Explore San Diego with Chris Patino

Tell us about your journey through the hospitality industry.

I started out as a bartender at an Irish pub in the French Quarter of New Orleans. And as much as I enjoyed making drinks and serving guests, what I really fell in love with was the actual bottles themselves; the liquid inside, how they are made, and the stories behind them. That’s the stuff that fascinated me the most. From there I started reading everything I could get my hands on related to the history of spirits, cocktails and bartenders, got a job as a sales rep with a wine and spirits distributor, became a brand ambassador, helped to pioneer numerous roles in the field of brand advocacy and spirits education, organized an event in San Diego called Bartender’s Weekend, started my own drinks marketing agency, opened one of the best bars in the country (maybe, the world…), and help to launch a tequila brand with the most recognizable people on the planet. You know, standard stuff, really.

If you only had one day to spend in your city, what are the top 5 things you must see or do?

If I only had one day to spend in America’s Finest City, I would start out by taking a walk along the beach in Coronado. I find that it’s a great way to start the day and set your intentions, which in this case, for this day, would be to eat a lot of tacos. Coffee in Bird Rock would be next, followed by a quick trip to La Jolla to watch the paragliders launch from the Torrey Pines cliffs, or visit the seals at the “Children’s Pool”. Next, I would embark on a taco crawl to fill up the afternoon. Ask five locals for their favorite taco shop recommendations, and you’ll get five different answers, so you really can’t go wrong. Just don’t be surprised it many of the best tacos in town come straight off a food truck. For happy hour, you’ll find me in North Park at one of the many amazing bars or local breweries, just soaking in the atmosphere, watching the time go by. And then it’s back to Coronado to catch the sunset. Sounds perfect to me.

Tell us about your first experience with Jägermeister and your favorite way to consume it today.

My first experience with Jagermeister, like most people I know was in college. But like everything in life, both Jagermeister and I have grown a lot since those days. In more recent times, I like to enjoy Jagermeister as a digestif. Something to sip and savor after a nice meal. Alternatively, I think it works well as a substitute in many cocktail recipes that call for amaro. You really can’t go wrong.

Tell us how to have the ‘Best Night of your Life’ in your city from your perspective.

The “Best Night of your Life” in San Diego, for me, would start by taking in a baseball game at PetCo Park, or if you are not into baseball, you could always sub the Zoo (it’s one of the best in the world). From there, I would most likely hit up one of the oldest bars in the city for hot wings, paired with a shot and a beer. I’m not much for nightclubs, although I do love champagne, so next I would head over to the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego to post up and find somewhere fancy to leave my troubles in the bubbles. Afterwards, and because we have a decent music scene here in San Diego, especially for indie bands, I would head on up the road, or over to North Park, to catch a show and finish out the night. Are you with me?