Waterfront Bar & Grill   

The Waterfront is one of those great, comfortable, old hang-outs that just seems to do and be everything right. Founded in 1933 (making it the oldest continuously operating bar in San Diego), the Waterfront maintains the same rough-hewn, workaday aesthetic that so faithfully served its sea-faring clientele back when it, and the rest of Little Italy, really was on the waterfront. Today, the place still feels like a sturdy oceanside shanty; ghosts of fisherman and their adventures seem embedded in the salt-cured wood, the rafters, the intricate carvings behind the bar. Wide-open windows invite you to be confused between inside and out. People just feel good here, and locals wouldn't think of taking out-of-towners anywhere else. The food -- burgers, fish and chips, salads -- is inexpensive, invariably delicious and served by people who seem to love what they're doing and where they are.