San Diego: For your consideration

since we are on the topic of burgers. Two of my top burgers are at Sessions Public (in OB area) and the Neighborhood downtown. Both places also carry a good selection of craft beer.

also, I might as well link this map I put together.

 

Can someone PLEASE sticky this thread?! It has just about everything anyone visiting San Diego needs to know!

 

I do like PB but at night it is tough around there. Cops literally watch you walking out of a bar and there are also many police check points (which is a good thing I guess). There are more arrests down there than many other areas in the country for people between the ages of 21-27. The SD Tap Room is awesome on a Saturday/Sunday afternoon though. I am just not a fan of the night life down there unless I can take a cab to my wifes cousins place near by.

 

I'm moving to SD, and it seems to have everything I need to know. Thanks OP and everyone for contributing. So glad I found this, and if anyone wants any beer from this way or my cellar let me know.

 

I am glad I found this thread. I'll be in SD on Sunday for my second time. My first time was so awesome, I don't remember the ride back to my friend's place in Long Beach. Now that I know White Labs has a tasting room, I will add that to my agenda.

 

Thanks for all the great info - I'll be in SD for ComicCon, and plan on touring every place downtown has to offer

 

If that first round is a Columbus IPA, I'm in.

 

I always called Arizona girls PooCats because they wear puka shell necklaces and Arnette Catfish sunglasses.

 

I agree with Mitch's, some of the best fish tacos and burgers I've had, and a good tap list, with 16 oz or 32 oz beers. Nice view, too.

 

seriously, this thread is full of great stuff. i'm flying out this weekend to san diego for my 4th visit (or 5th? i forget). i've been to a lot of the places around the county and this has pointed out a bunch of spots i haven't checked out yet. thanks guys.

 

Who's the fourth wheel that's replacing me!?

 

My favorite place to eat and drink is Urge Gastropub in Rancho Bernardo. It's about halfway between Ballast Point and Stone so it would be a great place to stop for food and beer in between. They usually have a couple beers on cask along with a great selection on tap. They update the draft list daily and their food menu has minor changes pretty often.

 

Good suggestions here. I'm a recent SD transplant from Cincinnati actually - living in OB. I'd second recommendations for Olive Tree Market and Pizza Port OB. Olive Tree really knows their beer and how to treat IPAs. Always as fresh as possible, always kept cold. If you're staying in the OB area (or come through), I also recommend Sessions Public up near Point Loma - really great tap list and some very tasty food. You'll need to hit Hamilton's, O'Briens and Toronado for sure. The latter is probably the best tap list in town, I think. Always have multiple Russian Rivers and Alpine offerings - this coming weekend they're doing flights of every batch of Consecration apparently (!)

Lastly, if you like IPAs (and good bbq) the 30 minute drive up the 8 to Alpine Brewing is a MUST. I've been going up weekly since I got here to get growlers filled. Drinking Alpine IPAs fresh from the source has been the beer highlight of SD for me so far.

 

I realize this thread is a little old, but I just wanted to say thank you to DougOLis for the extensive San Diego recommendations. I was visiting from the East coast with my wife and 15 month old son for a few days and took a print out of his writeup to use as a guide. We obviously couldn't hit everything on the list during our short stay, but we were able to try the following:

Neighborhood
Alchemy
Super Cocina
Mariscos German Taco Truck
George's California Modern
Pizza Port (Ocean Beach location)

All were fantastic recommendations for both food and drinks. Super Cocina stood out as the most authentic Mexican food I've had this side of the border, right down to the fact that I think we were the only English speaking folks in the joint. George's offered a beautiful setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the seals of La Jolla Cove. The food was amazing as well, although it's funny that their to die for ceviche, which cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $15, was easily matched by the $6 ceviche from Mariscos food truck. I thought Pizza Port had the most extensive and exciting beer list of all the places we tried and a really fun atmosphere. Alchemy on the other hand had the most exciting and inventive food menu...we're talking Quinoa hush puppies and pork belly tacos in a Taro root shell people! My least favorite of the bunch was probably Neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, they made a fantastic burger, but their beer list didn't blow my mind and the staff sort of acted like we should be thankful to be eating at their establishment. I felt like letting them know I've had better. Also, while in line to use the bathroom, the guy in front of me was talking about their speak-easy thing in the back, but he was totally whispering and completely stopped talking when a member of the wait staff walked by. I wanted to remind him that the prohibition is over. Am I missing something here?

I also wanted to mention a couple of beer stores that I went to that were both great in my opinion. The first one is called Keg Guys and it's located on Rosecrans Street not far from the Old Town area. It seemed like kind of a shady area when I dropped in, which admittedly was pretty late on a Saturday night, but hey I was in a pinch. Regardless, they had a great selection and since I checked in on Yelp (I know...lame) I got a certificate for free glassware, which turned out to be a sweet Green Flash pint glass. How cool is that? The other place was Krisp Beverages + Natural Foods downtown. Apparently they used to go by the name Best Damn Beer Shop, but now they're called Krisp. Regardless, a fantastic selection and cool store...and they had Pliny which was a huge bonus and a treat for this East coaster.

As for non-beer related things, we spent some time at Ocean Beach which was really nice, especially with our little one since there were plenty of families around. We also visited Balboa Park and went into the Museum of Man which was really interesting, especially the exhibit on torture devices...creepy, weird and yet thoroughly entertaining. Lastly, we hit up the Chargers game at Qualcomm on Sunday. I noticed a few craft beer vendors in the stadium, but they were few and far between. The game itself was a blast however and it was great to see the Bolts lay the smack down on the Titans.

Anyway, just wanted to share my recent San Diego experience with fellow BA's and once again give a big thanks to DougOLis for his generous recommendations. Take care!

 

Thanks so much for sharing your report. I have read over this thread several times in preparation for our trip so as not to repost the same old "travel to SD" questions. We are headed to SD in a couple of weeks, and staying in Ocean Beach. There are sooo many options and having opinions and information from locals, as well as other travelers, is really helpful. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed staying in Ocean Beach. Not a lot said about staying there on the boards.

We are staying for a week and still trying to figure out how to fit everything in. Currently trying to decide the best place for beer and Sunday Football. Also, which of the smaller local breweries has the best hop fix for our palate, besides Alpine of course.

 

There are a good number of BAs who live in OB (myself included). Aside from Pizza Port, I recommend going to Newport Pizza, which has a great tap list. South Beach is known for their fish tacos, though I have felt the quality is slipping and paired with the notoriously bad service I wouldn't put it too high on the list. They do have a few good taps though.

The Harp usually will have an Alpine beer on tap, though with the popularity it is not as regular (so I have heard).

I highly recommend Olive Tree Market. That is a great beer store, and they have been selling great beer for a very long time, so the beer guy knows what he is doing. They also have a tasting room that is open from 4-9ish Th-Sat. Also, when you buy any tasters you get 10% off you beer purchases in the store. The also have a restaurant next door (well 2 doors down) called Kecho's Cafe, I highly recommend this place.

Lastly, there are some other ok/good beer stores in the OB/ Point Loma area, if you want me to give you a longer list I can. These stores will sometimes hold on to other beers longer.

For football I would either do the Harp or Pizza Port.

For hops, I would go with Pizza Port, especially with it being wet hop season. Other places I would recommend are Societe Brewing Co and O'brien's (not a brewery but usually have a few Alpines on).

 

I second this, the best fish tacos in San Diego IMO

 

Really looking forward to going out in OB and leaving the car parked. Will probably hit Olive Tree on day one while the tasting room is open. Thanks for all of your input, it really helps.