- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
The Kraken Bar & Restaurant
Rating Details »
Categories: Bars, Restaurants
Neighborhood: Encinitas2531 S Hwy 101
Cardiff, CA 92007
(760) 436-6483
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Sat, Sun
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
16 reviews for The Kraken Bar & Restaurant
The Kraken fills a niche in San Diego for people who are not 21 but still want to dance and have a great time. The dance floor is a nice size and the bands are usually pretty fun. The people watching can be pretty entertaining at times.
The 5th star was lost due to the repulsive state of the bathrooms. Always quite stinky and gross.
Parking can be a big challenge, plan to get there early or walk a long way. The lot the Kraken offers is microscopic.
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Funny (1)
- Cool (2)
I can't believe this place doesn't have a review yet. Well I used to go to this bar when I was almost 21. My buddies sister worked there and hooked up the drinks for all of us. Pretty much a drive bar... there was a DJ that would play there every week and the bar would get pretty packed. Strong drinks, pool tables, girls... was a good time back then... not sure what it's like now.
not bad. check it out, beach / biker bar. not for everyone.
Hey....we went here...my ex-girlfriend and I...on a Sunday. I'll never forget it. She found $40 at the ATM machine so that was a good sign. When we went to the Kraken..about 6 months ago (I shoulda wrote sooner), we had a blast. The people were very nice. There was a good band. It was warm outside. I played pool in the back...had a smoke, and several drinks...she made friends on the dance floor. We had a blast. We were social and friendly and mostly everyone else was, too.
I haven't been there since but I still recommend it. As dive bars go, it tops the list...and if your girlfriend (mine was cool) is too snooty or hoity-toity - do NOT bring her here..the bathrooms are kinda gross. Even I don't enjoy urinating in a trough.
People thought this was:
- Useful (4)
- Funny (2)
- Cool (2)
As a mid 20's young professional, I think I just may not be the target demo for The Kraken. I'm not wearing biker leathers, I'm not a 45 year old divorced woman, I'm not a fan of having said bikers drop huge stinkers in the bathroom. With a prime location overlooking Cardiff's beach, the place looks like a dive from the outside, not to mention the inside. There are always 10 choppers parked outside, and I'd estimate the average age in this place to be 38. Which is fine. I'm just not 38. Maybe I can start counting down the days when I'll be grown up enough to appreciate it. Maybe not.
For the time being, better options are found going a short distance either way on 101. In fact, I'd probably have a better time downing beer and margaritas at Las Olas virtually next door.
People thought this was:
- Useful (5)
- Funny (4)
- Cool (5)
Hey its me! I'm a Hippo! I must say I was pleasantly surprised by The Kraken. I was a bit of a tipsy Hippo 'cause I was drinking at the pony races but I still enjoyed this place. The free "cactus cooler" shot was an added bonus. The local going "awwoooo" like an angry wolf only made the experience more pleasant. Also, a local put a tampon in a glass of water and hilarity ensued. I was a particularly smiley hippo on this occasion. Kraken-O-Pottamus!
Sitting on the back patio wall we glanced down toward the river mouth and there we see it. Loch Ness monster? No. Jaws?? No! Something far worse and way too close for comfort... the top of a mans head just below us. Not a dead man but a Biker laying a stinker right below us. WTF!!! They have toilets here. Seriously! Pants around his ankles and wiping his ass as he raises, closes up shop and walks away. Kraken just lost a star. Other than that I had a good time but if this is the type of people or animals they attract, I'm downgrading it.
This after thought added 7/30/08.
After pondering what we had witnessed on that perilous day,
I must re-think the star I took away. (OK brain... is this gonna be a poem?) (Todd this is your brain speaking. Talk to the hand) Whatever!!!
I don't know who's in charge here but at the Kraken, after all
I no longer feel it is a reflection on management or the owner if some $hit for brains decides to leave half a mind coiled up behind the patio wall. (Quit that rhyming) (brain again - $hit it's just timing). (Did I take my meds this morning???)
Therefore I give back the star I took away.
If this incident doesn't qualify the Kraken as a dive bar I don't know what would anyway(Crap! You win brain). Kraken is back up to 4 stars.
People thought this was:
- Useful (16)
- Funny (21)
- Cool (14)
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
4/14/2008
Bikers beware!!!
Here come the four horsemen of the Apocalypse!
Or would you believe 4 drunken Yelpers… Read more »
I looked up the slang word for dive in the American Heritage dictionary:
Slang; A disreputable or run-down bar or nightclub.
A run-down residence.
Underneath were examples. I think I will get in touch with AH and leave Kraken Bar & Restaurant as a Top 10 dive.
Danced, played pool, drank beer...what more can I say
.....I came alive in that sweet little dive.
People thought this was:
- Useful (5)
- Funny (6)
- Cool (6)
This is your typical run-of-the-mill dive bar. The crowd is slightly older, with what appears to be a bunch of regulars, when I came in with some girlfriends on Friday. FYI my girlfriends and I are all late-twenties to mid-thirties working professionals, so when we came in, nearly everyone turned around, we heard catcalls, and several gentlemen offered right off the bat to buy us our drinks. Of course we're used to this kind of entrance everywhere we go (hahaha), we took no offense and instead enjoyed our new find for a couple drinks before deciding to go over to Yogi's for an ambiance a little more familiar to us. For a dive, it did the trick. I would come back here if in the area and in the mood. In other words, I'll be back!
People thought this was:
- Useful (4)
- Funny (2)
- Cool (4)
This is a true dive but it's friendly and non-threatening.
Cash only--don't forget!
The live bands are almost always good and usually danceable. The servers are friendly and the mood is cool.
The restrooms are a horrorshow, but most are these days anyway.
Give it a try. You've passed it 500 times and probably always wondered what it was like. It's friendlier than it looks from the outside.
I can't believe this place hasn't been reviewed. This is a total dive place right on the 101 in Cardiff. Its right across the street from the beach.
I have only been here on Thursday nights. I have a friend that lived in Cardiff, and I've them talk about this place. So one night, after Station Sushi, my girlfriend and I decided to come here afterward. We didnt know what to expect, and from the outside, we were scared.
Once we went inside, we were still a bit hesitant. It is very divey. The front area has a little stage area with a dance floor and s bar with a fish tank in the middle. Then the middle room has a foos ball table. The back porch is covered, has heat lamps and pool tables. You can also smoke in the back patio.
This place usually has live bands that play almost everynight. On the night we went, it had a great 80s cover band. We had such a good time dancing and just hanging at this place. The crowd was fairly mixed, tho more leaning towards younger since the band. The drinks were pretty cheap here, at least to me since I'm used to downtown pricing, so $6 for a Grey Goose Redbull wasnt bad.
I've heard that there are nights where this place is like a biker bar. But it seems as tho everyone is pretty chill when they come here.
Yes, its a total dive bar, but its fun.Oh yeah, no credit cards accepted. Cash only for your drinks.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Cool (2)
Naming this place Kraken "Bar and Restaurant" is a big stretch. There is no kitchen. There is a BBQ on the patio run by BC and OMG his tri-tip sandwiches are knee knocking, ass shaking, screaming orgasm delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously one of the best things I have ever had in my mouth!!! (Sorry Todd) I would give this place 5 stars for the that sandwich alone.
But all in all a typical dive bar. Cash only which bugs me because the owners are sitting on a goldmine and can sooo totally afford to accept credit cards. But then again the majority of the clientele probably don't have a credit card. I like coming here on occasion because they usually have good live music and there is usually a friendly crowd. I usually bring my friends who visit me from Hemet here because they always feel right at home and I always feel so incredibly beautiful. Except for that one hottie who was playing pool there Friday night. Sweet Jesus, she had some legs on her. And she was offended for some reason when I told her I wanted to exchange bodies for an hour so I could run around naked. Or that could have been when I said I wanted to decapitate her and sew my head onto her body. Huh? Not sure which freaked her out but she pretty much avoided eye contact with me for the rest of the night.
This place is deserving of more than 3 stars but I just can't get past the most totally vile, disgusting, pukerific, gawdawful bathroom I have ever been in. It almost makes me want to wear Depends to avoid using the rest room.
So YAYE for the TriTip sandwich, pool room, bands, service and
NAYE GAK GAK BARF BLECK PUKE for the bathrooms.
People thought this was:
- Useful (9)
- Funny (13)
- Cool (8)
great place to rock out with all my cougar friends!!! hahaha! pool tables chill people, oh yeah some of the people you will find here are like good natured obetians, better than your office/shanty crowd the kraken is popular around here...
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Funny (2)
- Cool (2)
Okay - It looks like a dive from the outside, it looks like a dive from the inside.... by george, it's a dive!! That being said, it's a pretty friendly place. Hang out back & play pool, that's my suggestion. If you want quiet, or clean, or pretty, you might try other joints, but personally I don't think you can be a local and not try the Kraken out for size. You deserve it. Not a place for groups to go together - just not enuf space!! Better for a night out with a friend than a night out with three friends, if you understand me.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
The bands are great, but tiny dance floor, and the RUDEST bartenders in town! They were downright nasty on a few occaisions, the other times they were merely indifferent.
They will not get any more of my money-no way.
this place is fun. was here durning the day on the weekend, and walked in and there was a blues band playing. crowd was into it, and having fun. drink prices were good.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Cool (1)
