Magnolia Tap & Kitchen

I walked by today and it looks like they may have shut their doors. I did like this place though so giving it five stars.

Totally mixed feelings about service at MT&K but the food has saved both trips. Great bar set up looking out over the street, yet both times I was there they ran out of my favorite vodka (no, not because of me. Not that I didn’t try!). Bartenders and servers seemed a little lost on both occasions, but were friendly and on top of your refills. I love the spot and overall had to award a 4 star rev because I just like the place regardless of the hiccups.
WHEN YOU GO– Fish and Chips are spot on. Crispy but not too thick batter, moist delicious fish and perfectly done fries. Pecan salmon and Chorizo burger are winners as well. On the edge of east Village, the area is coming up with lot’s of new spots– I really hope MT&K makes it there. I’d love to keep this place on my regular Gas Lamp rotation.

Great atmosphere and those wings are to die for my husband couldn’t even finish his drink because it was so good and he had to drive home. We came in on a Groupon and will most definitely be back.

Came here for pre drinks and grub before hitting Parq… kitchen was closed by the time i arrived so i ate some of my friends food (thank goodness!)
had a feeling of de ja vu… then realized we were here a couple years ago for a Unilocal event!
service was nice…
food was yum (had the mac n cheese)
drinks were stiff!
nice to know that it’s right by Parq… i’ll use this as a meet up from now on!

I’ve been coming to Magnolia for about 7 months now. I’m a little apprehensive to tell people how great this place is, because I want it to be my own little secret. But this place is my go-​to after work spot. Their happy hour kills it. The food is incredible, and affordable. Their craft cocktails and beer selection are so on point, I love it. Not to mention if the bartenders aren’t too busy they will create something special for you– with all FRESH ingredients. The manager Aaron is super friendly and nice, always checking in to make sure everything is to my liking.
Awesome food, staff, service… and drinks… did I mention drinks? …sip.
This place is as legit as it comes.

Nice atmosphere. Drinks are unique — great choices!
The parking outside is only 1 hour.

A big part of me wishes that I don’t tell people how incredible this place is. I want it to be my own personal secret and not let people know how freaking incredible the bartenders are, entertaining the servers are, delicious the food is, and how this place makes me feel like I’m Peter Pan returning to Neverland and the Lost Boys welcoming with open arms. Okay, I don’t understand that Peter Pan reference myself but let’s just say that Magnolia makes me feel good, especially my favorite drink of 2015, the «Boston».
On my first visit here, I had just celebrated my 100^th Old Fashioned and wanted a different drink but I still craved bourbon so our awesome server asked our brilliant bartender to make a lil sumthang sumthang and it ended it being a twist of a Manhattan. It’s a 6 second count of bourbon, one full boston bitters squeeze, 3 count of Dolin Blanc vermouth, ½ oz of green chartreuse and a blackberry for garnish. I only put this recipe here on Unilocal just so you can order it yourself if they forget. Anywho, I’ve had 6 now in my life and am hoping to reach the same 100^th milestone with these Boston’s.
As for food, the kitchen is a magical place that whips out delightful delicacies my mouth can’t stop yearning for. But my all time favorite is the chorizo burger… the human tongue can’t begin to describe how wonderful it is when you pair it with a Boston and chase it with the duck fries and finish your stomach off with a pecan pie slice!

I love everything about Magnolia’s. I was introduced to this place for happy hour and fell in love with the craft cocktails and delicious fries. Everything here is craft concocted. The food is made with unique flavors and the drinks are cleverly mixed.
They have a great happy hour special with cheap fries, wings and drinks. However, check groupon for deals because they are regularly on those sites. For dinner, I’ve had the burger a few times and it never disappoints. It’s juicy and full of flavor. I also really love the fish and chips!
While I’m there, I love sitting on the patio. They have a quaint inside seating area but it can be fun to people watch outside.

I came in on a drizzly Wednesday night and it was pretty dead. The drink selection is very extensive, and I decided to get the Murphy’s law which I was told was the least sweet of all of them. It was made with gin and was pretty good.
For dinner, I had the BBQ pork sandwich. I inquired about the Cole slaw and was told that it was a unique style, not prepared with any mayonnaise. That’s all I needed to hear. The slaw meshed very well with the ample serving of sweet and juicy pork. The thick cut fries were also very tasty.
It’s a bit pricey, but the food was very good. Our server was great, and offered suggestions on what to eat and drink. I’d have no hesitation coming back to try some of their other offerings.

While visiting San Diego, my friend and I found this place online and decided to check it out before hitting up paint nite… all of the food, drinks, and staff were awesome. We split 3 items, wings, roasted Brussel sprouts, and shrimp and bacon for our meal… pure heaven on earth! The Brussel sprouts were crazy good and had little bits of crunchiness from the glaze in the cast iron skillet. And the pork belly… hot damn! The décor is wad super cute. A great experience and I definitely recommend!

Decided to eat here after grabbing drinks at El Dorado since the bf was suggesting we try somewhere we haven’t gone yet for a light dinner. Found a Living Social deal for $ 20 worth of $ 40 of food, so ok great. Walked in around 7:30−8, and the place wasn’t too busy. Having walked by a few times, I never expected how spacious it was inside.
Since we drank quite a bit at El Dorado, we only got a beer each (boo for running out of Cali’ Creamin’ on tap). I honestly don’t remember what the bf got, but I got Fall Brewing’s Jazz Hands Berliner Weisse (our waiter Michael gave me a taste as I wasn’t sure about it). It was surprisingly refreshing, so definitely a thumbs up in my book.
Unfortunately, my drink was the highlight of my meal. To eat, we ordered the prime cut chili w/​habanero cornbread and bacon mac & cheese. Both were quite disappointing and surprisingly bland. As a few other reviews I’ve read have said, the habanero cornbread was more of a jalapeño cornbread with little to no heat. I don’t now if my bf just ate all the bacon in the mac & cheese before I got to it, but I was expecting to have bits of bacon throughout the dish and not just on top. The texture and consistency of the dish were spot on with what you’d expect of a good mac & cheese, it’s just a huge let down when the flavor doesn’t match. You would think with all that cheese that the dish would have lots of flavor, but I was left looking around for a salt shaker.
Not sure if I’d be back… maybe to try the pecan pie?

Came here for a holiday party, which makes this review way overdue, but needless to say it needed to be done. The entire firm was beyond happy with a) the service, b) the quality of the food, and c) the space/​ambiance of the restaurant. It was a great location for a work event and I believe it was their first time hosting an event at that time (closing the entire restaurant) and they did great. Place is renovated from when it use to be the old Bare Back Bar & Grill. Think brick, metal, and wood plus those nice white subway tiles in the bathroom.
Best part about this place is their dry rub chicken wings. They are fried and the skin was nice and crunchy with the inside moist and juicy. The dry rub combined with the fried wing had a delicious flavor. Wings were a bit spicy but still delicious.
We had so much fun we returned for happy hour, which is from 3−6pm daily and you get get their wings for a buck, $ 4 local draughts, $ 4 well drinks, and $ 6 wine and special cocktails.

Interesting place — though as my friend would put it– a bit like purgatory in between a bar and a restaurant. So if you’re looking for that something in between– this is it.
Our hostess/​server was really nice, though the busser seemed to be act like he was bussing a super-​busy restaurant when the restaurant was less than half full. I nearly laughed when I saw the look on my friend’s face when the busser asked/​cleared his plate while his fork was still mid-​air.
The food-​good, but slightly better than what you would get at a bar. Was looking forward to the Brussels sprouts — and though they had good flavor– seemed to be overly drenched in it and well– soggy. The chicken and waffles were tasty– the wings were very well flavored, but for the price and what you get (4 wings and a waffle about the size of an EGGO, cut into four) — not something to write home about.
The shrimp and bacon– pork belly looked dry and if it weren’t for our two appetizers– think my friend would’ve asked for a burrito pit stop on the way to the RAW Artists show.
My portabello sandwich was delicious, but once again, not enough to pay it a second visit.

Eh. I bought a Groupon for Magnolia because I live in the area and am always up for trying the various restaurants nearby. We made a reservation for 6:30 on a Saturday night and when we arrived were a little surprised to see how empty the place was. That was a bit of a red flag but we continued in and sat down anyways. I had a glass of wine and my boyfriend had one of the craft cocktails.
The service was very friendly and attentive but I will say the food was sub par.
We had read a ton on Unilocal about the Wings & Mac n Cheese so of course, in the name of clean eating, we ordered both. Many people on Unilocal said these are the best wings and the best mac n cheese they’ve ever had. I am sorry but I can no where near agree with that statement. The wings were okay. Well seasoned, but small and very dry. I would prefer Bub’s or Dirty Birds wings any day over these. The mac n cheese was nothing special either. We didn’t even eat more than a few bites each, not worth the calories. It lacked flavor and anything to make it unique. Sad face.
We also had the brussels sprouts which I am a huge fan of everywhere. These were okay, but I honestly can’t even remember what they looked like or came with because again they just didn’t stand out.
After ordering wings, mac n cheese and fried brussels, of course I ordered a salad. (It’s like ordering a big mac with a diet coke, I know). I had the Salmon Kale salad which was good. I didn’t use the dressing so I can’t really comment on the salad’s overall taste (I know I sound like an idiot with that statement). It was nothing I would feel the need to go back for.
Basically, Magnolia was sort of a miss, and I’m a little bummed about that.

My fiancé found a deal on Groupon for this place and bought it because he saw a picture of an awesome-​looking bloody mary on their Unilocal page… and he knows how much I love me a good bloody mary! So we finally made it out a couple of weeks ago…
So as I was saying, there is a photo of an awesome, loaded bloody mary on their Unilocal page. When I got there, I asked the server if I can have one of those. He responded that they no longer carry that, and that had actually existed under the previous management. Man, I was bummed! He even checked with the bartender, but to no avail — it couldn’t be replicated =(.
So moving on… we ordered food. I became very confused at this part. Pretty much everything we ordered tasted differently from what was listed on the menu. I was actually very excited to try out this place, but I have to be honest, the food was mediocre at best. I can’t honestly say there was anything very memorable about it. We ordered:
MAC & CHEESE — seriously, I don’t know how people can say this is the best that they have had? It wasn’t bad, but I think that it could have been easily made at home. Cheesy, but bland and I felt that the onions did nothing for it.
SHRIMP & BACON ENTREE — served on a bed of polenta. The polenta was not processed well and had chunks still in it! Not creamy at all… it has the consistency of chunky cauliflower. Pork belly (not bacon) was burnt (see photos), and the portobello mushrooms it was served with tasted previously frozen and soggy.
DUCK FAT FRIES — I love me some duck fat fries. However, these tasted like regular fries with a dusting of curry powder on them. Tasted as weird as it sounds.
CHILI WITH THEIR «FAMOUS» HABANERO CORNBREAD — Yuck… chili tasted very salty, had no depth in the flavor at all, and the cornbread was just regular cornbread. There was literally not even one piece of habanero in it and was not even a tiny bit spicy. I think Hormel’s chili in the can tastes better…
CHORIZO BURGER — My friend ordered this after seeing some good reviews on it. I didn’t get to try it personally, but he said the Jumbo Jack at Jack in the Box tastes better… yikes.
Thus…I have no idea what could have went wrong; the food all seemed like it was lazily thrown together. We ordered pretty much everything that was recommended in reviews, and was not impressed to say the least. Maybe it was better under the previous management???
Our server was very nice though, and probably was the only saving grace to that place that day.

This place is awesome and Cody is the best.
Happy hour from 3−6pm. Come for the intimate experience. Stay for the Brussel sprouts…
We did the mini board (mac and cheese with those awesome Brussels I mentioned), four wings, two street tacos, and fries. More than enough for two people and so damn delicious!
It breaks my heart to see this place so empty. the service is always friendly. The food is always good. And the craft cocktails are divine. Plus live music on the weekends which is hard to find in the ungst-​y dread of tech-​NO that plagues the downtown scene. Give this place a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m not a huge fan of Magnolia! They have an enticing menu, that’s for sure. It’s hard for me to bring Chris F. anywhere unless there’s a burger on the menu. You can see my struggle. For Valentine’s Day we were looking for somewhere that didn’t have a prefixed menu. We initially had reservations somewhere else, but since we had to change it last minute, this place was accommodating for our time frame and was convenient for our «later that evening» plans. We were seated quickly! Our waitress was friendly, but didn’t come around as often as we’d like — especially when it came to getting the check or wanting refills.
I ordered the Shrimp & Bacon — grilled shrimp with pork belly — this is already $ 21 btw. The shrimp was OK, a little spicy and burnt — 3 small pieces which is why I hesitate ordering seafood @ restaurants. The pork belly was definitely too overdone — not a huge fan at all. I love the fatty-​ness of pork belly and this one did not have that. Kudos for their cocktails though!
Since it was Valentine’s Day, I don’t think this was an every night thing, but there was a Jason Mraz-​like musician playing music with him and his guitar. I enjoyed that, this guy doing covers and stuff — it gave a good romantic ambiance. I’d like to note that we did not have a candle on our table… sad! lol

I was surprised to see this place completely empty Sunday around lunch time. My husband and I had a pick of tables, as there were maybe only 4 or 5 other people in the entire restaurant, which consists of a seating area, as well as a sit down bar and a small outdoor seating area. We chose to sit inside, but near the outside area.
Their specialty cocktail menu has maybe 12 – 15 drinks to choose from and then a small draft list. For a place with «tap» in their name, I did expect more taps. I went with Grandma’s Porch, a peach-​vodka tea, and it was delightful.
Their menu seemed to spotlight pork and carnitas, and not wanting to miss out on their specialty, I went with the carnitas. They were also delightful. Despite the fact that were were some of the only people there, service still seemed a little bit slow and no one ever checked in on us. I’m not sure what else they were doing, but it took freaking forever to get our check after our plates were cleared.
We live in Encinitas, so I doubt we’ll be back. It wasn’t a great enough experience to travel that far again, but I guess if you’re local to the area it’s pretty decent.

We have been here 15 minutes and we still haven’t gotten our drinks. There was no hostess to seat us or greet us.
As we walked in, the overhead the bartender say «Im backed up man» (there was only One bartender for the whole restaurant– there were about 30 ppl present while we were there, 8 ppl seated at the bar alone).
For the whole dining room there were 2 servers. Neither my boyfriend nor I were super impressed with the menu choices. Their menu really lacks variety and has really high prices, esp given the poor service. Some of their bar standards were actually really pricey ($ 17 for a burger). I ordered the Carnitas ($ 16) and my boyfriend ordered fish and chips ($ 18). We got deviled eggs ($ 6) and sodas to start.
One thing I noticed immediately is how loud the tv’s are. They try to make it like a sports bar but the ambiance really doesn’t match up. They do have a happier but just an FYI, they will NOT let you order off it, if you have a Group-​On (which we did).
Deviled eggs: salty as hell. They used way too much dry mustard. Presentation was pretty.
Carnitas: first bite I took was straight fat that I had to spit into my napkin. Disgusting?
Bbq beans were dry and overcooked. The guac was a sad mix of avocado and onion chunks– not real guacamole at all. For all the carnitas they gave me, half the portion was fat. Few things in life gross me out more than chewing fat. This meal did not make me happy. It made me feel jipped (& my bf said «will not come back. Overrated. Overpriced. Bad food! Terrible Terrible service.»
Fish & chips: french fries seriously overcooked. Good portion fish. Sadly the fish tasted like water.
Msg to MGMT: you guys should be ashamed for understaffing your bar & your restaurant. The poor 2 servers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I would really consider re-​vamping your menu & just completely starting over. The food we had tonight was THE WORST we have ever had in downtown SD.

I will show you fear in a handful of sand.
The Sandman
I thought it would be safe to eat out during the daytime. I don’t like to go out at night this close to Halloween. You never know what is out there. Turns out it’s not safe in the daytime either. You can just get a clearer look at the things that live in the shadows. Zombie babies warmed themselves by the fireplace. Disembodied arms caressed the cloth napkins. Spiders feasted on corpses. Their webs hid the ceiling from view. Did you know I am afraid of spiders? I think it might have been better to visit at night when I wouldn’t have noticed the spiders infesting the ceiling…
Spiders are afraid of birds. I figured I’d be safe if I had some chicken wings. The sight of freshly fried chicken wings filled me with hope. The wings were fried naked and the skin was nice and crunchy. The inside was juicy. The dry rub combined with the fried wing had a delicious flavor.
The carnitas taco with the flour tortilla was good. I liked the flavor and how the juices dripped down to the plate as I bit into it.
The fish and chip entrée which featured fresh rock fish was ok. The fish itself was excellent. Tasted just like red snapper and had good flavor, juicy, and tender as you expect with good quality fresh fish. I didn’t like how the red snapper flavor mixed with the beer batter flavor. I think this dish would be great if a southern style batter was used. The french fries which were soaked overnight in beer had excellent flavor.
BBQ ribs. Excellent flavor featuring the same spices from the dry rub used on the chicken wings. Very tender good quality meat.
The cute waitress/​bartender must have sensed my fear as she walked by frequently to make sure I was ok. My heart beat faster as she smiled at me and I put on a brave face and smiled back weakly. Somehow I survived the experience to write this. Take it from me. Don’t eat out alone this close to Halloween.