In 1974, Dave Hodges was reconnecting with an old friend over a few beers when he realized that there was a shortage of hip establishments in North San Diego County. Rather than pursue a career in accounting, which he had just earned a degree in from the University of San Diego, he decided to open a bar. After a long search for the right location, Hodges discovered a Quonset hut on Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.
The arched, corrugated steel building had been used by the Navy during World War II and more recently by a waterbed manufacturer that had gone out of business. With a humorous nod to the past, Hodges named his new bar the Belly Up Tavern. “We were looking for a place where a couple of old friends could go for a few beers,” Hodges said in a 1989 interview with The Times .
“Something like an English pub, not dark and dreary, not a place that smelled bad.” The bar’s early clientele was mostly blue-collar workers who came for the chess and checker boards, pool tables and to throw darts. There was even a library where patrons could check out novels for some bar-side reading, Hodges recalled.
“We were supported by plumbers, electricians and carpenters, people who wanted a quiet spot for a few brews,” he said. “It was low-key.” It then morphed into one of SoCal’s longest running (and loudest) music venues and the site of many historic shows, from Tom Jones to Snoop Dogg.
This month marks Belly Up’s 50th anniversary, and instead of throwing a single even.