There are probably thousands of bars across the country named "The Office," accommodating those drinkers who prefer not to lie -- technically, anyway -- to their significant others about where they've been whiling away their evenings. Cardiff's version has been around since 1965 and is among the best dive bars in the city. It features a perfectly unpretentious mix of drinks, billiards and the frie
ndliest waitstaff in North County. Tucked away in a tiny strip mall next to the deliciously renowned VG Donuts & Bakery, Duke's Office has a much airier, more welcoming atmosphere than your typical dive. The walls are paneled in light natural wood and festooned with all manners of sports memorabilia, some signed by local legends. The Office is proud of the city's surf traditions -- boards and coastal elements fill the spaces the pennants and framed baseball portraits do not. The billiards room is a separate, recessed area with three tables where regular tournaments are held. When not shooting stick, customers from young surf rats to just-off-work businessmen lounge at the bar and satellite tables and watch sports on the Office's TVs. Above the bar runs a serpentine model train track, appropriate because every now and then the real train barrels down the track, horns blaring, just across the street.
