The Balboa

“Cool atmosphere, friendly staff and good cocktails 😊”

Manny Vargas★★★★★

Wow! Wow! Wow! The burger tasted homemade! Because it was! My friend and I visited, and we both were not super hungry so we split the happy hour special: hamburger, fries, beer for 20 bucks. They offer to cut our hamburger in half and actually delivered our food on two different plates with equal amounts of fries on each. They even gave us two glasses to split our beer. Talk about hospitality. Five stars. Granted, it wasn’t too busy, the GM, Dallas, came over then chatted with us and asked about our meal. That’s when he mentioned everything was homemade and fresh. Definitely get the salt a

Tyler H★★★★★

Excellent burger joint at the edge of the bankers hill neighborhood of San Diego. The staff is warm and inviting. The asthetic is dive bar but the burgers are top notch. Ordering is simple. Pick your burger, then add-ons if you’d like. Fries are separate but excellent, well worth adding. Draft menu is small. They have a full bar. Interior is classic dive bar. The place is awesome. Two pool tables. One room has arcade machines. Plenty of TVs. The kinda place you want to keep around and you hope doesn’t get gentrified out!

Jess Ma★★★★★

Truly feels like a casual neighborhood dive bar, with friendly service and amazing juicy burgers. We stopped by after the zoo, on a Monday, when the deal was $10 Balboa burgers and $6 beers. I also added roast jalapeños to mine (1.75 charge) which were delicious and gave it a subtle kick. We also got a large serving of the garlic fries (huge portion, probably should’ve gotten the smaller option), which were freshly fried and flavorful. The burgers were so juicy and thick, and it all came together perfectly. We also loved getting to play some pool after (75 cents per game).

FIYA★★★★★

These burgers are FASHO the best in San Diego. Each bite was so delicious and savory. SO filling! Peter is an amazing bartender, very attentive and makes amazing drinks! We will definitely be back because those burgers were PHENOMENAL!