Drinking and eating to the past (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that San Diego’s oldest bar on record sits soaked in history (and booze) at 505 Sixth Ave., on the border of The Gaslamp Quarter and East Village?

Known as Tivoli Bar & Grill, the Sixth Avenue establishment predates The Waterfront, an iconic Little Italy hangout that opened when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. Tivoli stretches back to 1885, starting originally as a saloon and kitchen called The Walker House. Prior to that, the circa-1864 building operated as a boarding house and blacksmith shop.

For a period of time throughout the early 1900s, the bar was contained within San Diego’s infamous red-light district known as The Stingaree. The area attracted scores of sailors and businessmen on the hunt for fast sex and cheap alcohol. Some of the liquor was reportedly distilled secretly in the basement.

After a set of Italian owners took over, they renamed the bar Tivoli, supposedly in honor of Italy’s famous Tivoli Gardens. 

The business still boasts its original wood bar, now specked with lots of nicks and scrapes. A vintage metal cash register sits just inside the entrance within a plexiglass display box. And looming largely above is a framed photo of Wyatt Earp, a gun-toting lawman from the Wild West days who was a regular patron of the bar.

The atmosphere is antiquated with dim lighting. The libations are plentiful—and the burgers, hot dogs and fried vittles do a decent job at soaking them up.