Aero Club Bar

On our lists of the best activities and arcades & games in San Diego.

Near the airport in Middletown, pilot Marianne Profit opened this bar in 1947 as a place for fellow aviators and nearby aircraft-factory workers to drink, and much of that era's decor survives -- model planes overhead, photographs covering the walls. Current owner Bill Lutzius took over around 2006 and built out a whiskey list that now runs past 1,200 bottles, spanning bourbon, rye, Scotch, Japanese and Irish. Pinball and pool tables fill a connected arcade room called Dyno Bar, and a food partner serves smashed Wagyu burgers and loaded fries.