The Alley

Recently moved out here and have been going to this place. Can get packed on Fridays and Saturdays. I usually have fun
The other night I had an extra 85 $ charge tho and that’s a huge put off. I wouldn’t know how to contest something like that. But It makes me reconsider going there

Oh my gosh, my husband and I had a blast here on Saturday night. Arrived at 10pm and it was busy, but not too busy. I loved the crowd, an older 30−50ish group with friendly people. We danced all night because the band played awesome music the whole time. The older, male bartender wasn’t very friendly, but the girl working with him was super nice and helpful. Everything was fantastic until midnight with all the 21-​year old posers arrived and douched the place up. Would totally come back for a fun, unpretentious night out.

Ok, so stopped by here again on a recent Friday night because we were bar hopping nearby. This time the place was packed and there was dancing. What I really don’t like though is the $ 5 cover charge and the $ 10 drink minimum, fuck that. It’s not a place you should go out of you way for.

Service is great for a one brand cheap Chardonnay, and the bouncers are great ! But don’t expect to hear anything but top 40 –the sh wouldn’t play the black keys– but he was fine with playing a rendition of «closer», by nine inch nails… if you are hoping to dance here, be aware that you cAn sway hips ! Just don’t get your hopes up for anything more!

Maybe the worst bar I’ve been too, the bartender took ten minutes to get my drink and the there was a $ 10 min drink purchase to use your card with a cover. Will not ever come back recommend you try any other bar in pacific beach or gas lap

Forget what the naysayers say. I declare this place to be amazing. Friendly bartenders, stiff drinks, great fun. We will definitely be back.

This is not exactly the spot I would make plans to go drink for the night, but it is a place I might find myself after a fanciful evening of exotic cuisine and expensive bottles of wine with like professionals (sarcasm). Apparently, my coworker gets a kick out of this dive bar, so he recommended we chill there to close out the night. When we arrived, the crowd was enjoying the live band that played tunes from Pearl Jam, the Cult, and the like. Reminiscing the 90’s, I was singing along and getting in the moment. There was a DJ in between the breaks and we (the ladies) did some dancing. If there was any gripe is that I expected a stiffer mixed drink from a dive bar. Also, when I asked about local beer the bartender said there were none. However, my friend is later drinking a bottled Ballast Sculpin. Credit to the bartender, he probably heard me wrong and assumed I was asking about draft. All in all, it comes down to the people your surrounded by. I had a pretty good time.

I absolutely love dive bars.
I had never been in here before the other night and I had a blast and I can’t wait to come back.
— Friendly bartender and great service
— No cover before 9pm on Saturday night
— Live music. Band was great, loved it.
— Dancing? Yep. They got that. Sign me up!
— Good drinks. Made right. Priced right for the Village
Walked past this place many times in the day (I guess they open later) so I never got to stop in. I’m headed back this way soon for another fun night. Crowd was fun, people were friendly and I really like people watching. Got here early to have seats at the bar. Just a fun time.
The Alley is my new favorite bar in Carlsbad.

I love coming to this bar on SATURDAYS. Live band that plays classic music. Being a 22 year old female… liking classic rock music isn’t really a norm. So I’m usually one of the youngest in there. But I love that. I don’t want to go to Boars Head (across the street) where everyone is my age. Over there people are usually rude, over intoxicated, and always want to start fights. At The Alley everyone is chill and just wants to dance to some good music! The male bartender (older man) is such a sweetie and always has my drink waiting on me! (:
Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because of the smell and it’s super small and kinda hard to get around the bar once it becomes busy.

This place is what it is. Not a fancy spot by any means, sticky floors, just needs a full remodel and scrub down. Hate waiting in line to piss. You ask why the hell I gave it four stars then, hey? Over the years of living around here this isn’t the spot to go first. Party it up around town first, then if all else fails stop here for a beer. This is a last call spot. It’s like that last cast with a big chunk of bait, when you haven’t caught a fish all day. That’s what the Alley is.

I’ve included this place a few times in different Carlsbad crawls I’ve thrown together… I don’t know why, it’s just there and expected. Honestly though it’s just kind of gross. It’s WAY too dark in there for me to see what’s going on and I think that’s done on purpose because they don’t WANT you to see what’s going on. Security is generally rude, the bar is usually wet and covered with empty glasses, and the bathroom makes me just want to go home. I have a friend who works here and I think he’s great but DANG DAWG.

Wow the Friday night dj is absolutely a train wreck. Never in my life have I seen such a pathetic attempt to get people out on the dance floor. This guy is an absolute clown. They really came out of the woodwork while you were sitting on your ass playing Wobble, great job. This guy has no f’in clue what he’s doing. A 5^th grader on a recorder has better beats, and I hate those g’damn things. Have you ever seen a predator movie? He’s the guy you come to hate so much you start to wish someone (or something) would jump out of the trees and rip this guys spine out of his body… Seriously, he’s that turrible. In short don’t ever come to this place on a Friday with this ass tard, because he makes your ears bleed and you still can’t kill it.

Bit of a dive, loud music — OK entertainment. Cover charge
Drinks OK but little pricey
Pretty popular with locals

Came up from San Diego to check out the night life in Carlsbad.
I was amused. And had a good time.
Let’s start out with paying a $ 5 cover on a Saturday at a dive bar — ok I admit there was a band so go for it.
The band was decent — played some old school rock n roll and one of their last songs was a Michael Jackson favorite — ok
The older crowd on the dance floor was fun to watch — I think I saw some chicken pecking moves — alright now
It’s a dive bar don’t forget. I ordered a bottled beer — it was nice and cold and the guy that sold it was nice and pointed me out right away.
Here is the catch– the smell of a bar — that sweet spoiled liquor that didn’t get cleaned smell– well my bottle had that– so every time I took a drink I could imagine.
After the band some dance music started playing from a DJ I can assume and the crowd started getting younger.
All in all it was fun — just know what you are getting yourself into

So this place is what it is– a dive bar. I actually love dive bars. The chairs and tables aren’t new or fresh but that’s fine because they shouldn’t be. There are a few things that I didn’t like about it though– it’s a dive bar so you shouldn’t have a cover. Doesn’t matter than it’s only $ 5 but a cover is for clubs and nicer lounges (or places that have live music). It was mid week with 5 – 6 other people in the bar– why the need for a cover? Also, the bartender wasn’t that good. We walked in with about 10 people– we nearly tripled the amount of people in there! But she ignored most of us. It wasn’t that she was busy trying to get people drinks, it was that she actually stood at a different part of the bar, listening to people sing karaōke and had her back turned to our group the entire time. I would understand if it was 1 song because she knew the singer but this happened more than once. Again, it is a dive bar but doesn’t mean bad service. Finally, a lot of our group wanted to sing karaōke but apparently you either needed to be one of the 6 that were there before us (and friends with the DJ) or give him over $ 10 per song per person to sing. That just doesn’t seem right. I have no problem giving money to sing or hear something like at a piano bar but I don’t expect a mid week dive bar to demand that. Just not worth it. I’d rather go to some of the other great dive bars in the area and spend the same amount of money with better service and less greedy people.

Great place to meet swamp jackals! Always fun and incredibly entertaining! The band that plays here is pretty good and the music selection is just right to get the swamp jackals out on the floor. Definitely check it out on a Saturday night!

It saddens my little heart that this place has such negative reviews. It definitely is what it is: a dive bar. Is there a cover? Yes. $ 5. If you can’t handle it, don’t go in. NBD. If you want to have a fun night of people watching, dancing, and chatting with Leroy, this is your spot. BTW, Leroy is simply the best. Glad he stuck around through the change of ownership. Too bad they got rid of honoring the gold cards. I loved feeling like a special member at this place in past ownership. It is however nice that I can come back here after moving away four years ago and feel like not much has changed. Some see that as a bad thing, I see it as kind of a good thing.
The dj here on weekends is also pretty much the same as before. He plays all those middle school favorites and people get silly on the dance floor. I love it. And the drinks are good, too.

Been here a few times, last time was on Fri night ³⁄₁₄.
In general it’s alright… a shit-​show of sorts. Fun people watching. $ 5 cover, music is decent most of the time.
On Friday however, we got scammed, or almost got scammed I should say. We ordered beers from the bar, 2 bottles of Coors Light. $ 4 each. Paid cash. we ended up finding a table near the bar and dance floor and were going back and forth dancing and chilling… then a cocktail waitress, and I DO KNOW HER NAME but I am not trying to get anyone fired, came by and asked if we wanted to order more beers. We did, same order. She came back and gave us the change from a $ 20…but she only gave us $ 6. I didn’t notice at first, then when I realized it and she came back by to see if we needed more, I questioned her as to why bottles of Coors Light are $ 4 from the bar but $ 7 from her? She immediately backpedaled and said she did some «bad math».
I am sure that plenty of people get buzzed in here and don’t count the change, and she rips people off all night. And if they happen to notice she gives back the change. My BF just told her to get us 2 more beers and we’d be square, wouldn’t rat her out.
So, in the future, IF we go in again, I will be sure to count the change immediately. If management reads this and even gives a shit, then they should have a little chat with the cocktail waitresses that this is NOT OK.

Great Monday night karaōke!
Jessica the KJ is wonderful and Patrick pours a great drink behind the bar.
LOVE going here

Okay, this is about as divey of a marine/​cougar bar as you could hope for. Bad karaōke, sticky carpets and tiny bathrooms really equate to a piss poor night out.
However? They’re open. When O’ Sullivans, or Pizza Port, or some other place that was cheap and entertaining is closing, I know I can go to The Alley, be amused by its clientele, and continue to drink. It serves a purpose, and as long as you’re only looking for booze, you’re fine. It’s a bar.
If you want that classy Carlsbad atmosphere, stay the hell away. There are plenty of other places for that!