The Lamplighter

San Diego, United States

3.3

Open now

20 reviews

Does not accept credit cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 619-298-3624
Address:
817 W Washington St, San Diego, CA, 92103
b/t Falcon St & Goldfinch St
Mission Hills
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1 miWashington Street
1.1 miFashion Valley Transit Center
1.1 miMiddletown
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
No
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Ambience
Divey
Noise Level
Loud
Music
Karaoke
Good For Dancing
Yes
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating
No
Has TV
Yes
Has Pool Table
Yes

Today

Today 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Open now
Local time (San Diego) 06:50 Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Tuesday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Wednesday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Thursday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Friday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Saturday 6:00 am – 2:00 am
Sunday 6:00 am – 2:00 am

Description

Specialties

We are happy to make you happy. Come on in to get the strongest cheapest drinks you can find for miles. Of course we have a reputation for our pouring, our prices and our main attraction KARAOKE. Our giant song book contains over 25,000 songs for you to choose from. As you stand on stage singing to the crowd you have the choice of looking at a small monitor sending you the lyrics or the projected screen on the wall for everyone in the bar to sing along too.

If karaōke isn’t your thing we have a pool table, dart, board, and video game touch machine.

Also karaōke starts at 9pm everynight so if you want to just come in and drink while listening to the jukebox… we do open at 6am.

News: We are now featuring No Cover Charge.

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20 reviews of The Lamplighter

No registration required
Place rating: 3
O'Fallon, IL
Good stuff drinks. The guy that ran the karaōke was a corrupt @$$…made you pay $ 20 to get your name «to the top» and then he would say someone else paid $ 40 to get you to pay more… then he would get on stage and sing instead. Won’t be going back for his live performances anytime soon.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
I’ve come for karaōke a few different nights, both on weekends and weekdays. On the good side, they have karaōke every night, and a nice stage area. Plus, the dance floor can get really energetic! Unfortunately, their song selection book is a bit outdated (no newer songs, like Shake It Off, for example) and the bar service is typically pretty slow (and only takes cash).
Definitely recommend for a solid karaōke experience, just remember to bring actual dollar bills!
Place rating: 3
Carlsbad, CA
The Lamplighter is pretty much the quintessential dive bar in nearly all facets of the business. This place had an ol skool feel to it from the bouncer to the karaōke all the way to the cash only bar… Needless to say, once you start to befriend all of the locals here this place can actually be pretty fun. My buddy and I proceeded to earn the local’s respect by locking down the pool table virtually all night and creating some healthy competition. Overall, this place was jam packed with a diverse crowd, karaōke was blasting and the bottles of Budweiser was flowing all night. This isn’t generally my type of place but I do recommend occasionally getting it out of your system by grabbing a Budweiser and enjoying your night.
Pros–
The karaōke singers were actually good
Cheap
Respectable crowd
Pool table
Location
Stiff drinks
Cons–
Parking stinks
Cash only
Place kinda smells
Outdated
Place rating: 1
San Diego, CA
The dj Stephanie was a total downer she skipped us for 2 hours. Don’t come when she djs. Other than that it was a fun bar.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Local bar!!! Awesome people. You may find me on a regular day here. Cheap drinks cool people.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Lamplighters is always a good time. Karaōke begins at 9 and its always packed. Even if you don’t like to sing, it’s fun to watch others do it and dance and have a good time. Some people will surprise you with their singing ability. Others just have a good time but are awful. :)
Cons: cash only and sometimes it stinks like mildew.
Place rating: 1
San Diego, CA
Extremely rude bartender. I was told he was the owners son, very rude and horrible customer service. I’ll never go back.
Place rating: 1
Aurora, CO
DO NOT waste your time and go to this bar.
We came on a busy Friday night to get a couple of beers to end our night with friends. We ordered our drinks around 1:15, and then since it was near closing time the bouncer stood at our table and literally harassed my friends and I while we were finishing our beers, holding a stopwatch and saying «better hurry or I will take those away»
I get the whole last call thing, I’ve been to a bar before thank you. So when I tell you we will finish our drinks and to leave us alone, yet you sit there and harass your customers, I’m not ok with that. When we tried to address our concerns with the bartenders, the were extremely rude and had no interest in hearing about their bouncer. There are so many other fun bars to go to who treat people with respect, please don’t spend your time and money here, I know we never will again.
Place rating: 5
El Cajon, CA
Its my first time here and I like it so much already. Neat place cash only. just make sure to bring it other than that good prices karaōke neat crowd
Place rating: 1
San Juan Capistrano, CA
DJ has friends, not on her list you will not be called. She claims she called names she didnt
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Can’t go wrong with $ 4 pints of awesome craft beers! It is a dive bar, so adjust your expectations accordingly. They had at least 10 craft beers on draft. Cash only, old school. I will definitely be back!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
We have just stumbled into the Lamplighter. The air outside is thick with humidity but in here it is dark and icy cold. We order two frosty and tropical IPAs. $ 8. Life is good again.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Now, I’m a songbird and I freaking love karaōke. I like it even more if you can sing in front of strangers! (I’m not a fan of the «get your own room» karaōke.)
My friends and I always have a good time here. The drinks are cheap (and strong), the song selection is superb, and there are stools and tables for you and your posse to hang out at.
Heads up! It’s cash only, so bring some unless you wanna use their atm and pay a fee! And I guess parking can be a pain, but my homie lives a block away so it’s never a problem for us. (muhahaa) Otherwise, I recommend using Lyft or Über because you’re gonna get wasted here anyway and eat at that Mexican joint down the street.
If you don’t mind drunk people and your group loves to sing, I highly recommend hanging out here. It’s low key, you don’t need to dress up, and the people are obnoxious just like you. Let loose and have fun! Don’t be boring and not sing. You HAVE to sing.
Place rating: 4
San Antonio, TX
I have a bar similar to this that I frequent in my home town. From the outside I could tell it might be a winner. We walked though the door and I was certain that this would be a cool place to hang out.
Came in for a beer or to– ended up staying for two hours. The bar maid was friendly. There were several rowdy regulars — just like my neighborhood bar back home. They were loud but harmless.
I would go here again in a heart beat. Cash only. So what. Funky cool.
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Eww smells very bad that I walked right back out.
Place rating: 5
Chula Vista, CA
The Lamplighter is my favorite bar in San Diego! Hands down. Why? Karaōke every night of the week, that’s why.
If you’re into the big screen sports bars, this place is not for you.
Anyone else, this place is about singing, cheering, dancing or just people watching.
It is so much better than the usual bar scene, and if you miss it, they have a pool table for you!
The staff is great, the drinks are reasonably priced and if you plan to go on stage, weekdays are much more promising than weekends.
Either as the main outing of the night or as a plan B, Lamplighter never disappoints.
Oh, one more note. The person complaining about the owner, and the «new» pool table rules… Was stumbling drunk, and decided that THEIR rule for the pool table is: «we keep playing until we lose!»… Well, we put the quarters in, WE play next!
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
it’s been awhile since i’ve been here and decided to drop by on a Saturday night.
Still the same ol’ lamplighter but with a couple changes. Noticed they moved the main karaōke stage to the middle of the dance floor instead of being in the far right corner of the DJ booth and added some nice light effects. Saturday was/​are really busy, was a 2 hour wait to sing (i usually go on a Wednesday).
–still cheap drinks
–cash only (atm available inside)
–long wait for karaōke if not there early
–plenty of songs to choose from to sing
–down to earth doorman John is cool
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Locals dive spot at the top of Mission Hills… very dark inside… if you are a karokee person this is the place to go as them seem to have this going everynight Ive been in here.
Still a fun place to come with people, although it is a bit of a smaller bar in the area so when its crowded its standing room only unless you are lucky enough to find seating.
Full bar with a nunber of beers on hand that range from the basic to the more popular local brews. Parking in the area is street parking only and depending on the night you may be parking a block or 2 away. Like I mentioned this is a Locals spot not many san diegans from adjacent towns seem to travel here for a drink… ill leave the perception of it being a good bar up to you
Place rating: 3
Murrieta, CA
Grungy dive bar feel in a karaōke joint. I’ve been here exactly two times. A few years ago with a group of friends, it was a random place to try a group number and get a couple drinks. Most recently, a visitor to SD heard about the place and wanted to check it out. The place seemed to be much more packed than I last remembered. It’s dark inside, thus shady. After walking through the place, I noticed A LOT of people needed to get a room. I wouldn’t try sitting on or even touching any of the surfaces.
The wait for a song was crazy long and we didn’t end up staying longer than 5 minutes. Though divey, the Lamplighter can be a «come one, come all» kind of atmosphere for some who are out partying with a crowd.
Place rating: 3
Rancho San Diego, CA
I guess this place fits the description of a dive bar for many, but I I hung out enjoying my $ 3 PBR during happy hour, I learned for several of the locals and regulars that they like to describe their bar as a «classic» oh let’s say 70’s type bar with its dark atmosphere and plush high back leather seats. I could imagine, during the days of nicotine allowance, this place would of provided a haziness about it as well.
Nevertheless, whether it is a dive or classic bar, they serve some inexpensive draft beers, not to mention quite refreshing (
), but I would suggest that they served their drafts beers in a ice cold glass mug rather a warm one, so that the beer would better host its coldness. Other than that, I had a very nice bar maid and some nice conversation with the locals.
They do offer karaōke during the evenings and you can order food delivers from a list of local eateries. That’s always a nice benefit…