RedZone Sports Bar & Grill

THIS PLACE IS CLOSED, and it deserves to be.

Okay, when I went to redzone, I really enjoyed myself, the foods (wings) and the drinks were right to me… the crowd was diverse and the juke box was, well up for grabs. I left happy and had a great x, it wasnt ghetto.

My experience here was horrific!
So bad that though I was drunk enough to forget… It was bad enough I remember…
Done. Done. Done.

If you’re looking for somewhere you can eat lunch and catch the game while you endure your lunch break… don’t go here. Go to The Local, or go to Stout, or go to RA Sushi, or go hang out with the bum on piss corner (5^th & Broadway) who has that sick 7″ Zenith Portable TV with rabbit ears that may catch the final 3 seconds of the Gonzaga v. George Mason game if he holds it at just the right angle.
Any of those options would be better than going to Red Zone. However, if you’re fine with your sub-​par food coming out 37 minutes after you ordered it while you watch the one waitress working the lunch rush scramble around like one of those balls in a Hungry Hungry Hippos game. Then, great success comes when she finally gets her order to the one cook on duty who stares at the order like a Chimpanzee staring at a Trigonometry textbook.
Sorry Red Zone, that sick new Golden Tee Golf arcade game you got doesn’t detract from the fact that your management staff makes the execs at Enron look good.
Sorry Red Zone, that you have 14 sick LCD TVs that have all the games on that I want to be watching but I don’t have time as I’m constantly glancing down at my watch to see how fast I need to run (not walk) back to work.
Sorry Red Zone, you had the ball on 4^th and goal to go but you fumbled in your own backfield. Please prepare your «Under New Management» banner but this time… let’s really change ownership to someone who actually has any clue how to run a restaurant.

I feel so bad for the servers here. It’s gotta be like entering a gun fight with a sweet gun knowing you have no ammo.
This place has so much potential. Awesome TV setup, nice layout with a sweet upstairs. You ever see those civics that are all spruced up on the outside, trying so hard to be a race car, but really can’t go fast? That reminds me of this place. Put all the money into the looks with out caring about the things that actually matter. Food is over seasoned and takes FOREVER. Never enough servers. On a Friday during march madness, one server running the entire bar and restaurant for lunch. It almost seemed like she was running the kitchen too. I would be shocked if there was more than one cook back there. Seriously? No money left for overhead after popping for all these sweet TVs?
They claim this place is under new management, which is the only reason I gave it another chance, but it’s the same old game. Strike 3 for me. Goodbye Red Zone. No chance this place makes it much longer, unless they actually get management that has been in the trenches.
The location is pretty jank, with the trolley station and the homeless surroundings, but we are talking downtown here. There are thousands of workers that need a lunch break with a TV. Management needs to embrace that, staff for it, and actually fix this thing.
Lastly, bless the servers here again. They know what they are dealt and try their best, while remaining patient and courteous. Thanks for understanding.

The plan was that the roommates and I were going to HOB to grab some lunch, just to find out they don’t open until 4 on the weekends (which I find weird, but that is a different review). So we hopped across the street to the Red Zone.
This place was HORRIBLE! I couldn’t really decide what to eat. It was between a million different things. I wanted the chili, kinda wanted nachos, wasn’t so sure about the burger. So I decided on the nachos with the option to add chili. This was a run down of our meal experience:
1)Now I go to sports bars on occation, and there is a certain quality you expect from the food. You don’t expect great culinary master pieces, but you do expect it to be edible. I got my nachos. The chili was a paste-​like consistancy. I think the paste would have been better. The nachos over-​all, sucked. I don’t know how you screw up nachos… but they did.
2) I ordered a soda, it was flat! No bubbles at all… gross. Got a new soda with minimal improvement
3) I paid $ 20 for a flat soda and pastey goss nachos.
4) The cook kept leering at me from the kithen. Quite off-​putting while you are eating their horrible creation.
5) Everyone had iceburg lettuce on their plate (garnish?) that is just wierd
6) My roommate’s grilled cheese was dunked in butter… there was more butter than bread.
I literally will never come back here. There is nothing for me here. HOB, you better be open in the middle of the day when I come to try your wears next!

This place has really bad customer service I kept calling the waitress and she was over by the computer and took for ever to take our order. chicken
Wings didn’t even look like chicken wings I’m just very unhappy with this place and won’t be returning the food use to be way better

Ok, let’s start with the good:
This place has massive, crystal clear HD screens literally everywhere — I’d venture to say that there’s not a bad spot in the house for watching a game, fight, race, whatever.
There’s also a cool VIP lounge upstairs, where you get pretty comfy couches and a private screen. I’d write more about it, but didn’t get to experience it for long — more on this in a sec.
The servers there are also good folk — patient and personable.
On to the ‘meh’:
The food. It’s meh. And apparently takes forever to cook (I’ll let it slide b/​c the place was packed, but 1 ½ hours for a quesadilla, really?)
Finally, we get to the downright fugly:
As Tommy G. perfectly put it, it’s 100+ people versus 1 toilet in an excretory showdown from which few will survive.
My last experience there was also badly tainted by a brush with the inept management. Upon arriving with a group of 6 friends to watch the UFC fight, the doorman immediately whisked us upstairs to an awesome spot in their VIP section.
As we were settling in, some guy in a tshirt claiming to be their manager just rolls up and demands that we either spend a minimum $ 350 (which, at $ 3 per draft, and $ 10-​$ 15 for an entrée was going to be a mite challenging), or we leave. Our waitress then returned and assured us this wasn’t a real policy. Then the manager returned AGAIN and made the same demand — except this time there was nowhere else to move to, as the crowds had arrived for the fight.
Regardless of who made a mistake, it was just rude, and left a bad taste. Eventually, we convinced the manager to clear us an alternate space to move to, but seriously the rudeness was unnecessary, and no apology was forthcoming — although a couple rounds of free shots were (I suspect thanks to our servers who were really great), so I call it a draw.
Oh, and finally, they didn’t honor their Foursquare offer of a 10% discount for checking in, so beware. ‘Special event’ my ass — either have the offer or don’t.

It was between 2 and 3 stars, too bad I can’t put 2.5. Too many bad factors to put a 3.
Pros:
– Great flat screen HD tv’s, every where you look or turn, there is a tv or three. UFC fights looked awesome
– Good menu, good food, great portion size
– Attractive servers, and our girl was really nice/​attentive
Cons:
–Place holds 100+ people, it’s a sports bar so you know most of that is male population, and you have 1 f***ing toilet? Are you serious? This has to be an illegal hazard. Unreal.
– Food takes WAY too long. Girl admitted they have 2 cooks. Unreal.
– They kicked us out of the top area, we were on a couch. No reason. Also wanted $ 350 minimum during UFC to sit on the couch. Is this Red Zone or Hard Rock? Seriously. At least the server felt bad and gave us two free rounds.
– Weird management. Indian guy in an Armani shirt stops you on the way in asking for cover charge with a wad of cash in his hand and no identification that he is anyone but a random dude. Bouncer was on his cell phone chattin’ his homie for 10 minutes instead of checking IDs. Good hire.
– Cramped. Not their fault so to speak, place is small. But letting idiots stand around the main room during a UFC, blocking sitting patron’s views, is just wrong. I did’t pay a cover charge, and my food bill, to have to tell Jose and Juan to get out of my way.
Final thoughts:
– Great tv’s, setup, food, unfortunately it does not come together well for a great experience. Bummer. The bathroom thing is an auto-​killer for ever going back. No chance.

I went here for dinner because it was nearby the «4^th and B’ club I was attending that night for a concert to support a friend who’s band opened up for TERRI NUNN & BERLIN.
I’d love to give it «5 Stars» but I will never give anyplace in Downtown San Diego «5 Stars» due to the parking. If I ate here for lunch and parked in Horton Plaza, it might be a different story… but as for now, you only get «4 Stars» so deal with it.
For a Sports Bar, the food was excellent. I got to try out half a Bacon Cheeseburger and Half a Chicken Torta Sandwich (I split meals with my son… I had half his sandwich and vice-​versa)
The Bacon Cheeseburger was a half pounder and it was really tasty, but I was more impressed with the Chicken Torta Sandwich. This sandwich had lots of flavors and it was huge… in many ways, bigger than the Bacon Cheeseburger.
And the service was top-notched…the waitress was very prompt and courteous…
I’ll be honest… I’ve seen a lot of Sports Bars around Downtown San Diego, and many of them don’t impress me, but I was pretty impressed with the Red Zone… but you are still only getting «4 Stars» cause of the parking.

I wish I could rate this place as 2.5 stars, but given the choices I had to go with 2 stars.
My husband and I ate here on a weeknight when we were planning to meet up with some friends and found this place through
and thought we’d take advantage of the deals they had.
If I had to pick a favorite part of my meal, I would have to go with the appetizers. We ordered the sampler and the chicken strips and jalapeño poppers were good. My husband ordered a burger and that was pretty decent too. I had the wings as my meal and I’ve read a few reviews with people who really love it, so maybe it just wasn’t great that day, but I didn’t really care for them. They were covered with too much batter. I like crunchy wings, but I thought there was more batter on the wing than actual meat and lacked moisture. I ended up helping my husband eat his burger.
With all the choices to eat in Downtown I probably wouldn’t choose this place to go to again.

Ok food, lousy service. I went for a late lunch, there was a guy at the bar but I wa the only one there eating. It took about 25 minutes to get my lunch. No one ever checked to see if the food was ok or if they could refill my drink.
I had to walk up to the waitress to ask for more to drink, then again to get my check. I understand bad service when a place is busy, but there’s no excuse when it’s empty.

We went here last night and had a very mixed experience. The biggest issue I had with the place was its attempt at suckering you into a «bar and grill,» which it isn’t. It’s a bar, with tables, that you may be able to sit at as long as you don’t mind sharing it with random drunken people. Which was our problem from the start, since we were going more for the grill side.
The prices are very decent during happy hour, and the wings were the high note of the entire place. The establishment on the whole is pretty bad though.
The good:
Cheap wings with tons of flavoring options — these were really good.
Cheap happy hour prices on beer — you are not getting anything fancy, but domestic prices were spot on for the area.
The Bad:
Seating is absolutely horrid for more than 1 or 2 people.
The music is super incredibly loud, with terribly high amounts of treble. Loud music is ok but this was more like torture.
It’s a bar, with a one person bathroom system. So a whole room filled with people drinking have to wait in line as one person at a time can go to the bathroom. Seriously? Yes, seriously.
We had to move TWICE due to unknown feces smell in certain areas. See issue #1 about seating problems, now throw in having to move due to terrible smells.
All the other food we tried was surprisingly bad compared to how good the wings are. The sliders were not sliders at all, they were mini burgers and way overcooked. The pita wrap was also dry and had an odd aftertaste.
Overall I would not go back, although if I was in the area I may put in an order of wings to go. The terrible seating, insanely bad sound system, and gross smells were just too much though.

I was torn between 2 stars and three. I will explain why. The menu is super creative. It has dishes named after famous sports teams, that highlight their performance such as New England Patriot’s Art-​of-​CHOKE dip. You have to love that. I’m a Pats fan and I thought this was so funny. The dip itself was ok. It could have been straight out of a can and I would not know the difference.
The bartender is cool and pretty attentive. The servers (girls) are really cute and wear cute outfits. But, sometimes they are more interested in flirting than serving. They don’t realize that if they are great servers who flirt, they would go home with a whole lot more tips in their pockets.
We use to live right across the street and were excited to see this place open, and then really excited to see it close. Then we were excited to see it open again… but, nothing has changed. It’s still blah.
Drinks were average and the happy hour isn’t really a happy hour.
We aren’t making a special trip to go to Red Zone any time soon.

We spent most Sundays during football season here. Great prices, great food, friendly staff.
Much better than the previous owners.

Great place to watch football games. They have enough TVs that no matter which direction you’re looking in, you can see multiple games.
The Food is alright and beer prices are really good for downtown.
There are a few issues though. They only have one men’s room and one woman’s room for the entire place. And they are both single occupancy. Table service is almost always slow and the last two times I’ve gone there it has taken upwards of 15 minutes just to get someone to take my drink order. There was also one time where I just ended up walking out after a while, because no one came over at all.
If you sit at the bar or don’t mind just chilling and watching games, it is a good experience.

THE NEW RED ZONE MANAGEMENT/​STAFF/​FOOD/​PRICES ARE SOO MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY THERE BEFORE and before that etc etc.
I work around the corner from the Red Zone so I have seen it open and close and re-​open more than twice, but the latest people who took over the restaurant have a much better grasp on what was needed in the area.
The food is sports bar type fare, but not overly greasy and priced just right for the downtown lunch crowd. The atmosphere is good — tv’s are on and there is background music, but not blaring so loud that you can’t here the convo at your own table. And they are quick — another plus for the lunchtime crowd.
Have only been here for lunch but would def pick this place if I had a group looking to watch a sports event in the evening or on the weekend.

16 oz. domestic drafts for $ 2, $ 3 well drinks, and no cover or minimum orders per person for UFC fights? That’s sicker than the judging of the Lyoto vs. Shogun headline fight for UFC 104!
Other than the ridiculously low (especially for downtown) drink prices on a Saturday, RedZone has a ludicrous amount of HD screens. Hands down, this place has more screens per square foot than any other place our hero has set set foot in downtown. They even have an HD projection screen as well! It is seriously impossible to not be looking at a screen in any given direction in this bar.
Seating isn’t too bad and it’s best to come in a group of 4 or less. They even have a 2^nd floor above the bar with VIP seating couches.
Check out a YouTube video tour of their revamped place here:
PROS:
— Really good place to watch the game, with several crisp HD TV’s lining every single wall.
— Service is quick and friendly, and the servers keep drinks filled and the tables clean.
— Cheap drinks on weekends.
CONS:
— Their well drinks have a ton of ice in them and are on the weak side.

Moved my review from the original listing to here…
Got to sample this place during Taste of Downtown. The wings were really good. The chef showcased two different types of hot sauce, the mango hot sauce was THE BUSINESS. I personally think the chef should bottle it and sell it. Our waitress was really nice too. From what I remember, they had good happy hour specials. Will definitely have to check it out again during a Chargers game or something.

Like most other males on this planet, I’m a sucker for a cute flirtatious server. Even if a place is craptastic, its easy for me to develop a slight case of amnesia if the staff bats their eyelashes at me the right way. Over the course of my bar-​going career I’ve become less naïve and figured out that they do work on tips. Flirting is just part of the game, but I still can’t help myself from participating. I’m going to add an extra star to what probably was a 3 star experience, because our server was a champion flirter. She even trusted our table with her own personal Iphone to download the new Unilocal application. That is brave!
The place just re-​opened and from what I understand had recently went through a bit of an identity crisis. It was a sports bar with the same name then turned into some sort of a Mex restaurant, and now it’s back to it’s original self.
The food is pretty average and coming from a guy who will usually eat anything, high standards customers can make their own assumptions.
They do make a pretty decent bloody Mary, and Miller Lights were 3 bucks a pop during football games so that’s worth checking it out in itself.
They’ve got quite a few TV’s and a huge one in the main dining area, so for football on Sat or Sunday its really not a bad option for this part of town. In the northern portion of the Gaslamp, finding a decent sports bar is like finding a World Series banner at Wrigley Field so its nice to see this place as an option. (Yes I can poke fun at the team I’m a fan of.)
If I’m in the area and there’s a game on I’ll be here, but I’ll probably eat somewhere before I come.