Tidewater Tavern

Wanted to play pool. Looked like a good option.
Don’t go.
My companion’s Mojito was bad, but it’s a sports bar, so this can be expected. What was not expected was having two drinks taken away /​bussed while we were outside for a 5min smoke break, especially since both drinks were more than half full AND we told the bartender we were coming back, AND I had a tab open. Before I could decide if I was going to complain, my tab appeared at full price and a full 20mins before midnight closing. Fine, you don’t want my business: message received. You will not get any more of it.

Came here last night for trivia. Let me say so much fun! Food was great, beer was great, and service was fast and efficient! Our server was friendly and quick to get our orders. Definitely coming back next week for trivia and yummy food!

Casual laid back atmosphere and really tasty Jamaican fish sandwich.
Also. Some good beers on tap and the hamburger that went by looked awesome.
Oh and really liked that is open. Meaning great big open windows that look out to the street.

This is a great bar where you can find many regulars and locals who know each other and the staff. Solid bar food, breakfast on the weekends, good drinks, and great atmosphere. This is a local dive bar, and it is one of my favorites in the San Diego area, if not my favorite in northern San Diego. The young bartender Alan is always quick to help with a smile on his face, he is the main reason we have come back so many times.

Came across this spot hunting for some post surf grub. Pretty cool little spot. Ordered up some bloodies and huevos rancheros. The bloodies were definitely solid even though I usually like mine a little more spicy. Still, exactly what the doctor ordered. The huevos rancharos were also good considering its bar food. Rice, beans, tortillas, and eggs; all on point. Not the greatest huevos ive ever had, but definitely helped cure the surf munchies. For a quick drink and some food, this spot is legit.

I’m not sure why the average rating is a 3 star — I guess it depends on what you go there for. The ambiance is decent — the store front is comprised of large garage-​style doors that open up so the whole bar and patio are open. They have pool tables and TV’s — it IS a bar. Generally bar food gives you a fried food hangover, but Tidewater has good food. The side salad is just your normal side salad — nothing fancy — but is always fresh and delicious. You MUST MUST try the Calamari tacos. They are a signature dish and well worth every calorie. You can also get the Calamari on a salad. I’m not sure what else they offer that is good as I only get the tacos when I go. Parking can be challenging during tourist seasons but if you drive the streets around that area you’ll find something. So if you want a quick bite for lunch or dinner, or if you want to hang out and watch the game while enjoying a drink — this is a great choice. Service has always been good. Again, it is a bar so its nothing fancy.

Not a nice place. Food is yucky, service is slow. Solana Beach is deserving of nicer places. There are great places popping up all over San Diego; clean, cool, good and healthy food, etc. wonder why we still have so many funky places here?

We came here looking to relax, and have a few drinks and maybe some quick bites to eat. The service was horrible. They were rude when we asked for food and pressured us to nor order. We got one drink and left. The crowd there was a bunch of nasty old dudes who haven’t realized they aren’t 21, and keep reliving the glory days of frat houses and women… I would pass on this place, which is a shame because the location is amazing.

This place is god awful. The service is always terrible. Most recent visit waitress served up attitude and felt it appropriate to take our tables order while at her ordering machine 30 yards away… yelling my order of wings at top of my lungs was super classy! When wings arrived I bit in and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed a tumor… rancid! And they were cold! Would have liked to have sent them back but waitress disappeared… pretty sure she just punched out and left. Two days later I’m still sitting at table waiting for my check… f this place!

Driven by Tidewater Tavern dozens of times finally decided to stop in after a late morning surf session at Tabletops … really cool tavern for sure with many local craft beer choices and can’t beat the location … I’ll be back

I really wanted to like this place, I really did! It is down the street from where I live and in a great location (which is why it even gets two stars). I run past it all of the time so I have always wanted to give it a try. I finally did and this place was hands down awful. Awful food and terrible service created a terrible atmosphere for myself and the party of six that I was with.
It began with our server who was angry and acted as if we were all a burden to her. I was hoping that things would look up with a refreshing beer and some yummy food, but we were not so lucky. The server was so slow that I was only ever able to have one drink the entire hour and a half we were there and the burger I had tasted like plastic.
Overall, I would not recommend this place to anyone unless they were looking to watch a sports game alongside some terrible food and service. There are many other AMAZING places to go in Solana Beach that are worth your time and money.

Great environment to chill and relax. Tons of tvs with plenty game coverage. Wish the bar area was larger and would love a larger tv to show off our Chargers. Ordered the nachos not a fan the cheese was more like shredded cheese than nacho cheese. Took the waitress a while to being out our drinks thought for a moment she may have forgotten about us.

There are a lot of places to eat in Solana Beach. I’ve been to Tidewater many times, and I would put it on the bottom of the list.
Not saying it’s crap, but it’s definitely one star compared to all the other places around it.

First time visiting this place on a Sunday! All the games were on and the bar looked nice. The server tried her best but we ordered nachos with no jalapeños, and sure enough they came with Jalapeños. The fish sandwich was pretty delicious which makes up for the sub par nachos. The pita plate came with some homemade potato chips that were yummy. For some reason they kept trying to bring us a salad even though we didn’t order it. Overall it’s decent food, but be patient, the food takes a while.

I meant to write this a while back…
We went here as a last resort because there was not enough room at the pizza place down the street. There were 8 of us so I understand that separate checks are difficult… But the waitress told us that it would take her an additional 20 minutes after we were done in order for her to split them… We asked her if when we order, can she go ahead and split the checks so we don’t have to wait as long… That did not happen, sure enough we sat there after we were done eating for about 30 minutes while she worked out the checks, and that was AFTER we already broke it all down for her on paper.
To top it off, all of us got our food except one person because she never put the order for that person in at all. By the time we flagged her down and let her know a plate was missing, most of us were done and they had not even started on the missing plate.
Poor service, and the food was just ok. Nothing to go back for.

Excellent fish tacos. Service always with a smile. My first stop when I hit the beach for work from the East Coast.

I really feel bad when restaurants get ripped on Unilocal but when people give low stars in a review its usually valid. This place was horrendous! We walk in, no real greeting, the waitress at the bar half turns around and says sit anywhere. She then proceeds to fail to communicate with her other waitress that people have sat in her section. It takes five minutes after I grab our own menus from the POS station to get one of the servers to acknowledge us. We asked for service she didnt I initiate. Already off to a terrible start. We’ve already had a chance to look at appetizers by now and attempt to order while our server if at our table for the first time. It was obvious this server had no idea what her job entailed. No questions for us, no apology for taking that long. She started to walk away and we had to ask her back so we could order the appetizer from her. While waiting for appetizer I observed the other waitress hanging out at the POS station on her cell phone scrolling her social media feed. Pretty embarrassing. Not professional whatsoever. All the while the manager or owner was being a joke just standing around not doing much of anything except chatting up his employees. The guy obviously didnt care about his business or the training of his staff. Thats too bad, the set up of this place cost a ton of money. You could tell by the 10+ tv’s and the décor around the room. Appetizer was decent but then it gets down right rediculous and pitiful for this place. a fist fight broke out between two guys after minutes of cussing and drunken blunder. The manager/​owner had multiple opportunities to break this debauchery up and settle both men down but instead decided to meagerly ask them both to settle down. Any place that serves a full bar needs to have a manager that can handle potentially violent situations. This man had no intention of respecting his place of business. We literally watched a man drunk out of his mind get sucker punched while the manager stood there and watched. I immediately asked for our entrees to go because we had no desire to be in a place in such disarray. I feel bad for the state this business is in. Get your house in order if you expect to stay open because what we witnessed and experienced with poor training and fist fights will have these doors closed within a year. Food was blah.

I come to Tidewater often since I live so close, and while it is a perfectly competent bar it does nothing exceedingly well and seems to have an identity crisis as to what type of bar it is trying to be. I would echo the sentiments of other locals who have posted they think the bar has serious potential. It does! The location is fantastic, they have a lot of space, and there aren’t a lot a competing bars in the area. The train station also has a stop in Solana Beach very near the Tidewater. This place should be packed regularly, but just never is. I don’t know much about the restaurant/​bar business, but I do frequent them often, so I feel I have a good idea of what people want. Below are my suggestions.
1. Tidewater is a sports bar. BE A SPORTS BAR. Larger TVs are definitely needed. Straining to see the game on 40″ TV placed 30 feet away from the table is not ideal. The south facing wall is just begging for a giant TV or projector screen for all the major sporting events. I know I’d come for every major event if they had a 100″ screen to watch on.
2. Stay open later on weekends. Closing at midnight on a Saturday is a bit early. Is this a city ordinance issue? I’m not sure.
3. Look at Union in Encinitas, Legends in Long Beach, or Millers Field in PB for inspiration. Tidewater could be similar, and would be better for it in my opinion.

After searching on Unilocal for a nearby spot to Del Mar with pool tables, I discovered Tidewater Tavern. Although I’d driven and walked past it several times in the past, I’d never stopped in until a couple of Saturdays ago.
When we arrived, the three or so pool tables were already taken so we decided to get a drink instead. Shortly after, karaōke started and it ended up being much more entertaining than we ever could have hoped. There were quite a few «characters» that kept us highly entertained. :)
While we watched karaōke, we browsed the menu and came across the chips and salsa. We thought it was interesting that there was a to-​go option for the chips and salsa and figured that it must be really good if people were asking for it to go. Surprisingly, both the chips and salsa were better here than at most Mexican restaurants. The chips arrived hot and fresh and the salsa had a nice kick to it without being too overpowering. Definitely worth the few dollars for such a delicious snack!
I likely would have given Tidewater three stars but the chips and salsa bumped it up a notch!

Good food, drinks and atmosphere. The place has had a nice remodel since the last time I was there a few years ago and although it’s all bar food they’re a few healthy options also.
The calamari was fantastic, the staff is friendly and they have a few pool tables if you don’t want to just sit all night. The atmosphere is casual if you wanna go in straight from the beach and there’s plenty of places to lock up your cruiser!