San Diego has a crazy good bar scene: home to some of the best breweries in the US, wonderful cocktail bars, magical rooftops, and so much more. This last summer, our city got a new addition – Kiku Room, ‘your neighborhood music bar’.
Kiku Room – a unique listening bar and a cocktail lounge
‘Kiku’ comes from the Japanese verb meaning to listen. Their values are ‘community driven, music led, and cocktail focused.’ The whole concept also comes from Japan – where you can find jazz cafes, known as ‘jazu kissa’.
This new hot-spot features ‘music with a pulse’, meaning dark disco, dance, house, and much more. While most similar bars focus on a chill vibe, Kiku Room is going for different, energetic beats. However, it’s definitely not a club!
The objective is to listen. To everything and anything around you: conversations with friends, the murmur or people around, and of course, the music. Sounds come from vinyl, reel to reel, or one of their many carefully curated playlists (which you can also find on Spotify).
The vibe? A neighborhood listening bar. And the prices reflect this, too.
What’s on the menu?
The main focus of Kiku’s menu is on cocktails. And you know they’re good, as they’re all made by an ex-YoungBlood-er (Taylor Ivision).
You’ll find 4 rotating classic cocktails, for only $10. Why? The owners say ‘they’re a bit tired of paying $18 for a drink’. And in a city that keeps getting more and more expensive, we couldn’t agree more.
If you wanna treat yourself though, or try something new, there are tons of creative cocktails. They’re based on yuzu, plum wine, tequila, mezcal, gin, whiskey, and more – there’s definitely something for everyone.
As for the food, make sure to try the…olives, maybe? Kiku Room doesn’t have a kitchen, and it never will. This space has been a bar since the ’60s, and it was important for the current owners to keep it this way.
What was there before?
Kiku Room fills big shoes. Back in the day, this same space hosted the iconic Casbah, where names like Kurt Cobain and Alanis Morissette once played.
Kiku Room has just opened this past summer – have you been to this listening bar yet?