10 Best Bars to Watch the Game in San Diego

Tom's Watch Bar on J Street overlooks Petco Park and is built for the broadcast, running full game audio and bringing every NFL game to the screen each week with a schedule planned around the key matchups. The wraparound screen wall makes it the easiest room for a mixed group of fans to land on the featured game together, and it carries the Padres, college football, and the national slate too. It is the city's purpose-built watch bar.

Bub's at the Ballpark sits steps from Petco Park and packs out on game day, screening every Padres away game on its 42 TVs with downtown views from the upstairs deck. It runs generous NFL and college football drink deals and anchors the local Steelers crowd on Sundays. The ballpark-adjacent location makes it the natural overflow when the Padres are on the road.

Tavern at the Beach on Garnet Avenue is known for showing all 32 NFL teams on 42 HD TVs, which makes it the PB room for fans of any franchise on a Sunday. The wall-to-wall screens cover the early window, the afternoon games, and Red Zone at once, and it doubles as a Titans home for that fan base. It is the beach strip's catch-all game-day bar.

Mavericks Beach Club on Garnet Avenue spreads 40 TVs across five indoor and outdoor bars, so you can watch the game with the doors open and the ocean a block away. It runs a particular welcome for Cowboys fans and shows all Green Bay games for the cheeseheads, with a big two-story layout that holds a crowd. It is the room for a sunny beachside Sunday with the screens everywhere you look.

Barleymash on Fifth Avenue is ground zero for football fanatics in the Gaslamp, always packed on game day and able to open its underground bar, Ginger's, for the overflow. It anchors a Cowboys crowd and keeps a full whiskey-and-beer list with a kitchen built for a long Sunday. The lines tell you not to arrive right at kickoff, so plan to land early.

Sandbar Sports Grill on Ventura Place in Mission Beach places TVs strategically downstairs and again on its rooftop SkyDeck, so you can catch the NFL with a sea breeze. It is a designated bar for several teams, from the Chargers and Rams to the Lions and Buccaneers, and the boardwalk location makes it an easy walk-up. It is the pick for watching the game in the sun on a deck.

The Tipsy Crow on Fifth Avenue spreads across three distinct levels in a historic Gaslamp building, from the main bar to the Nest upstairs and the Underground below, which gives a game-day group room to spread out. It serves as a Patriots home in the quarter and keeps screens on each floor for the Sunday slate. It is the pick when you want the Gaslamp energy with somewhere to actually sit. See our Tipsy Crow profile.

Duck Dive on Mission Boulevard runs an impressive lineup of game-time food and drink specials that make it one of the better-value rooms on the PB strip. The gastropub setup keeps the kitchen sharp through the afternoon, and it doubles as a Cardinals bar while carrying the wider NFL slate. It is the pick when the deals matter as much as the screens.

The High Dive in Bay Park is the neighborhood room that adopts a long list of out-of-town fan bases, anchoring Steelers, Chiefs, Eagles, and Bengals crowds on a given Sunday. It is a laid-back local rather than a downtown barn, which suits fans who want their team's people without the Gaslamp crush. It is the pick for a tribe-of-one fan base that has found its San Diego home.

Union Kitchen & Tap in the Gaslamp is a polished gastropub that turns into a game-day destination on Sundays, with screens through the bar and a designated Cowboys following. The stronger food program makes it a comfortable pick for a group that wants a real meal with the match rather than wings on a tray. It is the more grown-up Gaslamp option for a featured game.