Belly Up Tavern

The Belly Up Tavern has been rocking since 1974 when it opened in Solana Beach with a couple of microphones and no stage. In the decades since, it has become one of the most celebrated intimate music venues on the West Coast, earning recognition from Rolling Stone Magazine as 'one of the hottest live music clubs on the West Coast' and winning San Diego's Best Live Music Venue award repeatedly. The 600-capacity room has hosted John Lee Hooker, Etta James, BB King, the Rolling Stones (private event), Jimmy Buffett, Willie Nelson, and hundreds more at various points in its history. The room itself is remarkable for its design. The stage is low and close to the audience, general admission puts listeners within touching distance of the performers, and the Reserved Loft provides an elevated birds-eye option with table service. The sound quality is consistently praised as exceptional for a club of this size, and the intimate capacity means that acts routinely choose Belly Up for underplays when they could be playing much larger rooms. The venue programs all genres with genuine commitment: alternative rock, reggae, hip hop, blues, folk, jazz, Latin, and country all have a history here. The adjacent Tavern restaurant and the Pacific Coast Grill next door round out the complex. For a music listener who takes live music seriously, the Belly Up Tavern is one of the few genuinely essential venues in Southern California.