A rooftop night in Del Mar / Solana Beach →
2 stops, all within a short walk
1
0.1 mi
5:30 PMSunset drinks
Il Fornaio Del Mar
Restaurant
1555 Camino Del Mar #301, Del Mar, CA 92014, United States
Del Mar / Solana Beach
4.8
2
7:00 PMDinner
← San DiegoDate night guide · San Diego
Best rooftop bars for a date in San Diego
Go up for sunset, come down for dinner.
22 spots · Jump to the list
A rooftop is an easy opening move: the view gives you something to talk about, and a drink at sunset sets up the rest of the night. The good ones fill up around golden hour, so aim to arrive before the sun goes down. Some are bars on top of a restaurant; all of them are worth the trip up for a drink, even if dinner happens somewhere else.
This guide ranks 22 rooftop bars in San Diego, from Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown to Little Italy / Middletown and Pacific Beach / Mission Beach. Editors' picks come first, then the rest by rating, and the plans below build a whole evening around the best of them.
Nights people planned here
Published date nights with a stop on this list.
romantic
Make a night of it
Routes around the top spots on the list, with the best-rated places nearby for the rest of the evening.
A rooftop night in Pacific Beach / Mission Beach →
2 stops, all within a short walk
The list
Editors' picks first, then by rating.
Il Fornaio Del Mar
4.8(5)Del Mar / Solana Beach · $$$
Sandbar
4.7(18)Pacific Beach / Mission Beach · $
Lumi by Akira Back
4.6(23)Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown · $$$$
The Nolen
4.5(11)Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown · $$
Borrego Rooftop
4.4(15)Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown · $$
The Rooftop Bar
4.4(9)Oceanside / Carlsbad · $$
Cormorant Boutique Hotel
4.3(21)La Jolla
Firehouse
4.3(20)Pacific Beach / Mission Beach · $$
Sbicca
4.3(11)Del Mar / Solana Beach · $$$
Cannonball
4.0(16)Pacific Beach / Mission Beach · $$$
Monarch Ocean Pub
4.0(8)Del Mar / Solana Beach · $$$
Sunbird
4.0(1)Little Italy / Middletown
Altitude Sky Lounge
Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown
Kettner Exchange
Little Italy / Middletown · $$$
The Pool House
Little Italy / Middletown · $$
Tower39 Rooftop Lounge
Oceanside / Carlsbad
TopSail
Little Italy / Middletown · $$
Lily Rooftop
Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown
Sea & Sky
La Jolla · $$$
PB Alehouse
Pacific Beach / Mission Beach · $
Saint James French Diner
Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown · $$
The Surf Club
Oceanside / Carlsbad
Good to know
- What's the best rooftop bar in San Diego for a date?
- Our top pick is Il Fornaio Del Mar in Del Mar / Solana Beach, rated 4.8 out of 5. Sandbar and Lumi by Akira Back round out the top 3.
- Which San Diego neighborhoods have the best rooftop bars?
- Gaslamp Quarter / Downtown (6), Little Italy / Middletown (4) and Pacific Beach / Mission Beach (4) have the most spots on this list.
- Are there affordable rooftop bars in San Diego?
- Yes — Sandbar, The Nolen and Borrego Rooftop are all $$ or under.
- What should we do before or after?
- Make it a rooftop night: sunset drinks, then dinner, then something sweet. The plans on this page pair each top spot with the best-rated places within about a 20-minute walk.