Palace Bar

I went to the Palace Bar inside the Horton Grand Hotel and had the most amazing time. Danielle at the bar was the best. Upbeat and funny and ready to make any cocktail you ask. The food was more than amazing also. Peter is the chef. If he is cooking, your food will always come out superior. If your looking for a great place in the Gaslamp with great food prices for 5 star dining experience, this is the place to go. Live music Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And there is even a fireplace you can cozy up next to. This place is the best speak easy in San Diego.

Drinks Only–
Sat at the bar. It was quite slow but it was a Monday. Staff was enthusiastic and welcoming. You could tell they enjoyed their jobs. I ordered a wonderful Old Fashioned with Blanton’s (upon recommendation by Daniel the bartender) and it was made with delicate care. I was floored by this and a nightcap turned into 4 with fellow traveler at a great bar in a cool hotel.

Quiet but great happy hour prices! 25% off the appetizers. $ 9 cocktails! Easy to sit at the bar & enjoy the views…

Best experience ever. From the music to the ambiance to the food even the amazing staff it was an over all amazing time. Highly recommended. This place is a hidden gem. Live entertainment and over 500 scotch and bourbons, you will not find anything else like it on the city.

I was drawn in from the street by the unique performer at the piano, a long bearded gentleman with a distinctive scratchy voice singing a Ray Charles tune. He was later joined at the piano by a very lovely lady with an equally distinctive voice, who engaged with him in a pleasing duet. My drink was excellent. I was really settling in and loving this place until I got the bill. The charge for the drink I had no objection to, however an additional 30% charge was added with no advance warning or explanation. What the hell? From where did this imaginary premium charge emanate? I was told it was a surcharge for premium drinks. When did this practice begin and why? When you are serving patrons from around the world, do you think they will stand for this? Whoever is responsible for this policy should be ashamed. State your price and allow people to decide whether to purchase; don’t be deceptive and sneaky in charging folks. You have an excellent establishment and employees; don’t undermine them with such despicable practices.

Horrible customer service. The bartender that served us was old and grouchy. It took for ever for the bartender to acknowledge us. The hostess and the bartender were gossiping instead of taking care of their customers. I will never go back again.

Bad service…
Worst service ever
Bartender was rude
I don’t think they know how to treat their customers right…

Great night with the family. The flights of scotch, whiskey or tequila are a great way to contrast and compare. Fitting-​in a flight of each was a challenge (kidding!). They have beau coup selections to choose from, they say 500 and it may well be true. It is in the historic Horton Grand Hotel and the ambiance retains that historic, classy hotel bar flavor: wood and glass. It was quiet and that is my preference. Not a «happening place» as much as a setting to savor and relax and enjoy. The barkeep was new and not up to explaining the multitudinous varietals. Because of the slightly off-​the-​beaten-​path setting in the bustling Gas Lamp sector it may be hard to obtain and keep a barkeep with knowledge comparable to the stock.

Worst service ever. Two female servers, one female hostess and the male bartender all at the end of the bar gossiping and putting on make up. Never once acknowledged us. In fact the hostess at one point walked right in front of us, straightened up the menus we were looking at then walked away and went back to gossiping. All we wanted to know is when the piano player would be there playing. As we were looking forward to enjoying a bottle of wine and listening to the music. This type of service is unexceptable. I too work in the hospitality industry here in the gaslamp and this type of service is not tolerated. If you care about your customers and would like to follow up on this incident the date is October 24, 2015 at 5pm. I will never step into this establishment again for any reason nor will I send any more of our guests here.

This is such a beautiful hotel we had to stop in for something. We ended up just having drinks since the kitchen was not open except for appetizers.
I had a Sazerac — Ritenhouse BIB, brown sugar.syrup. Bitters. — interesting like a thin matthatton. Ritenhouse is a bourbon with an anise flavor
I liked it very much.
Nick the bartender. Very nice. He joked about leaving during ComicCon due to the over load on work and the poor tipping.
Worth the stop just to enjoy the building.

A great place for drinks when you want to get away from the crazy clubs in downtown. Usually a quiet spot but a manageable crowd during Comic Con weekend.
Love the character of this spot and the interesting people.

What makes a bar special and unique these days? At this point you have seen them all: Ice bars, gastropubs, singles bars, same sex bars, leather bars… you get the point. The Palace has something supercool and unique that can’t be replicated. History. The bar and woodwork goes back to the late 1800’s with an awesome sophistication and style you just can’t build anymore. They are located in the Grand Horton, one of downtowns most iconic buildings. The patio on Island is great for lounging as it sits on the narrow one-​way part of the street. Great craft cocktails, huge selection of scotch combined with an outstanding location make it a winner. Wait staff can be thin at times as it can get quiet when the hotel does not have many guests and the bartender is the only one tending shop. Happy hour lasts until 8:00 so start your Gaslamp adventure someplace unique.

I just love this place! Super upscale feel with reasonable drink prices and friendly staff. I especially love the live music.
You won’t be disappointed. :)

Came here for drinks and dinner after walking around the gaslamp a bit trying to find a restaurant without a long wait. The tapeworm was calling! Their limited bar menu was okay, but not ideal if you’re looking for dinner and want variety. Food was okay but nothing great. It was fun to people watch while sitting in the bar lounge area since a lot of people were coming and going for their night out on the town. Don’t think we’d come back here again for food but maybe drinks.

An extremely rare and unique find. Very laid-​back, upscale feel; a lot of great bars are hard to get into, much less have a quiet conversation, so we were really happy to find Palace Bar.
The whiskey menu, especially for Scotch, is enormous and thorough. The two bartenders we spoke with were both really nice folks.
The décor is being updated; hard to say what the total effect will be when finished, but it seems like they’re aiming for a rich, dark theme with dark red paint complementing the old wooden finishes.
Lovely place. Don’t ruin it by going there with a bunch of loud people…

Awesome place! Lovely staff! Champaign with hibiscus flower is awesome! Also delirium is on tap!

Love Palace Bar! It is a hidden gem! A beautiful quaint size bar tucked between Marina District and Gaslamp. It is a tranquil spot to enjoy a drink w a dear friend or bring a new friend to chat the night away.

Very cool, old school Victorian bar. Lots of wood décor, lots of whiskey and thats pretty much all you need.
I ordered a scotch on the rocks and discovered that there was a fly in my drink. The bartenders apologized, quickly made me a new drink and comped it without me having to ask. Thats the way it should be done.
I’d go back.

If you are a fan of the scotch, this place is worth a visit. My husband was thrilled that he could «ladder» so many different kinds of scotch (meaning have the same brand, but multiple years — Macallan 15, 17, 21 years-​old).
They do not serve food here, which is a bummer for me, because I prefer to eat my calories, but there are plenty of food places around.
Often, someone is playing the piano in this bar, producing a very cool vibe. I love the interior, but there is some outdoor seating if you feel like people watching in the Gaslamp.

I don’t like whisky but what a beautiful collection of bottles on display! Located close the lobby of the historic Horton Hotel, the Palace Bar brings you those sailors and tattoo parlor images from a century ago. You enter there and you feel you are no longer in this time and you start wondering why are you dressed to no match with the piano, the fireplace and all that classic furniture. Even if only to savor that atmosphere, grab that old thick dense book you haven’t finishes reading yet and spend a couple of hours there enjoying life passing by through the caramel color of a glass of whisky.