Understory Bar

Maria Mnatsakanova

Very cute bar with great branding, beautiful ambiance and delicious cocktails with unusual presentation. Great spot for dates and to bring visitors from out of town. It’s inside of my favorite SkyDeck, so you can have dinner at one of the restaurants here and then stop by this bar for a drink. I appreciate the creativity of the cocktail titles and the overall vibe. The service is also great. It’s called Understory, like the hidden part of the forest where the insets and small animals live their live, so most of the cocktails are themed accordingly.

LULU LIVE Art

One of our favorite bars in San Diego, and this is probably the newest one. We really enjoy the beautiful open space in sky deck with beautiful decorations. This bar makes real good drinks, like a speak easy style. The bartenders here are very professional and friendly. Even I just want to have a classic aperol spritz, they make it super perfect. This is definitely a regular bar we will come to drink.

Kathryn Wyckoff

This place is amazing. An exceptional cocktail menu at reasonable prices with the ability to order from ANY of the delicious surrounding restaurants.

Trey Grady

Loved every second of being in this establishment. From the drinks, to the food, as well as the live DJ! The atmosphere was amazing. If you love a good R&B vibe you should really check out their brunch events! If I could give this place a Michelin star I would lol!

Justin C

Really fantastic drinks and great vibes. The ambiance is cool too. You can order food from the nearby restaurants from your table! The drinks are all really unique, just a few bucks more than a regular restaurant. The service is a bit slow, but I’m sure it will improve as the new staff gets used to things. Definitely a welcome addition to Sky Deck!

Tony Tran

Parking: Plenty of parking. Park closest to Jimbo for easiest access Ambience: Loud, upbeat great for gatherings. Service: The service was great. Our server was very attentive. Food: Theres a QR code you can scan and order from any of the restaurants in the food district and they will serve it to your table. Majority of the food we ordered came from Glass Box. Overall: I love the idea of this community dining area. Only this you have to do is at least order something from them like drinks.

Steve H

Excellent drinks, friendly staff. DJ at 9PM (Oct-2021). Creative cocktail menu, fresh mixes. The green-tea shot was surprisingly good. Strong, well-flavored drinks, but a lot of ice. Mix well, drink a bit slowly if you want to make an evening of it. The food menu draws from several restaurants around, but it's a bit weird -- not all selections are available from all seating areas. (If you want a burger, you have to sit one of the other places.) Expect to spend the first 10 minutes with everyone on their phones trying to tab through the menus. But the meat & cheese from the Italian place is totally worth it.

Leana Hardgrave

Theming, atmosphere, and drinks were amazing at this bar. One drink was named after a Macaque, and was served with a toy monkey. Another was artfully sketched in an elephant glass in the menu and was actually served in an elephant shaped glass! Not only was the presentation delightful, but the drinks themselves were unique and skillfully balanced. We will definitely be back!

Zachary Zhu

Solid cocktails in the middle of the Del Mar Highlands! I tried their Understory Sour which was a great balance of sour and sweet. Even though it’s a bit strange being in a cocktail bar that is surrounded by so many restaurants, I thought it was still quite a nice vibe.

Samuel Edmondson

Understory had a lot of good cocktails to choose from. I got the Van Dam's Vanga, and it was really good. The charcoal was a nice twist, and tequila is always delicious haha. I also got a watermelon cocktail that was pretty good.

Yania Diaz

This is a bar, but you can order food from the restaurants nearby and they'll bring it to you. It's important to keep in mind that the tables are quite small, though, so you can't fit more than 2 or 3 plates. The atmosphere and service are great, their menu is quite unique. There's not much seating in the bar area but you can sit anywhere and they'll take the drinks to you.

I went here for a date night drink and it was great. My server was named Drea and she was AMAZING!! Despite the busy night, she still gave us personalized recommendations on drinks, and they did not disappoint! So delish. I will definitely be back :)

The drinks are amazing! They are a bit understaffed, but I love that you can order food from different restaurants right from the bar.

Drinks were absolutely great. Staff were friendly and attentive we were able to order food right from the bar which was plus.

Claire Moreman

I went here for a date night drink and it was great. My server was named Drea and she was AMAZING!! Despite the busy night, she still gave us personalized recommendations on drinks, and they did not disappoint! So delish. I will definitely be back :)

Antoinette Raymond

Chase and his team always make our experience at Understory fabulous!! The drinks, the atmosphere, and the service are all stellar!

Service can be slow at the booths compared to the Bar, but the ambience is beautiful, Dj is a great touch on friday night.Ramen was delicious. love that you can order from multiple spots from understory.. My mom wished for better wheat beer options.. and happy hour to be 9pm not 10 pm. lol

This is a cute spot for a cocktail. It is located in the center of Sky Deck. The sign says wait to be seated but noone was, I'm not sure what the deal was with that but I grabbed a bar seat. The menu is nice with artsy pictures of the cocktails. I really liked the Van Dam's Vanga. You can apparently order food from the surrounding restaurants in Sky Deck which is pretty cool, maybe I'll try that next time.

Great ambiance. Loved the elephant glass! Drinks were pretty good, but definitely misses the mark compared to other top notch cocktail bars in San Diego. Prices for drinks are fine, but -1 star for charging 6.66 to bring pizzas from the restaurant 10 feet away in the space.

Fun bar in a food court but hip. Friendly staff, interesting cocktails.

I love these tech savvy places where you can sit in a bar, order and pay for food from your phone from 5 other restaurants, they bring the food to your table. Loved their drinks , each one had a personality. Will definitely be a regular! Special shout out to our waitress Natasha who took care of us.

L

Service can be slow at the booths compared to the Bar, but the ambience is beautiful, Dj is a great touch on friday night.Ramen was delicious. love that you can order from multiple spots from understory.. My mom wished for better wheat beer options.. and happy hour to be 9pm not 10 pm. lol

Danielle M

This is a cute spot for a cocktail. It is located in the center of Sky Deck. The sign says wait to be seated but noone was, I'm not sure what the deal was with that but I grabbed a bar seat. The menu is nice with artsy pictures of the cocktails. I really liked the Van Dam's Vanga. You can apparently order food from the surrounding restaurants in Sky Deck which is pretty cool, maybe I'll try that next time.

Stephen Wolf

Great ambiance. Loved the elephant glass! Drinks were pretty good, but definitely misses the mark compared to other top notch cocktail bars in San Diego. Prices for drinks are fine, but -1 star for charging 6.66 to bring pizzas from the restaurant 10 feet away in the space.

Walter Mladina

Fun bar in a food court but hip. Friendly staff, interesting cocktails.

amrita preetham

I love these tech savvy places where you can sit in a bar, order and pay for food from your phone from 5 other restaurants, they bring the food to your table. Loved their drinks , each one had a personality. Will definitely be a regular! Special shout out to our waitress Natasha who took care of us.

We were not happy with the taste of our drinks, but the atmosphere is nice, and you may order food from the restaurants around it (with extra fees). Compared to their nicely designed menu and their prices, their drinks taste more like some basic sugary syrup mixed with alcohol. The staff there were nice, but I hope the management rethink their prices or their recipes.

Hesam Abedini

We were not happy with the taste of our drinks, but the atmosphere is nice, and you may order food from the restaurants around it (with extra fees). Compared to their nicely designed menu and their prices, their drinks taste more like some basic sugary syrup mixed with alcohol. The staff there were nice, but I hope the management rethink their prices or their recipes.

Great idea, poor execution - understaffed. This particular spot is a bar in the center of a bunch of small restaurants/food spots under one umbrella as the “Sky Deck.” There are qr codes on the edge of the tables and bartops to order from all the locations, and they drop the food for the Understory servers and bring it to your tables. The drinks are okay, they feel a little underpoured for the extravagant names and prices, but they’re fun. But the service takes FOREVER. I do not blame the servers themselves particularly, maybe a little slow here and there, but the bartender is slow. The food comes out quick, but they’re very slow bringing it to your table. My biggest concern is that the food brought from the restaurants is LEFT OUT WITHOUT A HEAT LAMP. Because they take so long to bring it to you this is a huge food safety issue, especially because the counter is easily accessible to the public in the time that it takes them to pick it up. Almost all if not all of these issues could be solved with more staff. Another bartender, a dedicated host, a food runner. The place is small, but adding staff will be a benefit even in the small space. As it stands, I wouldn’t go back.

K

Great idea, poor execution - understaffed. This particular spot is a bar in the center of a bunch of small restaurants/food spots under one umbrella as the “Sky Deck.” There are qr codes on the edge of the tables and bartops to order from all the locations, and they drop the food for the Understory servers and bring it to your tables. The drinks are okay, they feel a little underpoured for the extravagant names and prices, but they’re fun. But the service takes FOREVER. I do not blame the servers themselves particularly, maybe a little slow here and there, but the bartender is slow. The food comes out quick, but they’re very slow bringing it to your table. My biggest concern is that the food brought from the restaurants is LEFT OUT WITHOUT A HEAT LAMP. Because they take so long to bring it to you this is a huge food safety issue, especially because the counter is easily accessible to the public in the time that it takes them to pick it up. Almost all if not all of these issues could be solved with more staff. Another bartender, a dedicated host, a food runner. The place is small, but adding staff will be a benefit even in the small space. As it stands, I wouldn’t go back.