Mothership

Great experience at the Mothership. Great drinks and vegetarian food. This establishment has 10-15 tables only (90 minutes) so reservation is recommended but not needed. They do have a bar area but it’s not big. Who needs big when the drinks are🔥.
I recommend the noodles, potatoes, and rice. The pancake was alright but not for me. 3 drinks & 3 sharable dishes came to $101. The service is great with amazing ambience.

We had a great time here. We arrived shortly after opening as suggested on the website, and was able to get in immediately for the standing room only bar. The seats are available once someone leaves, so eventually we were able to sit at the bar. Matt and Victoria were the bartenders and they were delightful. They were so friendly and efficient, especially considering how busy it was and how complex the drinks are. We only had drinks but the ones we tried were definitely an experience. Matt explained how early the chefs arrive to prep and make all the juices and syrups, so the cocktail your drinking has been days in the making. We loved the place so much we even bought a shirt! Also the bathroom is a cool experience as well, so check that out before you leave.

I absolutely love the concept. The restaurant/bar has such a fun vibe. I think because it’s new and everyone wants to go I found it not the best experience. I stopped by one night and was told it was probably a 3 hours wait. So I tried again on a Saturday at 3pm (just me) because I love tiki cocktails. Well they said it was an hour wait for the bar area but didn’t say it was standing room only with no standing tables. When I got the text, I was let in with a group of people and basically squished in the bar area. Thankfully I was standing right in front of the bartender so I just barely glanced at the menu and ordered a "self destruct sequence". So I grabbed my drink and tried to get out of the way. It was a tasty drink but I drank it petty quickly and left since it was really not very comfortable trying to stand around. Oh well, maybe I’ll try again when it calms down or I decide to grab a dinner reservation.

Was lucky to be able to tag along on a Saturday afternoon reservation for their soft opening. The wait in the stand by line was super long outside, would definitely not recommend without a reservation.
The interior decor and vibe is fantastic; really transports you to a tropical cave with tons of whimsical sci-fi touches. Will be a staple to take visitors in the future.

The bar is pretty much all tiki cocktail driven, I think they had a small beer selection and wine comes out of a can. Drinks were surprisingly pretty generous in terms of size and strength, really interesting options like schezuan peppercorns and lovely garnishes. Tried:
- Mindkiller, their version of a painkiller, pretty boozy and balanced by the coconut cream
- Warbird, I wasn’t familiar with blackstrap rum so the drink leaned bitter and medicinal with the combo of Campari

Food is a pretty small menu of small plates/appetizers but priced more like meals. Asian leaning and all vegetarian. The potatoes were great, noodles were good, the pancake was not what I expected (thought it’d be flat and crispy, was thick and gummy/too dense).

The reservations are capped at 90 minutes and they do indeed keep pretty strict track of time. Not an issue, our table of 4 got two drinks each and two separate food orders in without feeling too rushed nor waiting too long for service.

Hope to go back soon and maybe get a better view than where I sat facing a wall lol. Go for the drinks!

As more and more immersive experience bars pop up you always have to approach these with some hesitation given the track record of many, but Mothership holds its own amongst them.
It helps that their concept spawned from the people behind Kindred bar only a few blocks away. A death metal like vegan bar with a very bougie look, they have some experience already crafting a good bar program with stylish decor.
This time around they opted for a more futuristic and galactic approach to the trivial cocktail game with the help of Notch Designs.

And the devil really is in the detail! This place definitely has a more permanent and lived in vibe to it than other immersive bar experiences have. The design is akin to a Disney ride or other immersive bars like UnderTow and Century Grand. The bathroom has even become a prime selfie spot.

Every thing down to the water glasses and menu (and merchandise) have been conceptualized to look like they came from a spaceship in the future. And the drinks which many are riffs on classic tiki cocktails, show complexity and innovation considering they are holding to their vegan roots.
Cashew base Gradenia mix for the Dive Simulation, a riff on the Pearl Diver, is a perfect example of how an old classic drink can be modernized into something deliciously new.
It’s been a reservation based 90 min experience which still has some kinks. I was late by 10 mins driving down from L.A. on my second visit and lost my table. And considering I drove down specifically to eat their vegan food there, I left rather quickly after a few drinks in search of something to soak it all in before the long drive back up. (The bar doesn’t serve food).

While they do take walk-ins as well, the wait for one would have have me waiting 4 hours before something opened up. Even though there were many tables there that had opened up well before their 90 mins were up. Many of which didn’t actually order food.

These are just kinks that I’m sure will work themselves out over time so I’m happy to wait until the hype dies down a bit.

Overall a great opening to a fantastic bar in the San Diego South Park area.