San Diego: The Shout! House

After eating at Ch1ve, we met up with my friend’s friend, who was working as a security bouncer inside the dueling piano bar, The Shout! House. A dueling piano bar typically consists of a stage with two grand pianos, each played by a charismatic and outgoing professional player who is able to both play music and somehow increase the energy of audience. The music that is played is usually popular classic rock and popular music of the time. Interestingly, this format of dueling piano bars originated in late 1986 in Dallas, Texas. The Shout! House is a specific type of dueling piano bar where audience make requests and audience participation, interaction, and sing-a-long are all encouraged. Fortunately, my friend’s friend was able to put us on a guest list and we did not have to pay the ten dollar cover charge. Upon entering, I was immediately reminded of the Los Angeles dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon. The Shout! House definitely seems like the place to go with a large group to get really drunk and embarrass yourself and/or others. I was a little sad that I was unable to drink because of the race, but it was still amusing to watch other people drink and do crazy things that I hope I would never do when I am drunk! The pictures included are a part of the night where the pianists ask all the workers of the establishment to come up on the stage (bartenders get up on their bars) and lead everyone through the Time Warp.

We did not stay out too late because I was supposed to be up and moving at 5am so I could make it to the race before the start time of 7am. I fell asleep with practically one eye open at around 11:00pm. I was ¾ nervous and ¼ excited. I woke up repeatedly with different worries each time: going to be late, going to forget something, not going to finish, going to hurt myself, not going to finish, not going to finish, not going, not going to finish, going to be too tired to finish because I keep waking up, etc. Life seemed to be moving faster during these hours and there was no turning back or way to stop it.

The Shout! House

655 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Get Directions(619) 231-6700

Howl at the Moon

1000 Universal Center Dr # 216
Universal City, CA 91608

Get Directions(818) 755-9970

San Diego: Ch1ve

Saturday evening my friend and I ventured out into the Gaslamp District for dinner. We ended up eating at a restaurant called Ch1ve, which can easily be defined as Californian modern/contemporary cuisine. Their menu offers only appetizers and small plates. Although I was not drinking that night, I did notice they had a drink menu full of an eclectic array of cocktails, beers, and wines. The drop in prices of alcohol and food during their happy hour, which is 7 nights a week, makes me believe they are a popular place to visit between 5pm-7pm. I ordered one appetizer and one small plate. I chose a soup as my appetizer (I forgot to take a picture) that was so little in quantity, probably half a cup, that I would not recommend anyone order a soup there at all for the price. My small plate was a tuna dish. I apologize for not having any names for these meals, but I did not think to write them down and am not able to find them on their website menu. There were 5 of these “rolls” on a plate. They were quite tasty and I probably could have eaten a lot more of them. Not surprisingly, my friend and I were still hungry, but did not want to spend much more money for food so we went to get some gelato and frozen yogurt. (I justify my large frozen yogurt consumption as yogo-loading for the race.) Overall, I would probably return to this restaurant for a happy hour or if someone else was paying for the food.

Ch1ve

558 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Get Directions(619) 232-4483