The location, vibes, music and most of the staff are great. This 1 star review is solely for the security Mike. As I was making my way to the restroom, he stopped me to ask if I saw him walking past (apparently I forgot his red carpet). When I asked him the same question back he proceeded to use profanity and threatened to kick me the f**k out... just for trying to pass through to the restroom like everyone else around us. Instead of being a proactive problem solver to the overcrowded bathroom situation, he deliberately chose to disrespect a woman (maybe he's unsure what the purpose of a security guard is?). The cherry on top though was when he saw me speaking to the manager outside and interrupted us to tell me "that's not my manager". At this point, he not only disrespected me but decided that wasn't enough and needed to harass me. Lets put aside that he was on the clock and that my table spent over 1k last night, a grown man willing to treat a woman with such lack of decency is a highly questionable act on its own. read more

The D. J. Last night (9-3-17) had everyone dancing on their feet all night long. He created a sexy, adrenalin-pumping vibe that matched with the dark mysterious interior, releasing the naughty-side of the Encinitas surf scene. A must have for the sleepy town of Encinitas. read more

This is a pretty fun bar to go to when in the Encinitas area. There are usually some great bands scheduled to play there on a daily basis. I love going down to see Swimm (formerly LeBlorr) when they have a west coast tour. Go here and be prepared to be surrounded by hot guys and gals!! haha read more

Wow! I wouldn't expect the ratings for this place to be this bad. I always visit this place after D street (across the street) to end my wild night...I always have a blast here music is loud , super obnoxious crowd which I love .(Saturday nights are the best nights) live DJ that plays Top 40 .yes bathrooms are filthy but what do you expect it's a busy ass bar.. Drinks are nice cheap and strong!!! Try this place out. read more

I like this place on weekends. It gets pretty full and there's even a makeshift dancefloor that occurs by the pool table in the back. Good place to drink some beer an talk to friends/mingle. read more

It really is A-OK. Cheapest drinks you're going to find in downtown Encinitas. Don't let the empty place scare you away, it usually means fast and good service. The shots at this place are literally a fraction of the price of the neighboring bars, so it's a great place to hang out with friends and talk without bumping elbows with everybody and their mama. read more

Terrible place!! They make a fake line to make it exclusive...the bouncers are the WORST!!!! (GET A LIFE!) They think they are so cool! All the girls get in without the line and it stinks so bad in there! They never clean their bathroom..piss all over the floor! Just an annoying place....NO customer service what so ever! Avoid this place and never wait in line because they let 4 people in every 15 minutes so they can have room for their friends to just bypass the line. read more

Worst bartenders in all of Encinitas. Came in on a Tuesday night and it was dead, but we still had to throw a lasso around the bartender to pull him away from his friends, the only other group of three people at the bar. On the way out he made a rude comment.. it's pretty lame when you're the only paying customers in an establishment and you get treated this poorly... I'll never come back. read more

Bartender here was just awful. Just came in with a big group for a birthday bar hop. Spent a few minutes sitting at the end of an otherwise mostly dead bar before we were attended to. Bartender asked if anyone had cash -- my friend answered yes, but hesitated in his answer for a drink. The bartender didn't wait a beat before he turned on his heel and ignored us. Beyond rude for no reason. We decided to take our money elsewhere. Avoid this place -- there are better dive bars in Encinitas. read more

The Saloon is a great place to come for cheap drinks and a good time. Service is quick and bartenders are friendly. My brother just turned 21, and we of course had to take him to the Saloon as part of his birthday bar crawl. We had an absolute blast-- you can start your night here, end your night here, or stay a while. Depending on the time of night, it might be pretty empty or absolutely packed. read more

Best dive bar in all of san diego best prices best bartender Shout out to "TAB" free pool awesome crowd awesome people awesome time.......best happy hour best everything this bar should be the bar all movies use in you need a dive bar... and no drama no fights just good all times read more

Great local bar you from the old bar to the open sky. Great vibe. Music was great last night plenty of people watching

This place is a dive bar, but hell it's been there for a while. I don't mind the people who work there everyone's been cool to me. It's definitely a place for locals, and also reasonably priced for the area. Last time on Sunday the bartenders has been there forever, he was real cool. I came here with my buddy, and we both enjoyed the atmosphere. I think this place is chill, and will continue to frequent for what it is. I like it better during the day, but have also been at night. I never really had any issues, and am treated well here. I'd recommend it if your looking for a chill place to have a beer on a sunny day, and at night if you want to mingle. I was kinda confused bout all the bad reviews, nothing but good times for me!!! :-) I'd recommend checking it out, it's definitely has a lot of Encinitas History molded into it. read more

Disappointed. 11 of us came in early on in the night, part of a birthday bar crawl. Place wasn't busy, but the bartender ignored us. When he finally did acknowledge us, there was no hello, no hows it going guys, just him asking us if we had cash. Taken aback by this weird first statement of greeting, we all hesitated and he ditched us and walked to the other side of the bar again. Not worth it, we left and continued on in the other, friendlier bars on the block. read more

Service is not the great, bathroom is filthy, line is an extremely long wait and it gets overly crowded. I do like the music, the locals and love a dive bar. Overall I like the place, just little less stars because the service. read more

I don't normally write reviews about a dive bar but I love this place. Todd is a phenomenal bartender! I throw random drinks his way and poof it's awesome. I love the staff here. Someone stole the Cue ball and the bar manager went above and beyond to make us happy. This is my hometown bar. I bring everyone here and will continue to bring everyone here! read more

If I could give negative zero stars I would. Walked in to an empty bar. There was one person at the bar that the bartender felt was more important to chat with vs serve us. Left after 10 minutes waiting and watching him chat read more

Not sure but Chris R must have been in a different bar for his 6/23/13 yelp review. The first time I visited The Saloon I instantly felt like I was back home - great neighborhood bar. Regarding the customer service it has been nothing but great customer service - especially Joe the bartender !!!!! Friendly and fast service. This place is a lot of people's "Cheers". A great place just to hang out on the weekend, stop for a beer after work, or round out a Saturday night and you won't break the bank spending a couple hours here. read more

Worst service I've ever experienced, the bar tender was arguing with customers made me not want to order a drink. Come here if you want your vibe killed read more

I've been going here for years and the "bouncer" said I couldn't come in tonight because I "had too much too drink". I had 3 beers..yet I've been let in blackout drunk for as long as I can/can't remember. Seems I'm just too "old" for their scene now. It's nothing more than a dressed up dive bar..with a douche bag, power tripping bouncer. read more

My family and I travel to Encinitas every year and spend a week during February. We walked into The Saloon and were promptly asked to show identification, upon which we were told to leave because our IDs are from out of state. If you stopped turning away customers and invested in a scanner, the establishment would get more service. read more

The only reason I am giving this place 2 stars and not 1 is because the bouncer and security guard were really helpful and sweet. The rest of what I experienced at this bar was not pleasant. The atmosphere: it's extremely dark, and filled with creepy older guys trying to pick up younger, inebriated girls. Ew. People don't go to bars to be harassed by predatory older men. It's also very crowded, but only because it's a narrow bar. Not a lot of space to move around or even dance. The drinks/bartenders: I scanned the Yelp reviews for this place and I noticed that a couple of other people had the same issue with this bartender. I was the designated driver for my group of friends, and 100% sober, so I know for a fact that this guy was trying to take advantage of my drunk friend. I'm talking about the older bartender with a shaved head and a thick beard. She ordered 2 shots of tequila, then ordered a 3rd and asked that he close her tab. He hands her the 3rd shot with the receipt, and she notices that he charged her $21. She calls him over to dispute the overcharge, and he begins to argue with her! He claimed that she had orderd 4 shots but didn't remember doing so. I was with her the entire time, and I KNOW SHE ONLY HAD 3 SHOTS. Of course she did not buy his bullsh*t, and they got into a mini screaming match. Then he changes his story!! He says that the first shot was a cheaper brand of tequila and the second 2 shots were more expensive...at no point during the night did ANYONE indicate to this bartender that she wanted a more expensive brand of tequila for her second and third shot. He claimed that was what she asked for. This guy is unbelievable. So...two different stories were presented to us explaining why he charged $21. He gets tired of fighting with us and goes to whine to the other bartender (the younger one) and that one comes over to reiterate the same story to us. "He says you asked for the first shot to be a Jose Cuervo and the other two shots to be blah blah blah..." My friend was not having it and explained that the bartender was lying to cover the fact that he tried to take advantage of her. This bartender puts up no fight and agrees to fix the mistake. He brings back the appropriate check - $15 - and all is well... Except the next morning when she checks her bank statement and notices that she was charged the $21 anyways IN ADDITION TO THE $15. I don't think this Yelp review will get this guy fired from his job, but I hope that anyone going to this bar heeds my warning. Try your best to get a different bartender to serve your drinks. At the end of the night, my friend and I got separated, and the security guard and bouncer were excellent. The bouncer let me walk in and out of the bar to look for her (because I was kind of freaking out) and the security guard went into the bar with me and flashed his flashlight at every bar patron so I could find her more easily. Such gentlemen, and I'm so impressed with how courteous these two were (granted I was sober, I'm not sure how they treat drunk people). TLDR: Bartender is a jerk. Bouncer/Security guard are nice. Go to D-Street, which is a block away. read more

AVOID this place. Service is horrible. Bartenders (especially the younger guy) should pay attention to customers instead of war stories about bar fights he's been in. And for Christ sakes have some respect and knock it off on the yelling and screaming of the f word. Hopefully the owner reads this - I'd wanna know. read more

Great drink prices and a really fun place to end the night! Bartenders were fast and super friendly.

Mike. Spilled half beer on me (all over shirt/pants) trying to set it down. Wouldn't hook it up with a free shot to help out since I was soaked. read more

went in with some girlfriends monday for a mellow night, ... we had fun, prices are fair... as we were leaving 3 creepers were standing by our car so we went back in, I was talking outside to the guy at the door and he offered to walk us to the car and make sure we left safe ... out of nowhere he just offered Thank you Saloon for keeping us safe! read more