Wine Steals

Wine Steals is located on the eastern edge of Hillcrest, as the area begins to morph into North Park. On University Avenue, a few blocks west of Park Avenue, Wine Steals is a wine bar that also offers wine tastings and an array of tapas style food items. Glasses range from about $5-7.

Wine Steals is typically pretty crowded. They are going for a very European approach to drinking and dining. Many tables are large enough for multiple parties (depending on size, of course), and the wine bottles, which are also for sale, are the primary decor.

You order your drinks and food at the bar, take a number, and they bring it out you. The bartenders are typically quite knowledgeable, and they have a good selection of wines to choose from. The bartenders are friendly and will offer suggestions, even take your wine back if you aren't satisfied.

Yet for all their good efforts to be European, I think they have fallen short of what they strive for. The music is a bit too loud, the crowds a little too rambunctious. While the wines are quite delicious, the bread is a little stale, the cheeses nothing to write home about. Of course there are plenty of bars in Europe that have only mediocre food, but there is something more subtle than that. I suppose the best way to state it is to say it is slightly less civilized.

That's not to say it is a bad place. I would certainly return; it's just a matter of adjusting your expectations. It's an American Wine Bar, not European, and not Wine Tasting.


Wine Steals
1243 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-1188

Hours
Mon 4-10 pm;
Tue-Wed 2-10:30 pm;
Thu 2-11 pm;
Fri 2 pm-midnight;
Sat 11 am-midnight;
Sun 2 pm-9:30 pm

Lei Lounge

The Lei Lounge in University Heights is a trendy new spot for drinks and tapas-style dinners. The setting is beautiful, with semi-private booths throughout an open air patio style establishment. In other words, basically the whole lounge is outdoors.

Their specialty is mixed drinks, with interesting, though trendy, drink specials like pomegranate martinis, blueberry martinis, and other sweet and fruity and tropical drinks. Their drinks are good, but they cost $7 and do NOT use top shelf liquor. Still, worth going in for a drink or two to enjoy the atmosphere.

The food menu is quite good, with an emphasis on seafood and traditional American dishes wit ha trendy flair. They serve seasoned sweet potato fries with balsamic vinegar, miniature kobe beef hamburgers, wasabi mashed potatoes, and crab anything-you-can-imagine. Like the drinks, the food is good, but not as great as the price implies. Also, you will receive much better service if you are a gay male, than if you are straight and/or female.

Overall, I'd say it is fun to check out, but not a place where I'd become a regular.

Lei Lounge is open 5-10pm daily. Plus they are open for brunch on Sundays. I was going to look up the times for that, but the website took so long I closed it out.

I don't recommend visiting their website; it is incredibly slow and frustrating. They have a bunch of lame pictures in the background that move, and their interface is difficult to use (like little "feathers" you have to click to scroll the menu up and down inside the browser window, instead of just scrolling the actual browser widow).

Lei Lounge
4622 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA
619-813-2272
www.leilounge.com