Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Coal-fired pizza and craft beer, the happy hour way

Saving some dough by dining early at the otherwise-spendy URBN

A classic combination.
A classic combination.
Place

URBN Coal Fired Pizza & Bar

3085 University Avenue, San Diego

Show up at North Park's URBN pizza restaurant on a Friday night after 7 and here's what you'll see: beautiful well-dressed people stacked at the bar, waiting to be served by beautiful people, and creating the sort of be-seen environment typically reserved for places that don't order pepperoni in bulk. It's a spot that takes reservations and needs to, despite a high capacity and relatively quick turnaround. Given that it's on the short list for best pizza in what TripAdvisor.com swears is the best pizza town in the world, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But I usually am, when the bill arrives, because I'm just old school enough to think of pizza and beer as a cheap dinner option. Not so at URBN.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Our URBN environment.

Unless you take advantage of the happy hour. Between 4 and 6pm, purchasing a pitcher of beer or a bottle of wine nets you a free pizza. On your own, it's the sort of thing that might bring your night to an early and sloppy end. Bring another person, and you both get enough to eat and drink for about 20 bucks plus tax and tip, the way the pizza gods intended. Granted, you need to eat at a time of day favored by retirees. On the other hand, you won't have to wait for a table, and you can still dress up if you like.

A huuuge fan.

Of course, with any happy hour deal, you've got to temper your expectations. I took a gander at URBN's tap list and immediately started dreaming how nicely a pitcher of Sculpin IPA was going to go down. But here's the caveat: only select beers apply. This night it was a couple of New Belgium selections and a Manzanita Peppermint Stout. I'm a big fan of Manzanita beers, but pairing a peppermint aftertaste with my sausage and pepper pie? I'd rather settle for some Fat Tire (oh, the concessions we make to eat on a budget).

The happy hour scene doesn't seem too far removed from a typical slow evening at URBN. There are some guys meeting up after work, some nascent couples on a first or second date, a game no one's watching on TV. The largest fan I've ever seen turns slowly overhead while chatter echoes off the high ceilings. Even in the early evening a few larger parties have started gathering to celebrate somebody's birthday. It feels lively without having to be raucous, with enough indie rock mixed in through the house speakers to up the coolness quotient.

It feels kind of the same way after the dinner rush as well, but you'll pay more for it. You can take it upon yourself to decide whether the people watching gets better the more people are willing to drop a little extra coin. For those of use willing to hike up our trousers and show up for early specials with the blue-hairs, a deal like this makes URBN all the more accessible, and appreciated.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
A classic combination.
A classic combination.
Place

URBN Coal Fired Pizza & Bar

3085 University Avenue, San Diego

Show up at North Park's URBN pizza restaurant on a Friday night after 7 and here's what you'll see: beautiful well-dressed people stacked at the bar, waiting to be served by beautiful people, and creating the sort of be-seen environment typically reserved for places that don't order pepperoni in bulk. It's a spot that takes reservations and needs to, despite a high capacity and relatively quick turnaround. Given that it's on the short list for best pizza in what TripAdvisor.com swears is the best pizza town in the world, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But I usually am, when the bill arrives, because I'm just old school enough to think of pizza and beer as a cheap dinner option. Not so at URBN.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Our URBN environment.

Unless you take advantage of the happy hour. Between 4 and 6pm, purchasing a pitcher of beer or a bottle of wine nets you a free pizza. On your own, it's the sort of thing that might bring your night to an early and sloppy end. Bring another person, and you both get enough to eat and drink for about 20 bucks plus tax and tip, the way the pizza gods intended. Granted, you need to eat at a time of day favored by retirees. On the other hand, you won't have to wait for a table, and you can still dress up if you like.

A huuuge fan.

Of course, with any happy hour deal, you've got to temper your expectations. I took a gander at URBN's tap list and immediately started dreaming how nicely a pitcher of Sculpin IPA was going to go down. But here's the caveat: only select beers apply. This night it was a couple of New Belgium selections and a Manzanita Peppermint Stout. I'm a big fan of Manzanita beers, but pairing a peppermint aftertaste with my sausage and pepper pie? I'd rather settle for some Fat Tire (oh, the concessions we make to eat on a budget).

The happy hour scene doesn't seem too far removed from a typical slow evening at URBN. There are some guys meeting up after work, some nascent couples on a first or second date, a game no one's watching on TV. The largest fan I've ever seen turns slowly overhead while chatter echoes off the high ceilings. Even in the early evening a few larger parties have started gathering to celebrate somebody's birthday. It feels lively without having to be raucous, with enough indie rock mixed in through the house speakers to up the coolness quotient.

It feels kind of the same way after the dinner rush as well, but you'll pay more for it. You can take it upon yourself to decide whether the people watching gets better the more people are willing to drop a little extra coin. For those of use willing to hike up our trousers and show up for early specials with the blue-hairs, a deal like this makes URBN all the more accessible, and appreciated.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader