Irinas Bar and Grill

Love this place! We went there with all three kids and two of our buddies and it was a breath of fresh air. Service was stellar and they even gave our son a free round of pool. The food was awesome. I had the Oktoberfest burger and it was, by far, one of the top ten burgers I have ever had. Great beer selection. Will be frequenting this joint.

Irinas is a little local bar in strip mall that looks like it appeals to local Oside drinkers.  We just finished up a basketball game in Oside and saw that Irinas had a Yelp check in special, so we decided to check it out.  We went for the food; and the story isn't pretty.  The food outside of the German food was dismal.  My chef salad was all iceberg lettuce, no eggs, shredded cheap cheese, not julienne quality cheddar, 4 tiny pieces of tomato, no ham, no turkey, with some chicken that I ordered on it; the waitress messed up the order 3 times.  Here is a recipe that I think is the bare minimum for a chef salad:  <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.recipetips.com%2Frecipe-cards%2Ft--1609%2Ftraditional-chefs-salad.asp&s=957716abdb97f0cb024655a51257cff2b86daf79f886e45cced9d885fbbcf6a9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.recipetips.co…</a>

The burgers the other two people ordered were bland, small, and served with a tiny amount of french fries.  The bright side of Irinas is the bratwurst my GF ordered, which was very good, but should have come with fries for $7.50.  I think Irinas should consider more German food, get a better chef salad recipe and go to a solid burger place like the Encinitas Ale House to learn how to make a burger.  With the right new menu I would definitely try Irinas again.  The staff was super nice so I'd love to see them get it right.

Irina's looks like your average dive bar, but definitely offers a lot of small nuances that cultivate its vibe.  I love that they have a small German menu, and highly recommend the bratwurst and sauerkraut.  The homemade sauerkraut with shredded carrots really defines the dish.  We also ordered the stuffed cabbage because of so many raving yelp reviews.  It was good but not very memorable.  All in all, I will definitely be heading back, and would recommend this to a friend looking for a low key bar.