Inside the Market at Liberty Station, there are many reasons to visit. There are tons of boutiques, places to grab a drink, and food stands aplenty. The Mess Hall, a sit down place with a great bar and open kitchen, is a great spot for brunch or a drink or to relax with your buds and hang out. The place is spacious and airy, with a relaxed and friendly service that makes the experience welcoming. Menu-wise, there aren't a ton of offerings, but they focus on making their menu items excellent. We came to visit for brunch: For drinks, our table tried the lavender agave mimosas (delicious), the Bellini (awesome) and the kir royale, a French aperitif that is essentially champs + cranberry (amazing). For our meals, we loved the duck confit - it wasn't too oily, and was tender and flavorful. The polenta and roasted vegetables were tasty. The only downer on the menu was the bread pudding French toast, which was much too dense and a bit lacking in taste. Otherwise, from start to finish the meal was great! Price-wise, the food and drinks are a bit expensive. Especially with the density of good brunches around town. I'd still certainly return for a meal! Overall: Food: 4.5/5 Price: 3/5 Ambience: 4/4 Service: 4.5/5 Total: 4/5. Great place to go eat, then explore the market afterwards! read more

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Drinks are reasonably priced, otherwise I would have given 1 star. Staff is unpleasant and most recently one bartender was extremely rude, completely unprompted. We asked about the options for beer and he spoke to us like we were stupid evidently there are multiple options for where to purchase beer from and he knew nothing about the variety they offered once he pointed that out, in fact his exact words were "I don't know, you'll have to look yourself". Completely unprofessional, even for a the casual service industry. Covid times are rough, but you don't have to be an ass, especially if the customer didn't give you a reason to be. read more

Awesome, great scenery! Came here on a Saturday and it was packed wall to wall! This was my first time at liberty station on a Saturday and it had such fun and upbeat energy! The sangria, with elderflower liquor, was such a treat. The beers here were fresh and delicious too! You will love this casual bar! Good luck finding a seat. Instagram: @glowrae read more

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After being informed of the 75 minute wait for Sunday Brunch at Breakfast Republic, we decided to try Mess Hall. The atmosphere is nice, albeit a bit loud. The staff was great in accommodating food concerns (I'm allergic to cilantro and my friend eats glutton free). They were happy to make substitutions and recommendations to help us out. The brunch menu was pretty limited, so we both tried the roasted veggies with polenta and a poached egg. My dish came with a different sauce because the other sauce had cilantro in it. Overall the dish was amazing! I savored each and every bite. The veggies and egg were all cooked perfectly and packed with natural earthy flavors. The polenta was super creamy, tasted almost more like a mashed potato. It was seriously so good! My only compliant is that the dish was small and not very filling. If veggies are the focus of your dish, then I think they could have gone a bit larger on the portion size. I would have happily paid $3-$5 more for a larger portion of veggies. In addition, two eggs would have turned it into more of a meal. Next time, I'll def ask to add a second egg a la carte. Lastly, my friend's mimosa was in a tiny flute for which she was charged $12.95 (as much as her entree). That price for a small mimosa seemed way over the top... For that size mimosa, even at this nice of a place, I think $8 would have been a fair price. It was like a 600% markup! Overall, I loved my dish and I will be back! read more

Mess Hall - Roasted veggies with polenta and a poached egg. So good!! - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Mess hall seems like kind of a weird name for this place. For me, it calls to mind sloppiness or mass produced food. But this is the opposite. The menu is unique and carefully crafted with seasonal, available ingredients. I'd call it American or California food, I guess. Everyone in my group of 4 loved their entrees. I had the tomato tart, which was a good size and delicious as a vegetarian entree (I'm not even a vegetarian). Another in my group got the sea bass with job's tears, and he was very pleased with the portion size and it's perfectly cooked-ness. I think the menus change frequently, maybe even daily. I liked how every entree on the menu had a suggested beer and wine pairing. We were offered samples of beers we were curious about, too. For prices--My tomato tart was around $16 and the fish/meat entrees were around $25. But the most stand-out thing about this meal was our waiter. He was extremely knowledgable about the beer, wine, and every food dish. He was downright excited and passionate to tell us things. We all loved him and my friend even said, "he's the best waiter in San Diego." The sad thing is that we couldn't remember his name! He was a younger guy with brown hair. He was great. read more

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Went here for the first time today for lunch and was not disappointed! I ordered the fish and chips which was excellent although they could have included more chips for the price of just under $15. The halibut was cooked to perfection and delicious. Comes with good citrus tartar sauce and fresh lemon wedges. My wife and our server highly recommend the BLT with heirloom tomatoes and thick cut bacon. Reason for not giving 5 stars is due to the atmosphere; very noisy with screeching babies and a lot of foot traffic entering/exiting the Market. Add music to that and it's difficult to carry on a conversation. We will come back for dinner on a week night perhaps. Be prepared to shell out some $$ for the quality locally sourced ingredients...your body will thank you. read more

Mess Hall - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Service was poor to bad, bartenders need to be tough lots of hospitality. To busy doing busy work and not taking care of customers. I sat at the bar for a few minutes and no one acknowledge me just about to get up and finally some asked if I wanted something. (No I don't just sitting looking at you working) I just decided to have a 4oz poor just to try a new beer. Would have more even something to eat but desired not to drop my money with this kind of service. Apricot wig beer was quite good. Note for manager and owners I understand there is alot of customers (guest) just doing the Sunday curious trying it out but if you don't engage the guest for them to want to come back you are in the wrong buisness. read more

Mess Hall - Apricot wit beer - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Let me start by saying weekends are very hectic at this place . It's definitely more convenient to go during the week so you can find a table to sit down and grab food within a reasonable time. However , my boyfriend and I went today (Sunday) and met another couple and we decided to grab a few drinks before heading outside to eat . There were a handful of people waiting for Drinks at the bar, so we certainly didn't expect to be served immediately . There was one male bartending who seemed to be the only one with a sense of urgency . There was another woman with dark hair who was serving guests casually and then another woman who had grayish-blonde hair . I have bartending experience and understand the industry so I'm not one to yell " excuse me" or any other annoying phrase when clearly the bar is busy . With that being said , I haven't ever seen a bartender who's walked up and down the bar doing the bare minimum and avoiding guests as this one woman did today ; the one with the grey-ish blonde short hair . We waited patiently for a good 15 minutes for 2 drinks that could have easily taken less than 5 minutes , and she wasn't even the one who served us after making casual conversation and eye contact multiple times when she wasn't doing anything ! At one point she even sat there and scrolled through music while the other two worked. So that was that experience, and we decided to go outside rather than sitting there at the bar . We then came in for our second drink and my boyfriend had to flag her down (after she clearly saw us ) and several others waiting . She then asked for ID , which I get if a guest looks 30 or younger you need to ID, but we were JUST sitting at the bar where we had short conversation with her prior to her ignoring us for drinks . Not only that but she began to question my boyfriend ( who is 36 by the way) on what state he was from and his birthday as if it was a fake ID . At this point it was just ridiculous . She clearly didn't want to be there , not once did we see her smile or have any friendly interaction with guests , and she literally avoided guests waiting to order. After asking questions about the ID she then asked the male bartender to make our drinks as if she had something better to do. Long story short - I'm not sure why someone like this is employed at a very busy bar on the weekend if they seem to hate their job and not enjoy the company of customers , let alone make drinks? Not a pleasant experience what so ever and we won't be returning if this individual is working . Would have given this place more stars if this didn't occur because the drinks are actually pretty good . Unfortunately, service is so important in the industry . read more

Mess Hall - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Located inside the new Public Market at Liberty Station. Menu changes daily depending on what's available from local vendors. Pricing on menu is all $xx.73 ($14.73, $19.73, $24.73.... You get the picture). First impression - very casual, great for drinks, etc. I ordered a roasted pasta with zucchini and Parmesan for $19.73. My husband ordered the lemon pan roasted wild salmon for $24.73. Both dishes were delicious, but they were small!! We left hungry. $57.20 for 2 entrees and one 16oz IPA! It would've been okay if the entrees didn't look like appetizers. Jus sayin read more

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This review is exclusively for the bar: My experience was absolutely terrible. How is it that someone can get the job as a bar tender? She has no skill or hospitality. This old fishwife was shrewd and rude. I will not go back to the bar for 12 dollar plus drinks and piss poor attitude. read more

This place is great for a casual atmosphere. Many beers on tap, nice craft cocktails and versatile wine. With indoor and outdoor seating, kid friendly. read more

This has been a super fun spot to hit in liberty station. All kinds of drinks and food. It is outdoors and separated seating. We usually come here before or after heading to Stone Brewery! read more

If you can find a seat, you'll be glad you're here! Good drinks, for sure! Only bummer--they're a bit pricey for a local spot. There are a ton of craft cocktail places with more "local" prices. I mean, I get that we're in Point Loma, but still--craft cocktails don't have to be $14 a pop. read more

Our wait at Breakfast Republic was 75 minutes so we decided to walk around and stumbled across this little gem. We just barely made it to the morning happy hour which is from 0900-1100! We took a seat at the bar and the bartender was extremely nice to us. She said she would give us the HH prices since we sat down 3 minutes before it ended. We ordered the pomegranate mimosa and the house special mimosa. Both were extremely good! I was feeling great and it was only 11am. I called Bfast republic 40mins in to see where my name was on the list and they said it would be another 30 minutes. So we ordered another drink. The bartender added more champagne to my half way done glass to finish whatever remained in the bottle, so sweet! I want to come back here if I can get up early enough to make the happy hour! Love love love this place! read more

It's unfortunate, liberty station is such a cool place to hang out. The service was left wanting. Being glanced over, and searching for eye contact to get service. Then to get charged so much for such a small drink. I'm sad to say, not worth it. Service is everything. With a smile and friendliness, all would have been better. Not coming back. read more

I love this spot! We had a birthday celebration here a few weeks ago and it went great! Lots of room for a large group, kid friendly. And great drinks, plus tons of food options obviously. Highly recommend checking it out! read more

Love the location and concept of Mess Hall. Reminds me of Austin's food scene kind of but more bougie. Made reservations here for two and a baby! Ha yeah a new born munchkin that slept through the entire dinner. I give this place three stars here's why: The Charcuterie board had two options a cheese or a meat. Nothing in between. I wanted a mix of both. They charge extra to add a cheese or the opposite. We ended up getting the meat board with one cheese and a markup. Like wow really, both boards cost about the same price if I recalled correctly it was not much of a difference. For dinner I ordered the sear tuna on a bed of bok choy... It was way too salty from over seasoning the fish with Asian sauces, fish sauce, oyster sauce whatever was too strong and salty. Apparently the cooks did not taste the food. I might give Mess Hall another chance, but I don't know meh. read more

They flat out refused to accept military and spousal IDs as valid forms of identification. The gal we talked to while ordering wouldn't let us speak to her manager who was standing behind her (talking with a customer, oblivious to this), and acted like she was quite afraid of the management decision. My husband stood his ground and told her that it's a legal and valid form of identification and you can't just refuse to accept it, and she explained it was her bosses decision (not her own), and demanded a drivers license. He did have his license on him as well, and showed it to her. The server then wished us an inauthentic happy birthday (we are turning 30 and 32 in 2 weeks), and made our drinks. I typically show my drivers license over my spousal ID in general, but this transaction completely soured our experience. The drinks weren't that great, and were incredibly overpriced for what they were. To management: If you are housed inside what was a former Naval Bootcamp mess hall, you should accept military IDs as valid, PERIOD. We won't be giving this place our business again, and will be telling others in our military community. I searched through the California ABC laws and couldn't find where you're allowed to refuse it, but I know it's a federal law to recognize it as valid identification ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. read more

Sat the bar here on a First Friday. There are actually 2 bars, one with beers on tap and a regular liquor bar. My husband got a beer and I got a cocktail. Great drinks, very generous with the pour. I will come back to try the food. read more

Horrible customer service. My friend and I sat at the bar waiting to be served. A couple minutes go by and no comes to our end of the bar. After sitting there for a while a bartender finally approaches us. "Are you drinking at the bar?" Before I can respond. He snaps "You can't sit at the bar if your not having alcoholic beverages." I was bewilder with the attitude towards my friend and I. I was showing my friend the amazing market and the awesome little spot I have been too. Now I have a bad taste in my mouth with the mess hall. I will not be referring my friends and family to this place. read more

Lots of small restaurants inside casual market style. Order and pick up yourself. Nice outdoor patio. Crowded on a Sunday. Would like to return to explore some more. read more

Rad spot!! My husband and I were so excited to visit our hometown of San Diego and see the new Liberty Public Market. We were delighted to find Mess Hall nestled in the middle of it. After a quick review of their menu, we decided we needed to try it. We were greeted warmly by the young lady, Julia, who also was our server. She was very enthusiastic about describing the different dishes. We chose a few items to share: the romesco and cauliflower pie was delicious, but I absolutely LOVED the citrus roasted beets. Chef Colin delivered the food to us personally, and checked in with us during our meal. Pretty cool touch :) Aside from the great food and wonderful service, they share their space with a local beer company that has a killer selection of local craft brews (Modern Times for the win!!!). We wil definitely be back in for another round on our next visit!! read more

Had an event here for 25 people. We had pizzas and appetites of meats and cheese. It was all delicious. We pre purchased our drinks with drink tickets which made it easier. Everyone loved the food and beer choices. Parking was easy. My only suggestion is to add some outdoor heaters. You know how wimpy us so-cal peep can be. Angel and Coda were both so helpful and awesome! read more

Mess Hall - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

one of the most impressive meals we have had in San Diego! we came for a birthday party with close to 15 people. our reserved table was ready for us when we arrived and the service presented to us was awesome!!! our server promptly took drink orders, had fantastic menu knowledge & gave mouth watering descriptions of everything we were interested in. although the menu changes on a day to day basis; if the beef & foie gras croquettes are available, you have to get them! served with a sweet onion jam and a bitter mustard sauce, they were one of the best appetizers my husband and I have ever tried! we wish we could have ordered a big heaping pile of them for our meal! as entrees we tried a hangar steak and one of their pies which were both satisfying and delicious. the hangar steak was served with soft pearl onions and well salted purple potatoes and the steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. the pie we tried was the caramelized onion, bacon & creme fresh pizza. great flavor combination! the portions are quite small but luckily there are many dessert options located in the market which we took advantage of! read more

The Mess Hall is a nice casual place to dine. The restaurant is located inside the Liberty Public Market right across from the Bottlecraft beer shop. Following the "market-to-menu" concept, chef Kolankos puts together a daily menu to create cuisines utilizing the freshest local ingredients sold within the market place. This past Sunday, my family and I had the pleasure of dinning at the Mess Hall for brunch. My wife ordered the duck confit hash served with a fried duck egg cooked sunny side up, my three year old son had the brioche bread pudding French toast topped with a strawberry compote, and I ordered the bacon steak and had it assembled on the Levaine toast, sauté arugala, mushrooms, two poached eggs, and topped bearnaise sauce. The highlight of my meal was when the chef, (who prepared my entree ) personally brought out my dish, and said " I had to meet the person who ordered this. Great choice in combination." That entree was Awesome! The tender smoky-salty bacon steak topped with the sautéed mushrooms and arugula,poached eggs and bearnaise sauce all stacked on top of the Levaine toast just married well together. The combination of the runny egg yolks and bearnaise sauce added additional creaminess to the dish; a perfect balance of flavors. On a different note, the brioche bread pudding French toast was a dish that can use some improvement. The flavors were great, but the texture was too firm for mine and my son's liking. One would expect a fluffy- creamy bread pudding feel when you think of bread pudding, however this dish was more dense and firm than soft and fluffy; somewhat disappointed. My wife enjoyed the duck confit hash dish, but liked my entree the best. All in all, we enjoyed dinning at this establishment, and would dine here again. Next time, we will try the dinner menu. Cheers! read more

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Useless, Useless, boring stupid menu. Any restaurants out there looking for a cool location be on the alert because this place is a dud and will not be around long. They try wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to hard to make things exotic and it doesn't work with them. Almost anything you order looks really ridiculous and is just blah in taste, if I can figure out how to add a picture I will show you my "fish and stumps" they call it fish and chips, to us it was a waste of money. We gave this place two swings at bat and both times yuk! Actually it was my fault because it was just convenient both times and so we ate there...never again. I will drive long and far from"Mess"ed UP Hall". What they call chips is 3 potato stumps. Not good for eating, great to sit on while playing your banjo. Don't go, don't waste your time and money! See the picture, looks yummy makes you want to run right out and "git dem fish and stumps" read more

Mess Hall - This goes with my review, this the Fish & Stumps they call it Fish and Chips. This is not a chip, it is chewy like a soft bake cookie. Dumb - Wine Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

First time at this place, I had been really looking forward to it since I had been to the LPM a few times already. Went for lunch with a friend. - organic spinach, nectarines, and Granado cheese salad - mixed greens, shrimp, asparagus, cherry tomatoes salad - BLT sammy We ordered the shrimp salad because our waitress told us it was popular and they were almost sold out of it (only 2 left, she said). Terrible idea! ZERO flavor, seasoning and the texture of the shrimp was rubbery . I even asked for more dressing, thinking that maybe they forgot it or just went too light on it....nothing. Nada. Salt could not have saved this dish! The spinach salad was ok but I think it cost about $14-$16 and I didn't it was worth it. Now, my fave Sammy is a BLT. How can anyone mess this up, right? Well, it wasn't completely "messed" up but just so difficult to eat! Both slices of bread were too thick, actually every ingredient was too thick! Thick slice of tomato and the thickest bacon slices I had ever had. Mind you, I bacon! But I also enjoy things in proportion. The remoulade was nice though. I will not be going back to eat here but instead, will be saving my money and my palate for better things at the market stalls! Too many great food stalls at the Liberty Station Market to waste my time and money here. read more

The place is nice but the Jason Momoa wanna be bar tender is the most unfriendly bar tender I've encountered in San Diego. If you don't like people become a prison guard. If you're unhappy with your career choice, go back to school. read more

Just opened up. Food all local and fresh. Definitely a farm to table feeling. Got the Charcuterie plate all local and made on site except for the bread which is Bread and Cie! Asked about the fried chicken, looked amazing try it the next time out. Nice bottle of Spanish Rose All reasonable price. Kinda loud.will I be back? Definitely! Ask for Joel, great service! read more

Casual public seating area with a full bar and a good selection of craft beers. Located in an old refurbished military base, the Mess Hall is surrounded by a variety of little restaurant quality food and dessert kiosks to satisfy even the most difficult of palates all under one roof. Crimson Tide and Kentucky Bee specialty cocktails were outstanding but pricey. Enjoyed by locals but would encourage visitors to check it out when in the area. read more

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I'd really like to give Mess Hall 5 stars, came here on a Saturday and really enjoyed everything. The decor is unique and clean, the menu at first seemed pretty confusing because we didn't know what was appetizers or main entrée but that's when our waiter came and explained the whole concept, menu and wine suggestions. We ordered the croquettes and farro salad as an appetizer they were both delicious. The croquettes came with onion jam and tarragon mustard which was incredible. The farro salad was equally delicious a combination of farro ,greens,golden raisins and griddle cheese. I went with the duck confit entrée came with a side salad which was delicious, it was perfect and seasoned nicely. The wine suggestions were on point,when we ask waiter for specific wine he gave us a great description of it so we ordered The bottle and OMG what a choice , everything that he mentioned about it was exactly what we tasted . All in all I highly recommend the Mess Hall. Thanks giermo!! read more

Terrible experience. Walked in between 5 and 6 on Saturday and was able to find two stools at the bar. Two bartenders were working (one White male, beard and tats. The other, a Black female). Neither of them so much as made eye contact with us let alone asked to take our order. The female bartender did look busy but still, how about a nod and acknowledgement that you'll be with us in a minute. The male bartender didn't even look in our direction. After 11 minutes of waiting, we left. read more

I give it two stars because I loved the Fall Green Hat beer that I had there, but that was the only thing I enjoyed about my experience. I ordered food from the taco spot, which was delicious, but wanted a beer to wash it down with. All the spots in front of the draft beer spot were full so we grabbed two opened spots at the other bar. Once the bartender came over to us, he seemed annoyed when I asked to taste a beer that I asked for by name and not number, but got us our beers soon enough. The one round that is. The bartender did grab my empty plate to toss, and when I said "Thank you so much" he replies with "It's literally my job." He never came back to check on us or even close out/transfer his open tab with us before his shift ended. read more

Had a great time here. Sat at the bar, since we were undecided as to what to order Erin made several suggestions, even though it wasn't on the menu she made us a refreshing strawberry mojito. Personalized service, thanks Erin! read more

This review is for food only! The table service, hostess were great. We were seated right away. I ordered highly praised duck confit from the brunch menu and although the egg was perfectly cooked, the potatoes were swimming in oil (inside of the potatoes were soaked in oil - taste it with every bite - yuck! - oil was dripping... Duck, the star pf this dish, was on the dry side, didn't taste freshly cooked although we were there right at the opening. Our daughter ordered polenta with roasted veggies and it was/looked much healthier! read more

Great service. Delicious food. Excellent presentation. Good wine pairings. Highly recommend.

So fun! Cecilias was the bomb!!! The shrimp tacos are amazing. The ceviche tostadas were perfect. Wish that they gave a side a chips and another tortilla with the taco. The salsa is soo spicy!!! I can't wait to go back. Thanks Paul for the recommendation to go here! read more

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Loove all the pizzas! The dough is made in house and is like a soft flat bread! The wine and beer selection is amazing. Tried the quail plate as well as the pork which is soo yummy. Love the atmosphere of the place. This is a definitely a hot new spot in SD! read more

Great spot if you are looking for a craft cocktail and a cool atmosphere. Located in the middle of Liberty Station in San Diego. Has indoor and outdoor seating. Staff is very knowledgeable and will please any tastebuds! read more

I absolutely LOVE this place! Went there again tonight to watch the Yankees vs. Red Sox. The bartender was so great ! And handsome ( Too bad he's a dodger fan jk ) But Anyways my dad and I Always get to grab a bite of delicious food with sooooo many options ! Love the vibe and casual atmosphere ! read more