Cane’s Bar & Grill

It’s to bad Hurricanes, aka «Canes,» no longer exists. I was a big fan of the place, as a local concert venue. It was right in from of the beach in Belmont Park, so it was the perfect place to perform, if you’re a songwriter, or an artist in a band. When I used to be a regular there, it was In the late 90’s, and early 2000’s, The first time I performed there, was on June 23, 1997, during the X-​Games. At the time, my band was performing as «Grynch.» Anyways, it had a decent stage, and nice little backstage area, where bands, and VIP’s could hangout. The building itself was spacious, and had a second story. I haven’t been there in a long time, but it has a new owner, and a new name. It’s certainly not the place it used to be, but I might go there sometime to see if its changed much.

It sucks to write a review for a place that no longer exists. Oh well, that’s what I get for being lazy.
I spent a memorable night here in 2007 watching one of my favorite DJs: Justice. My roommate and I drove 70 miles from Newport to see them on a Sunday night and it was an epic night. We made some friends on the beach during a smoke break, acted like fools on the dance floor and hovered around the bar looking for tail. The show was intense and it was before they blew up the KCRW airwaves, before it was impossible to see them in a proper intimate setting.
Sad to see this place is gone. It was a pretty stank location.

PEACHES SHOW!
Canes is a beachy venue with an upstairs deck, a balcony (if you will), and a ground floor. I was recently there for the Peaches show and although I think she had some sound problems, the show she put on was spectacular!
Cash only with a surcharge for tickets, and the drinks are kind of pricey, but hey its a concert right. They allow you to smoke on the upstairs deck and there is a bar up there as well. The bartender was super nice and he was always on top of the drinks.
Doors opened at 8:00 and we arrived around 8:30 and they still were not letting people in, kind of weird, but whatever we waited I guess about 15 mins and then the doors were officially open. That was my only real hang up and other than that if there is a performance that you want to see, check it out.

I’ve been to Cane’s plenty of times. But-​this time I decieded to Unilocal it.
I visited Cane’s last Saturday for the Strong Arm Steady/​Souls of Mischief/​Andre Nikatina Concert.
I was pretty bummed that «Strong Arm Steady» didn’t perform-[That’s the only reason why I really went].
I was excited to see «Souls of Mischief» too, But-I’ve seen them over a handful of times.
The whole venue was full of Pothead chicks.
Pothead chicks drive me crazy. They are absolutely the worst !
[You’re wearing a Seedless hat, t-​shirt, hemp belt, jeans & shoes, Nice! You worship 4:20 & you like Marijuana. I GET IT !].
The overall atmosphere of any show at Cane’s is «beachy». It’s real mellow & very casual. It’s one of those places where you have to «make the best of it’.
The drinks are OK. If you get shitfaced, it becomes that much better.
If you want an easy lay, go here.

Reviewing the bar:
⁹⁄₂₆ — Went to Mission Beach (MB) for a stroll down the board walk and some drinks before heading to the Gaslamp. I fell in love with the rooftop seating. The oceanview was absolutely beautiful.
The service — Being at MB, I didn’t expect to receive stellar service, just decent drinks. Glad I didn’t expect good service because we definitely didn’t get it. The servers act like taking an order is an inconvenience. It didn’t ruin my experience though, it was such a beautiful day.
The Drinks — I ordered a girly drink. Some piña colada strawberry mix. I don’t know what they put in that thing, but it was disgusting. Gave me a killer headache. Definitely won’t be back for the drinks.

We got «free“tickets to the Platinum Rockstars show at Canes on Thursday.
It was fun generally, we had good tasty food upstairs and the waitress was really wonderful! This is a nice spacious venue, not enough seating but a good place to hear music.
This was the –2 stars:
Free tickets with a 2 drink minimum that you must purchase for 12 dollars. Hum. So it is a free show, but you pay 12 dollars to get in? interesting. Then you get in and… only a few drinks are 6 dollars. A few wines and beers are 5 but anything else is more than 6– which means you pay with two tickets.
We spend some time talking to the bartender at the northern bar (location not origin) and he was rather surly and muttered about the prices and then wandered off.
News alert– 4 people are in a bar and are unable to order drinks. Seriously, this guy had 3 people total bellying up at a long lonely bar and would not serve us. So we go across the bar to the southern section. Nice friendly people and fast service.
Hope Mr. lonely in the northern section is able to survive on the tips that come from the very few patrons that enjoy a crabby and unpleasant bartender.

Reviewing the bar only: never been to a show at Cane’s.
The rooftop seating is one of the best bar-​views in town, rivaling famous beaches all over the country. There’s a little less shade than there ought to be for a full day’s soak, but by the time the sun is inching toward the horizon you’re good to go. The bar atmosphere and service is pure Mission Beach; if you’ve been to beach bars at its bracketing areas, you know what you’ll be getting into.
There’s a full bar, but there’s no question the centerpiece of the drink menu is the house hurricane, available in strengths from category 1 to 5, each with escalations of booze (up to a Vegas-​like 151 float in the Cat 5) for a dollar each. Yes, that puts the Cat 5s at $ 10 before tax and tip. For the outlay, though, these 14-​ounce cocktails are strong.
Food? Well, following the kitchen fire from the summer, the menu isn’t quite what it used to be. So for right now expect a reduced choice of burgers, chicken sandwiches, and stuff that can be fried. Bar food; unspectacular but adequate to soak up the booze before you decide to take a drunk ride on the Dipper.

I’m only speaking of Canes for the nightlife I’ve never tried the food. It’s very spacious but yet on a good night it will get packed like crazy other than that Canes is located in Mission Beach Belmont Park so you get a view of the ocean and smell the sea smell.
The bathrooms are Okay but for the men’s bathroom the urinals stink it’s like they won’t get rid of that piss smell that’s not good in my book.
There are 3 bars 2 downstairs and one upstairs. Prices for drinks are average.$ 4 for a beer $ 8 for a mixed drink i.e. vodka redbull.
I’ve mostly came to canes for events such as Lupe Fiasco, Immortal Technique, and I just came last night to see Dom Kennedy, The Cool Kids, and Clipse. I thought to myself when I came here last night I thought this place was burned down lol.
Canes is a chill spot but I will only come here for events or if I was walking around belmont park maybe a drink lol. Peace Unilocal Heads!

There is a lot of potential here. But I pretty much hate this place.
I’ve seen plenty of shows here, but it’s just one of those places that you regret going to. They make everything difficult.

You have to realize that you can’t be everything — understanding full well that there are some things that go hand and hand and that it takes some thoughtfulness.
That said, I’m not much of a fan of Cane’s being a «club» …but I like Cane’s as a concert venue because:
1) A smaller concert venue — which more often translates to affordable tickets;
2) Ample parking, if you can’t walk across the flat parking lot, lay off one less carne asada burrito;
3) Decent stage, since it allows smaller bands to fill a venue. Often I’ve seen bands just not fill the room with their precense and sadly, they either look overwhelmed by the venue;
4) Correspondingly a decent floor for peeps to dance or linger;
5) For those that woud prefer to observe the floor or stage or are averse to some’s understanding of odor maintenance or personal space, there’s a loft above for vertical observation and tables beyond for horizontal observation; and
6) Lastly, there’s three (3) bars and at least two (2) are open every time to my knowledge.
Mind you, crowded is crowded. I don’t think anyone can control how popular an event is, but as far as local digs, Cane’s isn’t bad for smaller concerts. Booking of the kinds of bands is another issue. LOL
Yeah, Cane’s is an old building and perhaps «dirty» as some say it, but name one building on the beach that isn’t old and «dirty.» If you want something «cleaner» and more visually pleasing on the beach, that’s another conversation.

Are you kidding me right now? Went to a few beach bars today to enjoy the great weather and a few margaritas. Ended up having a few pitchers with friends and a seafood platter and the bill was $ 170. We also ordered four shots of Tequilla because the pitchers were so weak. We were shocked when we saw the bill. It’s not like the service was amazing. We could see into the food prep area where all the waitresses were eating in between taking orders. Pretty unprofessional. Can someone please add a curtain or something? I don’t need to see the work schedule and a sign saying «If you cannot change the propane tanks on the heaters you will be taken off the schedule.»
I know we are not in Del Mar and this is Mission Beach, so lets charge us like it!

Meh! Way overpriced food! A plain small to medium sized burger costs $ 10. It comes with lettuce, tomato and pickle. If you want to add a slice of cheese, that’s an extra $ 1. If you want to add bacon, $ 1. Onions? $ 1. Come on now. a slice of cheese for $ 1?! We said we wanted the burger rare… it came to us medium well done. The ceviche wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t authentic ceviche, but then again, I didn’t expect it to be. The seafood bisque in a bread bowl was ok, but they didn’t put it in a sourdough bread bowl! Everyone knows that soups in a bread bowl are supposed to be in sourdough! Sourdough absorbs the soup better. The bread they put it in just tasted like hamburger bun bread… bland!
They do have a really nice rooftop seating area though… full view of the beach. If I came here again, I would only go during happy hour for cheaper prices, but then again, happy hour is only downstairs and you don’t get that same gorgeous ocean view from the roof.

I’m a fan of Canes. I used to come here ages ago when there were local artists. I don’t go here anymore.
The food is yummy, great atmosphere to be in. It’s also cool to watch people walk by while you are eating. haha.

The view was fantastic. That’s about all I can say that is positive though.
We showed up just before sunset. There were maybe 8 other groups on the roof top. Someone immideatly came to the table and asked us what we wanted to drink. We hadn’t looked at the draft list, so they said they’d give us a minute and come back. About 10 minutes later, we flagged down a server and ordered out first round. Too bad their draft list was outdated and they didn’t have the beers we ordered… so we ordered something else.
The number of parties dwindeled down to about 4 after sunset, yet somehow, no waiter or waitress had time to come check on us. Our group sat around with empty glasses until we flagged down a waitress.
Seriously, the service was terrible, the pint glasses aren’t full pints, and the beers are $ 5.
I left because if I’m going to be sitting around drinking over-​priced almost pints, I at least want good, friendly service. My friends that stayed resorted to going up to the bartender for drinks, despite the fact that we were seated at a table with an open tab.
Fail.

This is a review for the music venue aspect of canes…
I’ve been to cane’s about a million times to see bands perform. for lesser known musicians and local bands, it’s pretty good. easy access and plenty of free parking. they have a nice lounge area and an upstairs, outdoor balcony bar if you want to get away from the massive noise and have a drink or two.
however, i will say that rather than supporting local musicians they force they to buy tickets to their show and try to sell them — or eat the cost.
this place should not book big names, though. i know, i know… it’s all about money. but seriously, they are not equipped for a band that could easily perform at a large amphitheater. i saw franz ferdinand there recently, who put on an awesome show. it was completely tainted by the fact that they let way too many people in (breaking fire code, i’d assume) and everything was delayed. maybe it was the bands’ fault, ill never know. but an HOUR in between sets on a monday night? hmm seems like a scheme to increase liquor sales. which, by the way, worked b/​c ive never been in the presence of such annihilation on a monday freakin night.
what a bummer because i was so excited to see this band perform for the first time. just consider this if you are contemplating seeing a really popular group here… if there are going to be somewhere else as well, id opt for that.

Mmm… fresh chips and great salsa for starters :) The salsa was just spicy enough and the chips were green, red, and yellow!
I got the Chicken Burrito Grande with all the works minus sour cream and it was great. Pretty big portion since I could only eat half. They were very generous with the guac too! Definitely a plus :) My bf got chicken enchiladas with fruit and he said it was really good. IMO, they looked kinda skimpy but I guess that’s just how enchiladas are. I prefer looking at a montrous burrito :) The service was pretty good too and everyone was friendly. My bf kept commenting on the quality of their possible HD tv haha :)

Service was nice, it was busy early on saturday night.
Good food, good drink. Great casual spot on the beach.

Basically a PB Bar & Grill that got lost when his Garmin broke so he parked himself in Mission Beach.
A venue to get buck-​naked drunk rather than having a nice outing. Stick with the beer, the mixed drinks are nasty. Sanitation is an issue as well.

I went last night to see a couple bands. I had a great time. They say no re-​entry. BUT, I had to go to work and come back during the show and they let me in… They were very nice.
Just a heads up to you guys… it’s a bit of a sausage fest when there is a band playing. So, beware of all the testosterone flying around.
I like that it’s a small venue. But, minus one star for being so close that some drunk guy spilled his entire beer on my shirt!

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed ‘Canes yet…
First, let’s talk about the patio bar on the rooftop. AMAZING VIEW! Even in cold weather, this is still one of my favorite places to have a cocktail at sunset… and the 5 different «catagories» of Hurricane’s will always warm me up!
Second, the food. MUCH better than your typical pub grub — I am especially a fan of the fajita steak wrap. it’s YUM to the MEEE!
Then there is the music venue… ONE of my favorite music venues in town — I have seen some of my favorite bands here… and some of the biggest names in the business often play their «secret» shows here, after party’s, or play a show here right on the brink of their arena tours. Coldplay, John Mayer, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Social Distortion Linkin Park are just a few of that caliber… even PRINCE has played here. And the list just goes on and on… The space is beautiful (since the remodel) — and the sound here is usually really good.
Last, the service — every time I have been to ‘Canes — the service has been impeccable. From the door guys, to the bartenders and even management, they always have a smile on their face, and seem to really love working there.
Definitely one of the most under-​rated spots in town in my opinion… and I’ll definitely be back!