The Real World Reality: San Diego Bar Owners Keep Hush-Hush About 26th Season

It’s like something out of reality TV.

I’ve been hung up on, snubbed and addressed with unparalleled condescension since attempting to cull information for a piece on the current filming of MTV's The Real World in San Diego.

It’s not the moon I’ve been asking for, nor even heavily guarded proprietary information; I’ve been calling bar owners in Pacific Beach and Bird Rock to inquire about whether they’re allowing the cast and crew in their venues, and nearly all are keeping their lips zipped.

Whether they’ve signed an agreement disallowing them from speaking to the press, don’t see an advantage in being interviewed or think their bar will be positioned in a negative manner, most simply aren’t game to have a presence in this article. One thing’s for certain: The Real World cast members, all reportedly over age 21, are residing in Bird Rock and have been spotted around town.

Megan Heine, owner of in Bird Rock, is an anomaly. She responded to my request for her sentiments, indicating she welcomes the new cast into the neighborhood.

“Our initial feeling was that we didn’t want our guests disturbed with the cameras,” she admitted. “But it seems like [the producers] are willing to work with us and respect the privacy and comfort of our diners.”

According to Heine, the production team gives 30 minutes notice prior to arrival. Heine permitted them to film during lunch.

“We think it will be a novelty thing for our guests to watch come fall, but have expressed the concern that our guests are not interrupted,” she said.

It’s no secret that the prior Real World San Diego cast brought drama to town. As conflicts erupted outside of PB bars, the season 14 cast became increasingly less welcome in area watering holes. Twelve seasons later and some bar owners are still wary of MTV’s crew’s intentions.

“They’re going to be looking for some sort of drama or spice or something,” one PB bar owner disclosed, asking that I grant him anonymity.

Of course, we’re not talking emotional drama, like The Bachelor/Bachelorette, where the publicity could put an otherwise unknown venue on the map. With The Real World, it’s staged bar fights and ample intoxication. Some bar owners simply don’t want the headache.

Others bar owners and managers weighed the opportunity to be featured in this story with imagined detriments and bowed out. Then there’s a group that brushed me off via phone, email or a combination thereof in odd ways. I’ve decided to share with you how this all went down.

I call the owner of a PB bar I've singled out as a viable option for Real World filming. I talk to a clearly hungover employee who has no idea what the word "press" means. The owner’s not in. Several subsequent calls indicate the owner is never in. Perhaps he has a second home in Florida.

Assuming this exchange an anomaly (and clearly showing my naïveté), I call bar No. 2.

The woman on the other end says “hello” as if she's answering her own cell phone. She laughs at my request to speak with the owner.

"What owner?" she asks.

Sensing a sort of Candid Camera game is being played, minus the candid camera, I’m not surprised when I’m hung up on. But I’m tenacious, so I try back and, after restating my objective, I’m handed over to another employee. As it turns out, it’s the bar’s manager. After going through the ringer, I finally find some common ground with this one. She tells me the cast was at Moondoggies on Thursday night. A breakthrough.

“I didn’t even know who they were,” she admits, adding that she visits other local bars as a form of market research. “I was actually sober,” she adds.

I cease probing; she’s given me something.

Ray, who owns Moondoggies, wouldn’t confirm whether the cast had been in, but said the production team contacted him before arriving in San Diego to request permission to film.

“I told them, yeah, as long as you behave yourself, you’re more than welcome to come down, of course,” he said.

Then there’s the alcohol on the beach challenge. One owner emphasized he’s not part of the “no alcohol on the beach” camp, but is afraid he’ll be portrayed as such due to his “no Real World” sentiments.

This particular owner falls into the aforementioned camp that not only denied MTV’s crew permission to film in his bar, due to assumed drama, but felt participation in this piece might bring the same—drama, that is. He, at least, was polite, explaining why he opted not to take part in this piece.

What began as an exploration of whether local bar owners are allowing their locales to be used to film The Real World became a lesson in La Jolla/PB bar culture. It’s not what I was looking for but, despite the aggravation, I like it.