The Field Irish Pub in San Diego's Gaslamp District

The Field in San Diego

THE FIELD of Irish Dreams
"If you build it, they will come..."

No, we’re not talking about the inexplicably popular Kevin Costner movie but rather about The Field Irish Pub in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp quarter.

We begin with the physical description. As soon as you walk through the doors you are instantly transported back in time to the early 1900’s as this place is a turn of the century pub that was literally shipped over from Ireland to San Diego. I’m serious. The walls are adorned with historic relics from the mining period in Ireland complete with mining equipment, classic kitchen utensils, and of course those classic Guinness signs. It’s a visual history lesson with no flux capacitor on your De Lorean needed!

The Field offers a variety of traditional Irish cuisine. It’s one of the few places I’ve found that serves boxty dishes which are like a potato pancake stuffed with meat and/or vegetables. I had a sampler dish which had boxty, Guinness beef stew, shepard’s pie, and corned beef and cabbage. Each one was better than the last. Even the corned beef, which is a long-time arch enemy of mine, was spectacular. And for those of you who aren’t brave enough to have Irish food they have a complete menu including steaks, hamburgers, chicken strips, and of course fish and chips.

Now let’s get to the important part that I know you booze hounds have been waiting for: the drinks. The Field offers a pretty standard bar setting with just about anything you can ask for. What sets them apart from other pubs is the Guinness. The dark brew tastes the same as anywhere else but when you get a pint here you get an Irish pint which is twenty ounces and not the standard sixteen. Oh yeah, they also draw a shamrock in the foam which gives you something to watch as the beer settles. They also have a wide variety of Irish whiskey from Jameson to Power’s to my personal favorite Knappogue Castle.

And finally we get to the entertainment. If you check out their calendar it looks like a Jackson Pollock painting of events including drink specials and live entertainment.