January 29, 2009
(Visited 05/2008): Callahan’s is north of San Diego in the Mira Mesa area, a couple miles from both the 805 and the 15. They have a private lot, plus they are in front of a strip mall that has additional parking. The place looks like a cookie cutter Irish/sports bar. The bar is in the rear directly opposite the entrance. The rest of the space is for table seating. They have chalkboards up showing all the beers available. As for the beers, Callahan’s only had 2 of their own beers available out of the 25 taps. Aside from macros, other highlights were from Bear Valley, Coronado and Green Flash. The bottle selection looked pretty standard. Callahan’s beers were fairly average overall. The bartender was familiar with both Callahan’s and guest draughts enough to describe what they were. The food was pretty good as well. I had a teriyaki chicken dinner and it was competent. Overall I would try checking this place out again on the condition that they had more of their own beers available.

December 12, 2008
Nice sports bar slash irish pub. Lots of tvs, with a nice bar as a central location. Wide open dining area with sightlines all around the pub. Very good sevice, the bartender kept checking up on us frequently. Decent selection of beers, about 5 regulars and 2 seasonals. Real good food, had the Tri tip special, very good. Overall a pretty good place.

May 27, 2008 [ Updated August 25, 2008 ]
Decent bar. Irish themed. The food was edible and the beer was ok. Overall, though, the place didn’t quite click with me.

September 26, 2007
Above average brewpub. Went there for my first QUAFF meeting, Sitting next to outstanding homebrewers and Alesmith brewers, etc. Typical american restaurant food. I think it’s association with excellent brewers keeps it’s beers good and underrated.

July 20, 2007 [ Updated August 10, 2007 ]
I’m not quite sure what wasn’t working with this place. Sort of an Ir ish pub; sort of a sports bar. I didn’t try the food, but the service wasn’t great and beer about average. I doubt I’ll go back.

January 2, 2007
Callahans always gives me the feel of a family restaurant when I go in there. Ther food is pretty good, but, I don’t really crave there stuff. The beer selection is pretty good, with several of their own beers as well as other locals and micros available. Unfortunately the best beers i’ve had there are nights when the QUAFF homebrew has their monthly meetings and brings beer for the meeting.

May 26, 2006
Nice place. Better food than beer, but you might find an Alesmith or 2 on tap at any given time. They have some house ales that aren’t too bad, though I wouldn’t go out of my way for them. The beer chili is absolutely the best chili I have had that I didn’t make myself. Bold words because I make some good chili, so my standards are high. So, this is more of a restaurant than a pub, but it’s a nice, clean place.

March 6, 2006
Late dinner time. Crowded. Families and drinking partners crowded the place. Another one of those clashing themes of sports bar and family restaurant with no boundary. The tap list is ho-hum. A few good choices, their own beers, then most of the taps are imports and domestic junk. Prices are a bit high and I couldn’t complain about the staff. A bit too bright and not enough games to pull off the irish pub theme propperly.

September 7, 2005
Ambiance varies; by day it’s a lunch crowd, by night its a rowdy sports bar crowd. Service is always pretty good. Fair selection of house brews and local micros. Food is good and plenty for a fair price. An O.K. neighborhood bar (no brewery on premisis).

June 15, 2005
i wasnt a huge fan of this place, they only had a few decent brews on tap, the food was bland and the crowd was a bunch of fucking old people. there was awful entertainment also.