flatbread: there were barely any toppings on it. It had more crust than anything. A few tuna cubes were sprinkled on top, but the overall flatbread looked naked. The wasabi crème sauce drizzled on top was delicious, but the overall flatbread was just alright.
Chicken Pesto Flatbread: this was a lot better than the Ahi Tuna Flatbread! Every bite had pesto and mozzarella. It seemed like the toppings were more evenly dispersed than the Ahi Tuna. However, like the other flatbread, there were barely any chicken. If I come here again, I would get the Chicken Pesto Flatbread instead of the Ahi Tuna.
Overall, the flatbreads were really crisp, but didn’t have that much toppings. I wish they added more tuna chunks or chicken, so that there’s a piece of protein with every bite. Also, their food seems slightly overpriced, even w/​the $ 1 off. I would’ve probably ordered more food if it was $ 2 – 3 off. An issue with this place is that it’s near the airport, so a plane could be heard roaring every few minutes. Other than that, 98 Bottles is a cool place for trivia. I wouldn’t come here on a random night, but I’d stop by again on Thursdays for their Trivia Night.
Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA
From the Oxford dictionary:
flatbread (noun; plural: flatbreads)
definition: flat, thin, often unleavened bread.
And yet so many restaurants serve up so-​called flatbreads that are really just thin-​crust pizza in disguise. 98 Bottles gets it absolutely perfect, with its unrisen crust that was delicate crispy perfection, as I discovered last night after a Painting & Vino event in the back room. My painting companion and I ordered drinks and shared a chicken pesto flatbread ($ 15) afterwards, and it really was shockingly large — twice the size of what I normally get at other eateries. Also, there were big slices of white meat chicken. My companion thought there were too many toppings, and I agree it was heavy on top for the lightness of the bottom, but I loved it and would definitely order it again.
I look forward to returning. Not only is this a great place to grab a drink (they even had Vista’s Mother Earth Cali’ Creamin’, one of my favorite summer beers right now), but there are a ton of board games and shuffleboard to entertain yourselves. Also, trivia night on Tuesdays and Thursdays to win bar tabs (get there at 7pm to compete, because it gets packed).
Tip: Check in on Unilocal to get $ 1 off your glass of wine.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I enjoyed my evening at 98 Bottles. The Happy Hour was pretty good — $ 1.00 off my glass of Pinot Noir made my day!
We tried the Red, White, and Blue flatbread which was cheddar, blue cheese crumbles, salami and garlic oil. Super delicious.
The Epic Cheese Platter was completely worthy of it’s title. I have two words for you: truffle honey. So totally epic! Perfect dipping sauce for Brie and bread. There was also pesto, sundries tomatoes and goat cheese; manchego with salami; and caramel covered cheddar cubes.
Overall, it was a good time with good food and drinks.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
I had been here before for another painting event. That night we had tried the ahi flatbread which was different and fantastic. We also tried the chicken teriyaki bowl which was also great. I must say their happy hour isn’t really a HH with only $ 1 off beer and wine. The house wines are horrible at $ 4 whether its their cab or chard. My friend had the unknown house champs which she was ok with. The pear sake is way too sweet. I settled on a pinot grigio I was familiar with. My friend had the Cobb salad which she loved. Salami in the mix I guess and she enjoyed the salty addition.
The back room as they call it is where we paint, a great room for it. Was good all in all. Unfortunately we did not like our instructor, he went too fast and I don’t believe painted in the best way to teach a class. I wasnt thrilled with my final product. Would choose another instructor next time…