Barrow Street Bar and Grill

Our Two Cents

We haven't spent enough time here, but we still have a few words about Barrow Street B&G.

Our visits have been on weekday evenings while the after work crowd is still bellied up. Fridays are markedly busier than the school-nights but there are a few consistencies with this crowd - no matter what day of the week it is. For one, the clientele is varied; you have 50 year old dudes in tweed sport coats sipping scotch while fiddling with their solid gold curb link bracelets, younger cybergeeks sit at the bar, laptops in tow, tippling and coding until the wee hours, the late 40s government or non-profit employee is here too, wearing her worn out LL Bean chinos and packing a PBS tote from 1999, and you've got the West Indian construction crowd who rack up a few games of 8-ball and chug down their macro lagers with glee. The second thing that's quite evident at Barrow is that the patronage has no qualms about slamming down more than one, talking their asses off, and getting quite friendly if provoked.

Barrow is nicely appointed in a well-worn Regal Beagle type of way. Maybe it's more Boston than San Diego actually - something "Cheers"-y about the stained glass with Art Nouveau lettering inlay. If we recall correctly, the floor was blue slate. A totally awesome choice that feels warm underfoot and obviously cleans up well.

We did beer and beer only on our visit. Prices were fair. Tap quality was survivable but could be improved upon. Bottle selection was meager but that which was in stock was fresh and well chilled.