Karl Strauss Brewing Company

Karl Strauss Brewing CompanyKarl Strauss Brewing Company
Karl Strauss Brewing CompanyKarl Strauss Brewing Company
Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

5801 Armada Dr
Carlsbad, California, 92008-4609
United States

(760) 431-2739 | map
karlstrauss.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.84
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
29
pDev:
9.11%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by the_encinitan:
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Rated by the_encinitan from California

3.75/5  rDev -2.3%

Jul 04, 2014
More User Ratings:
Photo of WillieThreebiers
Reviewed by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

4.38/5  rDev +14.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.75
Massive brewery/ restaurant in industrial park. Large U-shaped bar to the right of entry seats about 30 with lots of tables in a huge dining room and patios in front and out back. 20 plus beers on tap, I had the Isomerizer and the Mosaic, both very nice. In addition to crowlers sale they sell bottles and can to go. Very personable bartenders. I also had the shrimp & grit which were exceptional. Very cool place, I look forward to stopping back again.
Dec 20, 2019
 
Rated: 4.31 by morebeergood from Massachusetts

Oct 13, 2018
 
Rated: 4.14 by hops_and_waves from California

May 21, 2017
 
Rated: 3.54 by Gagnonsux from Texas

Mar 12, 2017
 
Rated: 5 by deniserat from California

Jun 16, 2016
 
Rated: 3.63 by acurtis from New Jersey

Jan 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Drink_LocalSD from California

Dec 05, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by yemenmocha from Arizona

Oct 14, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by AlexM from California

Sep 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by aoampm from Hawaii

Sep 04, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by woodchip from North Carolina

Jul 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by BColton1 from Rhode Island

Jun 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by EJosesA from California

Jun 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jcallover34 from California

May 12, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Soto from North Carolina

Mar 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Jenray from Texas

Dec 29, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by GatorCoop from California

Dec 15, 2013
Photo of Idrankitall
Reviewed by Idrankitall from California

3.6/5  rDev -6.3%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.5
I went in to get a growler fill after getting a free growler from my brother. I had tried their beers in the past and have never been too impressed. I live down the street but because of my experience with the beers I was never too inclined to visit. When I went in around 7pm on a Thursday it was packed, there was hardly an open table, luckily I was just going to the bar.

The beer selection was small, just there usual year round variety and two others. The two others were a Tower 20 an IIPA cask version of their Tower 10 IPA, and there were no growler fills on that one. The other was a berliner weisse flavored with pomegranate, which no one seemed to be ordering. When I asked for a taster the bartender seem shocked that I wanted to try it. It was actually very refreshing and quite tasty.

I did not try the food so I can not rate it, but by the looks of how packed it was I would say it is good.

Overall the best beer there was their least sold, and the atmosphere seemed like a restaurant that served beer. Albeit a nicer restaurant, they seemed more focused on the food than the beer.
Aug 02, 2013
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Reviewed by betterbitter from Georgia

3.9/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Stumbled on this place after a day at Legoland. The interior was pretty generic - nice but not as unique as some national chains even. Standard kids menu. I ordered a flight of beer and their specialty, mac & cheese. Both were outstanding! (Although the Flan-Diddy-Anders Red was SO sour I could barely drink it.) Our waitress was excellent as well. Overall, an enjoyable evening and good beers.
Jul 30, 2013
Photo of Seanibus
Reviewed by Seanibus from California

3.58/5  rDev -6.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
not bad, particularly after a long day at next-door Legoland. The food is decent, the beer is OK (though I find it fairly amateurish both in bottle and on draft). The atmosphere is generic stripmall pub, but the service is perky and attentive. This location is next door to a business oriented hotel and the day we visited, the bar was dominated by what appeared to be coworkers attending some kind of convention, and as a result they were insanely loud. Not a bad stop, but nothing to go out of the way for.
Feb 15, 2012
Photo of ThreeWiseMen
Reviewed by ThreeWiseMen from California

3.65/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Stopped in here after a long drive a few days ago to snag some lunch and a beer. It was right around 3:00 in the afternoon, so the place was damn near empty.

After pulling up a seat at one of the small tables near the bar, a waitress came by with both beer and food menus. Their special beer for the month was "Full Suit", a Belgian brown ale, which the waitress described as, "kind of like Newcastle with fruit." I thought that was funny. Anyhoo, I was feeling something light so I went with the Pintail Pale Ale. As for food, I was surprised that they didn't have more vegetarian options. Other than a garden side salad, I don't think there were any non-meat options to be had. Also, the food prices seemed a bit higher than they should be. Either way, I eventually settled on the seared ahi salad entre.

Service was pretty speedy (although I was one of about five customers), and the food and beer were both satisfactory. However, I was upset when the bill came around and I was looking at $23 for a pint and a salad, especially since my salad was pretty small. I guess they don't do afternoon beer deals.

All in all, the Carlsbad Karl Strauss has decent, but limited, beer and food selections. The atmosphere is comfortable, and it's set up much like a BJ's. Ultimately, the high(er) prices were the kicker. I probably won't be back.
Mar 30, 2011
Photo of fatalbert23
Reviewed by fatalbert23 from California

4/5  rDev +4.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
I love the strauss!!! I live mins away and hit up their happy hour every chance I get. The normally have a special 10th tap which varies based on season and selection. They also have a wicked cask night which is first thur of every month, i think or maybe last thur, but is an awesome time and you can drink until it runs out. The beer is pretty standard and good selection for selling nationwide, however Carlsbad has many better craft breweries. All in all I really like this place and the food is amazing when paired with the selected dishes for each beer. Drink, eat, have fun
Apr 08, 2009
Photo of sorryassdan
Reviewed by sorryassdan from Montana

4.08/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
My wife and I were moved to the hotel/resort next door from another resort, and we were pleased to be next to the brewpub. The atmosphere was OK, loud and lively, typical for young crowd. Flat screen TV's in bar area were not overpowering.

Decent beer selection -- I had their specialty of the month, a Saison that was quite good. Peppery and citrus notes, dry finish. I ordered the suggested paired appetizer, duck pot stickers that complemented the beer perfectly. My wife had a no frills cheese burger and fries -- it was cooked just right, typical pub fare. Prices very reasonable, except for the Saison, which was served in appropriate tulip glassware, but less than a pint for $5.95 was a bit pricey. We're going back for happy hour to try some more brews.

Service was excellent -- very attentive without being cloying, friendly servers, prompt service.
Mar 10, 2009
Photo of Floydster
Reviewed by Floydster from California

3.5/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
This was my last stop on my way home from San Diego on Tuesday, its main purpose was to pick up a growler for my dad and I to share that night, it is right next to a hotel off of Palomar Airport Road, went in at 10:00 am and there was only two other people in the whole restaurant, they had some nice brewing equipment set up right behind the bar, I ended up grabbing a half gallon jug of Bock of America, it was their special tenth tap, cost twelve dollars and some change, they had nine other taps including a double IPA, IPA, amber lager, wheat, red ale, pale ale, and a few others I cannot remember off the top of my head, atmosphere seems laid back and similar to the other locations I have been to, food is decent usually but did not have any at this one, their beers are just okay to me for the most part, so I would not necessarily go back here whiule in this area, only reason I did this time was because Pizza Port did not actually open for another hour, no guest beers or anything, just their products that are plain and simple, might be worth checking out
Oct 30, 2008
Photo of spazaru
Reviewed by spazaru from California

3.43/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3
I used to hate Karl Strauss because I'm a fan of super-hopped IPAs, Imperial Stouts, and other big beers, and KS definitely doesn't offer anything like that.

Lately, though, I've been stopping in more often. I've decided it's just different, not necessarily worse than the Stones and Pizza Ports of the world.

As far as atmosphere goes, it's a little sterile, but at least they apparently sweep and clean their restrooms more than once a week unlike Pizza Port Carlsbad, which is typically filthy, although lovably so in a beach shack kind of way. The other nice thing about Karl Strauss is you can usually hear your conversation, even when it's fairly crowded.

The servers are usually friendly, attractive young women who don't know much about beer. That's not too bad, since KS beers are usually mellow interpretations of a given style and don't need much explaining.

The beers themselves are fairly low-octane, offering a nice respite from the 10% double IPAs down the street. At happy hour a 22 ounce of any style is only $3.95 which I consider a good deal, and they won't knock you on your butt, so you can have a couple if you wish.

Favorites among the lineup are the Stargazer IPA (an english style IPA, not a hop bomb), the Blacks Beach Extra Dark (Schwarzbier), and the Downtown After Dark brown ale.

All in all, worth a stop if you're in Carlsbad and have had enough of Pizza Port. Decent tasting beers in a comfortable environment. Nothing earth shaking but beats Corona and Bud, and would be a good place to break novices into craft beer.
Sep 30, 2007
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Reviewed by tonistruth from Nevada

3.63/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
Located on top of a hill that kinda overlooks the flower garden thing on the hill in carlsbad by the 5. So that is cool, but the parking lot sucks. It basically shares a parking lot with the hotel next door, i got lucky and found parking cause someone was leaving. Inside was pretty spacious, big showcase of souvneirs as soon as you enter. T-shirts and stuff are were kinda cool/funny. Placed was crowded when i got there, not it was light hearted.

The place definetly caters to its beer, the menu is one doublesided page, one page is all about the beer. Beer was surprisingly better than i thought it was gonna be. The sampler was the six standards they have. The ipa was tasty, but kinda weak at 34 ibus. The red trolley ale was damn good, as was D.A.D brown ale.

No guest beers, all house which is what i like to see from brewpubs. Unless the guest beers are craft (like pizza port).

Food was nothing too great. I got some buffalo wings. The sauce was alright, but the wings were long and skinny (good thing they were boneless). More like buffalo slivers. The part i still dont understand is why they serve on top of shredded lettuce. The lettuce gets all over the freakin wings, and you gotta spend like 5 mintues cleaning off the wing so you dont accidently eat some flavor strangling lettuce.

Service was attentive and friendly though.
May 06, 2006
Photo of SteveO1231
Reviewed by SteveO1231 from Connecticut

3.48/5  rDev -9.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4
My favorite of all the KS establishments that I have been to. Take the Palomar Airport exit off the 5.

Small little restaurant most of the seating off to the left and in the back, the bar and kitchen off to the right. Through glass windows behind the bar you can see all the brew tankards. Not sure if they brew at this location or not.

Brews are a little bland for the styles, food is pretty good and the service is good.

I like to go for lunch, grab a sandwich, the beer sampler platter and a growler fill to share with some of my less adventurous buds.

Cheers!
Jan 21, 2006
Photo of surfadelic23
Reviewed by surfadelic23 from Florida

3.88/5  rDev +1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Like most of the Karl Strausses, this place is very nice aesthetically. We tried the StarGazer IPA which when compared to some of the other SoCal IPAs was a bit mild. Also tried their red trolley which was ok... The best they had on tap was the Minden Maibock which was the best brew I tasted there. They also sell sampler trays which is always nice. Their food, while good is a bit expensive for what you get. This is located up by the flower fields and is a nice place to grab a brew and something to eat after doing the touristy thing...
Aug 25, 2005
Karl Strauss Brewing Company in Carlsbad, CA
Place rating: 3.84 out of 5 with 29 ratings