Observatory OC Reviews

Parking SUCKZ, had to walk tooooo far. Well at least I could smoke my cigar!! Haha

its great going to shows here. it feels more personal.

I love this venue to see shows. It's a small intimate environment so it's perfect place to enjoy & fully experience the artists you came to see. Last night was The Melvin's & it was fantastic!

The observatory has improved in the last few months. Now that they have metal detectors instead of groping security guards definitely helps. I'm glad water bottles are still only $2. Most venues charge $4-5! Which is ludacris! I have been here at least 20 times to see different artists and had a good time for the most part. I have to take away a couple stars after the way a security guard held onto my are and wouldn't let go of me when I tried to put my gum back in my car after I found out it's not allowed in the venue.

Was there for a concert. Inside area had great acoustics.

Great venue! Enjoyed a fantastic Matt Nathanson concert.

Its a small venue. It can get super crowded and hard to maneuver through the crowd however the Security is on top of everything and have crowd control.

I never have a bad time here. Plus you get to see the artists in a more intimate venue. It's a smaller venue. But it feels like you are getting your money's worth. It gets packed at the good shows and very warm inside. Hint: dress accordingly. Tove Lo was awesome !

saw marina and the diamonds here back in 2013, such a angelic experiencing <3

Every time we come here, we never have any problems. Great atmosphere for any concert aficionado

Horrible place Travis Scott was awsome but this place was so unorganized and so many people pushing I paid a lot of money to see partynextdoor and Travis scott Nye I was front row when party next door performed then they kicked everyone out and everyone came back in pushing each other tackling and I ended up in the back when Travis Scott performed like I should've been able to have stayed where I was I am very disappointed I will never come back here for another concert.

Great place to see a show, sound is really good. Location is great.

Not sure if this place is always 18 and over but kill me. So many drunk kids here acting foolish. Space Jesus was tight and played in the smaller room.

I'd go back on a 21+ night.

It was bigger than I thought. The set up is in tiers so anywhere you are you can pretty much see. There is a pit so depending who you see, it could be rough. Not for the weak. It was fun I survived X/Los Lobos/Blasters

Great venue for intimate shows in the Constellation room.

Good acoustics. Big enough to attract great talent, small enough to be approachable. I can always find a place within 20 feet of the band

I love how the stage is set up. There are many levels to eat and each level has more than enough space for you to have full range of motion and enough room to stand with your friends. It was a great spot to see one of my favorite artists.

Avoid at all costs. They stuff you in a tiny room with a bunch of raving fans giving off heat with no air conditioning. I had to leave early because I thought I was literally going to faint. Waste of money.

Terrible experience! The concert was suppose to start at 11pm, the artist didn't come out until 1:40am. When the artist finally came out her voice was horse and sound terrible. The concert should have been rescheduled. The venue should have refunded the tickets but they refused. Never will I spend my money with them again.

They said the tickets were sold out 2 minutes into the sale but acquaintances of mine bought tickets 45 minutes later and at the door. I've never been so heart broken. I will NEVER give a penny to this company because of this terrible experience.

That was great!! Great bands, food, drinks, and the service was exceptional.

Hey I have a friend who loves Roc royal and would love to meet him

I can't speak for everyone, but personally I've always had an awesome experience every time I've attended a show here. I think I've been here at least 6 times and counting since 2013?

I've never had a bad experience with security. If they do seem rude, I'm pretty sure it's them standing their ground to make sure you and other attendees are safe. However, they've always been polite/kind to me so I can't say I have a gripe with staff/security. I've never eaten here so I can't comment about their food. Their drinks are a bit pricey, but that's the way it goes at all the concert venues I've been to.

For parking it's extremely limited (in terms of free). You can either pay to park right in front of the venue (which I'd say it's worth it if you can afford to spare $15), pay to park a block away ($10), hopefully find free street parking that's like 5 -10 min away, or get really lucky to find the right time and day to take the parking spots that are usually for the medical building in front of the venue when they're not open and when the venue hasn't closed off the lot for paid parking.

If you have a band/artist that you really like performing here, I can't recommend enough for you to go see them here. Regardless of how your experience is with parking, staff, and security, for sure the performances will be worth attending.

It is a very cool and nice place to go and watch a concert. Plus my friend played there that night. They open up for Chief keef and there name is purple production it was slammed that night. We had great seats right in front of the stage. and we had a blast. we can't wait untill the next concert. If it was up to me I would give that place Stars.

I go to a lot of concerts and this is one of my favorite venues in San Diego. Easy to get to, free parking (with validation). Good size, beautiful interior.

The place itself is great, with wonderful venues within the hall, each dope in their own way. The problem is the tendency to overbook (later shows often get delayed if there's another show running late) and oversell (there are times where you get packed like sardines). Parking sucks too, but I can't hate on that because intimate venue = intimate parking lot. Let's be real, not expecting that is silly. Just park in the nearby business complex!

The venue is nice, it's in a business area and is close to many places like fast food restaurants and even Ikea lol. We struggled with finding parking at first but there is a parking lot directly in front of the doors and it's free to park there if there are no other shows going on that night

Had a great time. The venue is great for music. Not to big or small.

The Galaxy USED to be a great place to go. It was bought out and ruined! The new owners have tried to make more money by booking 2 concerts in 1 venue and have scraped the bottom with the groups that they now headline. Why does everything good have to be ruined?

Kicked out because of my asthma. The bouncer tried to fight me because I couldn't breath. Should probably take a second to listen to patrons and listen to the concern instead of doing all you can to cause a problem. I'm sorry that you had to work two shows tonight. Hope you have to work every double show that comes up.

Dope venue..just got to get there early to get a good spot. It gets crowded but its expected. Drinks are cheap too so that was a plus.

A nice open auditorium that works great for concerts. They have multiple bathroom locations and a lil food area. They play a huge diversity of bands. They have a designated smoking area, but the one downside was that the whole place got pretty smokey. I don't know if people were just ignoring the smoking area or if it just drifted inside, but I'd be warned if you have asthma.

The Constellation Room is a small (no, tiny) room within the building. Small but mighty! It s got a good-sized stage and a pretty bar.

There is no seating except for a riser at the back of the room where you can sit on the edge or lean on the wall. I m old and wasn t in the mood to stand, so I asked if we could have a couple of chairs, which were happily provided. Of course, the band Cayucas was so good, I rarely sat down!

The sound is very good ... unless EDM is being played in the big room. The poor opener was a guy with an acoustic guitar ... he said the bass thump was taking his guitar out of tune! But when the band was on stage, you didn t notice it at all.

The staff are super helpful and friendly. Drinks are kind of pricey, but you expect that going in. Oh, and the ladies room is clean and pretty spacious (thank you, Observatory People).

Pay the extra $10 for close-up parking at least we were glad we did. (old, remember )

Go and check it out it s a nice venue and easy to get to and find.

My first time here was awesome. Went to see Westside Gunn and Conway. Sound was great! Voices were balanced so you could hear performers and music clearly. It was a little on the small side but that's just the venue. entryway and rest rooms were acceptable. There is only 1 bar and 1 bartender working that night so waits for drinks were long at times. They should add another POS station and another bartender. Otherwise very satisfied with my visit.

This place is okay I wouldn't recommend it though for a punk show. Always something seems to go not right whether it's a big fist fight people throwing trash cans and chairs stage diving or just plain stupidity. The venue also did a show where ended at ten o'clock who does that.

Saw Lily Allen here. Reserved early admission at no cost and enjoyed food and drink before the concert.

Great, small place for concerts! Beer was expensive, but what place doesn't crazily mark up alcohol prices?!? Need to stop drinking...

Love the punk Rock shows they have here. My favorite venue in Orange County!

Great place to see a show! It's clean and the staff is friendly.

Some of the best ck certs can be found here. The reason I knocked down 2 stars is that they can't seem to manage it properl, especially with security.

Any artist you see here, you will always have a great view. Pictures and video will look great. Second time I saw Scars on Broadway and it was way better than the Fonda in LA. 24 oz beers are $9 bucks and parking is the same price online. Always prepare ahead.

My girlfriend and I saw The Midnight play here.
Great venue, wonderful view of the stage from all angles and pleasant staff!

They are very nice and clean. The place was sold out but didn't feel over crowded or stuffy at all. Parking was not a problem at all. The way it is set up there makes it so that are so many places to stand in general admission that you could see the stage no matter where you were standing. It sounded good from all ends of the room. The bar service was really quick with great service that resulted into barely any lines. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked and also many stalls so there was also barely no waiting. The employees were all very friendly and seemed happy to work there.. From parking to exiting the overall experience was awesome. Even the door man who checked my ID was courteous and paid attention to the date and told me to have a happy birthday next week! I will definitely go to shows here whenever possible.

Cool place to see live shows. The only reason I did not give 5 stars... parking is too far.

Great venue, indoor and outdoor venue depending on the show, multiple stages, always a wonderful time at observatory

They removed all the upstairs seating. The only place to chill and watch athe show without being in a massive crowd. This place use to be awesome. Won't be going back.

Nothing but awesome shows! I've seen some of the most memorable concerts here, the drinks are priced the same as pretty much any bar but let me say, they definitely are not watered down

Perfect place for any well known and new artists on the rise to perform, the venue I have to admit, could be better and improve. Really small, but always worth it. Affordable tickets, never a dull moment. Perfect everytime for events. Drinks and cocktails surprisingly are also at great prices. It's a great place to experience new artists and new music, definitely the place to go, but be there early because it does get really crowded, arrive there early to get the best spots near the main stage.

Horrible service , beware of a girl named Stacy if that is even her name she is extremely rude and said we do not sell tickets to ugly people so my daughter could not go to the concert with her friends .

Very dope spot! I love the send floor balcony in main stage. Always have a good time when I attend this venue! Beverages over priced as any other bar /function. But over all good. Fyi prerolls only!

Great local venue for music, although can get REALLY crowded; HORRIBLE parking situation; lots of bars located in such a small place.

Forget trying to call to get info. I once called to find out the name of one of the bands that played at a show the night before, no one could tell me the name of the band! Website is sparse on info and they don't seem to want to take calls. Would be great if website listed "doors open" and "show starts at" times

Just go and hear music and it's ok, just don't expect much more.

My first show! Kimbra
Amazing!!!!
Won t be my last show :)!
Bar tenders are super friendly

Standing for hours waiting and parking was rough good luck

They keep it super cold inside so yes bring your coats you will need them

Not a bad spot in the house and the prices are fair! These venue kicks butt

Cool place. Nice and small. Great place to see the people you like so you can feel close to them.