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

Sneak Joint: Booze > Burgers

It looks like Ed Bedford mentioned the bottomless pasta bowl at this Mission Beach bar a while back. I didn't get a chance to dig into such a bowl of pasta, but I did stop at the bar for some other food. I liked the layout of the place: really open, small patio, comfortable seats, but the stools at the bar were jammed so close together it was actually difficult to belly up and order.

I tried a "bomb" burger, because there was a Wednesday special going on so the sandwich was only $5 with the purchase of a pint of beer. It was worth that, but barely. The bread was unappealingly dense and the burger hadn't been cooked with much in the way of skill so that very little charring or searing had happened to impart flavor into the meat. The fries lacked crispiness, although they were plentiful enough that there was no way I could possible finish them all.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/30/27066/

Since I was hungry, I also put away an order of buffalo chicken meatballs ($7) that had little bits of celery in them. It wasn't the worst re-interpretation of buffalo wings I've seen, at least in principle, but the texture was unbecoming of a meatball; as though the chicken was borderline pureed and forced to stay together through sheer force of willpower.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/30/27067/

Despite the fact that the facade of the building advertises food as a major attraction, it's pretty clear that Sneak Joint is much more of a watering hole in practice. The drinks menu lists copious amounts of sugary cocktails (available by the pitcher for relatively low prices), inexpensive beer, and designer shots. The extremely high ratio of ridiculously attractive girls--bikini wearing bartenders included--that fill the bar at any given time is probably a bigger draw than the food ever stands a chance of being.

It's not like that's a bad thing in the overall scheme, but it definitely informs the decision making process.

3844 Mission Boulevard
858-488-8684
Open daily until Midnight

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

Previous article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central

It looks like Ed Bedford mentioned the bottomless pasta bowl at this Mission Beach bar a while back. I didn't get a chance to dig into such a bowl of pasta, but I did stop at the bar for some other food. I liked the layout of the place: really open, small patio, comfortable seats, but the stools at the bar were jammed so close together it was actually difficult to belly up and order.

I tried a "bomb" burger, because there was a Wednesday special going on so the sandwich was only $5 with the purchase of a pint of beer. It was worth that, but barely. The bread was unappealingly dense and the burger hadn't been cooked with much in the way of skill so that very little charring or searing had happened to impart flavor into the meat. The fries lacked crispiness, although they were plentiful enough that there was no way I could possible finish them all.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/30/27066/

Since I was hungry, I also put away an order of buffalo chicken meatballs ($7) that had little bits of celery in them. It wasn't the worst re-interpretation of buffalo wings I've seen, at least in principle, but the texture was unbecoming of a meatball; as though the chicken was borderline pureed and forced to stay together through sheer force of willpower.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/jun/30/27067/

Despite the fact that the facade of the building advertises food as a major attraction, it's pretty clear that Sneak Joint is much more of a watering hole in practice. The drinks menu lists copious amounts of sugary cocktails (available by the pitcher for relatively low prices), inexpensive beer, and designer shots. The extremely high ratio of ridiculously attractive girls--bikini wearing bartenders included--that fill the bar at any given time is probably a bigger draw than the food ever stands a chance of being.

It's not like that's a bad thing in the overall scheme, but it definitely informs the decision making process.

3844 Mission Boulevard
858-488-8684
Open daily until Midnight

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

Lorna's Italian Kitchen

Next Article

Afternoons at the Mission

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