SAN DIEGO -- Martinis Above Fourth fills a rare niche in that it’s one of the few restaurant-bars in Uptown that looks down to a street. Not exactly a towering rooftop like Bertrand at Mr. A’s or Top of the Park, but its second-floor perch in central Hillcrest is high enough to incite a feeling of exclusiveness, as though you’ve entered into the lesser castle of the land.

New owners Jim Simpson and his partner Doru Tifui have fortified the space with a stage rigged with professional lighting and an acoustically crisp sound system that doesn’t assassinate dinner conversation. The enhancements ramp up new cabaret acts on Thursdays; and showcases self-proclaimed “piano wrench” Carol Curtis on Fridays and young, new singer-pianist Michael Sanchez on Saturdays. On Musical Mondays, guests can test their sing-along abilities to video clips of popular movies, and perhaps bust a few vocal cords after sampling from an everyday catalog of 65 imaginative martinis.

Additional creature comforts are met with a revised menu by Martinis’ newest chef, Stephen Bennett, a culinary graduate of Johnson & Wales who previously ran the kitchen at Randy Jones All American Sports Grill in Mission Valley.

Read the full review in San Diego Uptown News, a SDGLN media partner, HERE.