El Cajon Boulevard is the line between Normal Heights and City Heights, and Soda Bar sits right on it at 3615. You will see it filed under either neighborhood, and both are fair.
The room
Soda Bar holds about 230 people. A full bar runs down the middle of the room with more than 20 taps, mostly craft beer, and the room is dressed in black booths and patterned wallpaper in pink, white and brown. In a space this size, nobody ends up far from the band.
Expect the door to check for 21 and up, and bring an ID. Live bands play most nights, and themed dance parties fill a lot of the rest of the week.
Who has played it
This is a room where bands play on the way up. Phoebe Bridgers, Foster the People, Grimes and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have all come through, and local bands share the calendar with the touring ones. Most of the calendar lands on our alternative and rock pages, and the dance nights show up under dance.
Who runs it
Adam Cook and Cuong Nguyen opened Soda Bar in November 2008. In 2018 the club changed hands to a group called Big Soda, made up of Casbah owner Tim Mays, bar manager Angie Ollman, and musicians Cory Stier and Andrew Montoya. Stier, who drums in Cults, books the room, and Cults headlined the club's tenth anniversary shows.
That ownership makes the club part of a small family of rooms. The same booking circle also runs shows at The Casbah, SOMA and The Observatory North Park, so a band you like here may play one of those on its next trip through.
Getting there
MTS buses run the length of El Cajon Boulevard. Route 1 and the Rapid 215 both use it, and the 215 connects downtown with the SDSU Transit Center and its Green Line Trolley stop. Parking is on the street, along the Boulevard and the side streets around it, so leave a few minutes to circle.
The Observatory is a short drive west in North Park if you want a bigger room on another night. For more venues in this part of town, see Uptown and Mid City.