Zymology 21

This place was fun. Drinks aren’t cheap but they’re decent and I like the gimmick. We got the shots that come in vials and they’re all flavored something different: basil, raspberry, etc. they were decently strong. Good effect with dry ice. I posted a video.
Bartender was great. Really friendly and explained the whole process and what their bar was all about. She seemed to enjoy her job which made the experience that much better.
cool place to go with your friends and I read they have some $ 5 deals all day ok some drinks like a mule. Not a bad deal for downtown.

Don’t even get me started on this place! From the location to the menu to the funky science experiment vibe this place is where it’s at! I Über a lot and get asked what a good place is to grab a drink or where’s a good place to lounge out… Without a second thought I find myself blurting out this name!
They specialize in infusing their liqueurs with spices, fruit and what not. Hand crafted to perfection, their drinks are strong but not so much so that you can only taste the alcohol. We decided to come in here before heading to FLUXX (bleh) and asked what was good, we got a Great margarita and I got this amazing vodka drink that had strawberry vodka, aloe liquor and cucumbers and some other yummieness! I was afraid for my life because of how absolutely mouthwatering and refreshing this drink was! I knew I would want about a thousand of them before FLUXX… But I refrained
The Margarita was strong, delicious and very well made.
They only use the good stuff!
Now I know what I want next!
The test tube flight! They bring out 5 test tubes in a beaker full of different drinks, and a metal cup… Then they proceed to light the cup on fire!!! Yes! A flaming cup! And they do all sorts of tricks with it and try and make the flames as large as they can. Then, it gets better, they tell you to look closely… And they make it rain fire! All over! And they pour the flaming liquid into the beaker where your drinks are! And it smokes up the whole table! Dry ice dude! Dry ice!
Talk about the coolest drink presentation! The science comes alive!
You literally can not go wrong with this place!

Fun place to drink if you have friends who are into science! Most of the drinks are served in test tubes and beakers.
Ordered the turkey sliders which were good; they weren’t dry and the onion jam gave it really good flavor.
Got the flight with the shrubs in the test tubes; unlike other reviewers I didn’t think they were that sweet, just make sure you pour it into the smaller beaker they give you. Wasn’t a fan of all the flavors but it’s a must do if you are coming here.
When it came to paying our waiter Jesse was amazing! We had a huge party and unlike other places he was able to split our check multiple ways!
Also $ 5 mules all day erryday!!!

If you’re going for a science theme I really think you need to go all or nothing. I just felt like they stopped short or didn’t fully know what they were doing. Or maybe it’s just tough to impress someone that works in a lab every day. Regardless, there could be much cooler stuff going on. Get a Bunsen burner food or cocktail going. Maybe some molecular gastronomy techniques. Serve beer in legit graduated cylinders. I don’t know. It’s missing something.
I will say the staff was super friendly and the cocktail I got was tasty (blueberry basil mojito) but I probably wouldn’t seek this place out.

Zymology 21 on 5^th in gaslamp is quite the novelty, and it’s where you can drink cocktails out of test tubes and beakers and feel like a scientist. Even sitting on the barstools gave me flashbacks to high school chemistry. Except the table tops are a bit too low, and I say this as a short person that I still felt a bit hunched over the table. The staff was really nice and offered us free cotton candy, but was a bit disorganized and had a difficult time splitting up our check. Granted, we were about thirty people and we wanted individual checks, so maybe it was understandable.
I ordered the test tube flights that came with five test tubes with five different shrub drinking vinegars on dry ice. You can pick your spirit, and I chose vodka. My favorites were pear and strawberry. I’m not sure I would order it again, but if you’re here and you haven’t tried it before, it’s worth it. Wine and beer are also served in beakers. I’m not sure I’d want to drink wine out of a beaker since wine glasses are shaped a certain way for a reason (and I’ll own the fact that I’m a wine snob) but if you’re cool with it you can get some good deals during happy hour. Like $ 10 for a glass of wine and a cheese plate.

Great vibes for all you science-​lovers out there. Drink quality is pretty high and they’re served in Erlenmeyer flasks and beakers which is pretty charming. The signature test-​tube cocktail flight is a must for first-​timers. Fully stocked bar so traditional cocktails are also available.

MEDIOCRE MIXOLOGY DRINKS
My family came to this place for drinks during happy hour, which was from 4 – 7 PM. The place was pretty empty, but at least the drink specials were significantly cheaper during happy hour!
+ BEER FLIGHT: This was probably the only item from the happy hour menu that I’d order again. There was a variety of different beers, but the test tubes were so small it was not enough! The 5 test tubes of beer came with taro chips and a cheese dipping sauce.
— SHRUB FLIGHT: This was the coolest presentation, as liquid nitrogen poured into the beaker that the flight was presented in. However, I really did not like the shrub taste at all. After the bartenders explained that each shrub is essentially an old fashioned way to keep liquids from fermenting or going bad using a mixture of different fruits and vinegar, I realized why this tasted so weird. The shrub addition to the alcohol added a vinegary sour taste that really did not taste good at all. Every single mixture was not good.
— COTTON CANDY COZMO: This is a giant martini glass filled with a very sweet shrub alcohol mixture, which was not good. The cotton candy was placed on top of the glass, which was cool, but I honestly didn’t want to drink that cocktail because it didn’t taste good. The cotton candy was good and was not made with any type of alcohol.
I wouldn’t come here again, but the staff was really cool. Every single bartender loves their job, makes the place really fun, making it an ideal spot to bring a group of friends to just have a good time. I’m sure they have better options here — just don’t get anything with shrubs!

We took out cousins here who are from out of town hoping for a cool experience… And that’s what we got! The bartenders are down to earth and know how to have a good time.
Fortunately, they have happy hour everyday and when we went it was before 7pm. We ordered some flights, and the cotton candy drink. From what I hear, the beer was good. The other mixed drinks had a sour kick, I guess it’s due to how the drinks are prepared and aged.
If you order the cotton candy drink be sure to submerge the entire cotton candy into the drunk for a sweeter taste!

This place was pretty… peculiar. Located in the middle of Gaslamp in Downtown San Diego, it’s a bit of a quirky «mixology meets gastronomical» take on a casual bar/​lounge.
What brought us in was the $ 5 old-​fashioneds on a chalk sign on the street.
Overall, my impression was minimal, but come in and get a shot without any line and use their clean restrooms!

This place was sort of cool but sort of weird as well. It was a bit big and not too crowded which gave it a strange ambiance.
We got those taster things everyone talks about but I’m not even completely sure we drank them correctly. I only realized at the end that the bottom of the beaker was all alcohol. Were we supposed to mix that with the test tubes? Did the test tubes even have alcohol in them?
Also our waiter was really friendly and really really really energetic. I want whatever he was on.

I’m teetering between 3 and 4 stars only due to hits and misses from my visit last time. The drinks are ok, but they have a cool serving concept with fire, dry ice, and beakers. Food and drinks here are a little pricy but it is also in the Gaslamp, so most things are a little expensive. I thought my order of the open face smoked salmon sandwich was of good value since it was filling with the addition of arugula ($ 12), but my boyfriend’s order of their beef sliders cost more than my order, and they were just 3 small sliders ($ 16!!).
Apart of being organic beef, they weren’t that juicy nor seasoned as much. I did enjoy my open face sandwich, though. The salmon was cured in beets and had avocado with arugula in it. I pretty much ate all of it, sans two bites I gave to my boyfriend because he wanted to taste it.
Boyfriend’s cousins who came with us to Zymology 21 ordered their popular chicken and waffles, and also an order of the beef sliders. They weren’t wowed by the beef sliders but did enjoy the chicken and waffles especially because of the spice-​infused maple syrup.
We did order three drinks between the 4 of us (beer float, shrubs flight, and a mojito with the blueberry basil shrub), and the one who ordered the beer float liked their drink the most. The shrubs flight was way too sweet for our liking and some of the flavors were not our favorite. I had the mojito and liked it, kind of, because I thought the blueberry went well with mint. There was a good amount of alcohol in my drink because I felt it after I chugged it down before leaving.
There are two menus which are visible no matter what time you visit this location (one side is dinner, and the other side is brunch). I may want to revisit to try the brunch because the menu items look really good. However other than that, I probably will not be back for dinner. Everything looks neat and nerdy (everything chemistry including bathroom decorations) but some food and drinks were a hit and miss.

12.13.15
I can’t tell if it’s a blessing or a curse that we checked out Zymology. I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt and call it a wonderful and magical experience.
I ended up sharing the tequila shrub flight — which is a good idea because the bartender does not recommend tackling that solo. After the 153 dry ice show finished, we proceeded to taste our way through the seasonal shrubs: blueberry basil, cranberry apple, hibiscus, habanero pineapple, etc.
Definitely recommend a stop here for the friendly and knowledgeable bartenders!

My coworkers and I walked in a little past 6PM on a Monday to get Happy Hour and the place only had a few people at the bar. Turns out, HH ends at 6PM, but the bartender told us he’d give us HH prices if we stayed so… why not?!
I’m a fan of Zymology– just the entire theme to it and the bartender was really nice. He came over and grabbed a stool and took the time to explain the menu to us. Drinks were all served in beakers (cute!)
The two coworkers both got tomato soup and grilled cheese (the former of which was also served in beakers) whereas I got HH avocado toast and HH pickle plate. The primary complaint for the soups is that because they were served in beakers and the shape of the grilled cheese, they couldn’t really dunk their grilled cheese into the soup. Meanwhile, I very much enjoyed both of my plates. The avocado toast wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. I thought that the bread itself could’ve used more toasting but the avocado bit and poached egg were great. My favorite was the pickle plate, which had pickled potatoes and different types of pickles. I honestly can’t find the words to describe pickle tastes but I would wax poetics about them if I could. Would order this again.
On my future SD to-​do list: Definitely coming back and trying out one of the more ‘special’ items, i.e. the test tube flights or the popsicles (their original ginger beer one was sold out and I wasn’t feeling pumpkin.)
Solidly ⁴⁄₅.

This place is FABULOUS! Just like our server, Jason. My friends and I came here for a late birthday brunch and it was amazing. The venue is pretty cool, everything is sciencey science. (Yes I made up a word). Birthday girl is a science major so thought it would be a cool place to take her.
Everything that’s drinkable were in test tubes or beakers. How cool is that? I got the mimosa flights and it comes with 5 shrubs. Guava was my favorite. Birthday girl got a boozy Popsicle (strawberry ginger) and she had it with champagne. Our other friend had a Bloody Mary. We also ordered more drinks but nothing out of the ordinary.
Down to the food. I got the steak hash. It was delicious. I was really feeling the fried leeks. The food kind of came out a little cold but I wasn’t even complaining, service was fantastic. Both of my friends ordered the green eggs and lamb. It looked good also.
All in all, I absolutely love this place and I would definitely come back. And they did great for hiring Jason. He was really a magnificent server.

Service is obviously incredible, shouldn’t even be a question. The atmosphere and camaraderie they create is outstanding. Every moment of the experience feels interactive and everyone in the restaurant feels connected.
The drinks are delicious and interesting. Order the test tube flight or some tea if you want a show.

Strawberry, cucumber, mint Popsicle in champagne. Yum! Or go with a good old fashion. The cocktails here are bit pricier, but totally worth it. All my friends (guys and gals) enjoyed their drinks. They have a good selection of beers also.
They’ve created their own mixers, making it a unique bar, with really friendly bartenders that love their job, and knowledgable about the drinks. So it’s actually a fun experience.
For appetizers we had taro chips with aioli sauce and ceviche which was also very good.
I recommend it if you have friends in town or just want to have a good cocktail and late night food. Good vibes here. I’ll be back.

Had a really good time here! It was rainy and a Sunday night so no need for reservations. They have the coolest drink menu, I got the test tube flight and it came with a fire show. I was gonna get the cotton candy cosmo but Ben, the energetic bar tender, told me it has 5 shots so I passed on it.
We got a lot of food and we didn’t finish everything. We didn’t get to finish everything not because it wasn’t good but because the portions are quite large.
Very creative plating and cuisine with great quality! Would definitely come back!

Love the science lab theme!
After breakfast we had time to spare before checking in at our hotel so we decided to come check out this spot. We loved the pics of the science theme cocktails in test tubes, beakers with dry ice and fire that we saw on Instagram that we just had to stop by!
We told ourselves we’d do a two drink limit since we already had mimosas for breakfast and we still had a full day ahead of us. It was barely 10am so we had to pace ourselves. Well. .. lets just say it didn’t happen. We walked into a near empty restaurant (since it was sooo early. It gets packed at night!), sat at the bar. .. met our bartender, Jason and his sidekick Peter Pan, and it was GAME OVER from there!
We had a great time with Jason’s concoctions — from the Cotton Candy Cosmos, the bubble party, the made up Cock Cocktail (that seriously needs to be added to the menu!), the numerous other drinks we tried, but I just can’t remember — we had the best time!
If Jason and Peter happen to read this —- PEN 15 CLUB! HOLLAAAA! :) thanks for the good times!

I have been really excited to try this place out for quite awhile now. I don’t live in San Diego anymore but I had the chance to come here during one of my recent visits. I love nerdy stuff and this place seemed to fit the bill.
I came here with two others for Sunday Happy Hour (3−7pm or was it 8pm…). The place was pretty empty aside from one or two other tables — perfect for me though because I prefer quiet to crowds. I also expected it to be much bigger inside. The Unilocal photos I had looked through made it look much bigger than it actually is. Not that that was really a problem.
We sat in a booth and were immediately helped by one of the waitresses. We already knew it would be pricey here (hence coming in for Happy Hour) but I still found that the HH menu was still kinda expensive. I ended up ordering a Zymosa with the orange/​pineapple shrub — yummy! My friend’s $ 15 margarita looked awesome though and tasted even better. It came in a tall ass graduated cylinder — so tall that I kept wondering why they don’t buy bumpers for them just in case they get knocked over!
We ordered some food off the HH menu as well — pickle plate, cubano, avocado toast and the mozzarella/​caprese thingy. There was a bunch of arugula on my avocado toast and it tasted great overall. The pickle plate had an interesting variety too. Both cubano and toast were $ 5, I don’t remember the others.
Bartenders and the other waiters were really helpful and occasionally interacted with us guests. I feel like most of them were drunk though… or maybe they’re all just loud people? Really fun and helpful though. We got to see one of them make that giant cotton candy drink and some flaming drink (twice). They were playing some ‘80s music which didn’t really fit the theme — but one of the bartenders quickly yelled that he wasn’t feeling this today and changed it to some Top 40’s. That’s more like it for this type of bar haha.
Awesome location downtown — I’m sure it’s fun here at night too. I passed by the night before we visited and it looked pretty busy. Parking can obviously be difficult as it is downtown.
Wanting to try the chicken and waffles (it’s over gai dan zai or ‘eggettes’ — a Hong Kong street food!) and the test tube drinks. Everything outside of Happy Hour is a bit over my usual going out budget… but maybe as a splurge one day.

I don’t think I ever loved chemistry this much (or I should say at all) until coming to Zymology.
I mean drinking with test tubes, and beakers, and dry ice, and fire? Such a fun a idea. Came randomly for birthday brunch since I am new to the area and didn’t know where to go. The place was pretty empty for a Saturday morning brunch.
Staff: Friendly and accommodating. Bartender Jason is so nice and energetic and is very knowledgable and passionate about mixology. He is kinda all up in your grill if you sit at the bar but he promises to be entertaining. My friend and I enjoyed him but if you’re that shy kid, maybe sit at a table. When he found out it was my birthday he was extra nice and the other bartender made us a little bit of cotton candy for free.
Drinks: I am usually pretty boring with drinks, go for the cheap and chill stuff. Well drinks and glasses of red. But here I wanted to try everything. They had a $ 5 Moscow Mule special that morning that my friend got and I went for the mimosa flight. It’s pretty fun concept because you get a full beaker of spanish cava and all 5 shrub/​syrup flavors to mix and try as you like. The table next to us got some cotton candy cocktail that comes with a huge wand of cotton candy that is spun right there at the bar.
Food: My chicken and waffles was good but not mind blowing. As much as I like gourmet and new twits on classic combos like this (cheddar waffle with fried chicken) it comes with jalapeño infused agave and all I wanted was some good old fashioned maple syrup and ketchup lol. They didn’t have any syrup which I found odd for a brunch place but they were really apologetic and offered me honey. My friends avocado toast with creamy feta spread and poached egg was really delicious though.
Next time I want to check out the night vibe here but this is a fun place with a new spin on how you drink to take your friends.