Good day. A friend and I will be heading out to LA for the first time in September. We usually do a sports/beer trip yearly. While in LA, we will be hitting a Dodgers, Angels, and UCLA football game. Plus checking out some touristy stuff and got to take a trip to sunset strip to check out some of those legendary music venues. It looks like there is a decent brewery presence around Dodger and Angel stadium, but doesn't look like much up by the Rose bowl. Since we may only have a day around each area, I was hoping you could give me some of the can't miss places, whether they are a brewery or beer bar. My friend and I tend to be more on the IPA side of things, but we do enjoy other styles as well. The first night, we are probably just staying at a hotel near the airport. We planned on hitting Santa Monica that evening. There doesn't seem to be a big beer presence there, but I'm sure there's something. During the afternoon, I was hoping to be able to UBER to few places within 20 minutes of the airport. For example, I saw great things mentioned about a place called Monkish. And other solid places within that range from the airport? Lastly, food wise, if you know any good either wing or pizza places that are good options. Or Tacos/burgers, anything that is worth checking out. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. It is a huge area to cover and I just want to make sure we don't miss anything great.
near the airport is El Segundo Brewing, they are excellent. In Santa Monica there are a couple of great beer bars, Father's Office and Library Alehouse. Dodger Stadium: Highland Park Chinatown is the no-brainer destination. Angel Stadium: Green Cheek Brewing. Others will probably say Noble and The Bruery, personally not a big fan of either. Pasadena: Highland Park OG location (aka, the Hermosillo) is not too far. Glendale Tap is not too far and has an amazing tap list. In Pasadena proper, nothing all that great, IMO. For pizza, I highly recommend the Luggage Room in Pasadena (wood fired pizza), they have great cocktails and usually a couple of good beer selections, and there is a Stone taproom next door.
You can start here since you’ll be landing at LAX. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/lax-beer-beyond.535746/#post-6363885 I thought we had a thread on the LA & OC area? Guess I’m tripping. You can do Monks via Uber. Depending on the time of day that 20 minutes could double to 40 minutes due to the 405 jam. Don’t miss out on Smog City, walking distance from Monks. Torrance area is full of brewery’s. Back to the LAX area. If your looking for pizza. El Segundo Brewing Co opened a new pizza joint called Slice & Pint. I haven’t been yet. Maybe somebody here has? But I say they have plenty of IPA’s on tap at S&P and at their brewery close by on Main Street. I still love ESBC. Across the street from ESBC is Rock n Brews. Not really recommended but if your looking for wings and pizza they will have both. You being from Pennsylvania, on Main St there’s Big Mikes sandwich shop. That’s my go to for Philly cheese steak sandwich when I’m working. North side of the airport you have Three Weavers Brewing on Manchester Ave. 1/2 mile from 3W is the world famous Randy’s Donuts. Expect a line. IMO it’s nothing special. I can get better donuts. Maybe a photo op? Firestone Walker Propagator is a 15 minute drive from LAX.
True on Green Cheek. True on not being a fan of Noble since all the changes that’s going on behind the closed doors. But I would park at Nobles lot, take Uber over to Green Cheek and back over to Noble lot. If you feel up to it try one of their ipa’s. Leave your car there and walk over to the stadium for the ball game. True Noble’s ain’t what it used to be. Only time I’ll visit if I were to catch a game or gig nearby. I think everybody should stop at the Bruery when your in town. There were one of the first craft in OC. Nice tasting room. And you got Mr K’s next door. Mike has some of the best selections in the OC. You also have Karl Strauss across the street of A stadium. I would park there and walk across the street to the game. Maybe not on the A list for OC brewery’s, but another old time staple here. Don’t bother with Golden Toad next door. If your staying in OC make sure to hit up Beachwood Long Beach, Seal Beach or their Huntington Beach location. HB location is limited beers and hours. All closed on Mondays. RiiP in HB on PCH across the from beach.
Thanks for all of the good advice. Sounds like day 1 will have a lot of options. I'll probably try to get down to Smog City and Monkish early, before the traffic becomes a major factor. Then back up to ESBC and grab some food at one of the two places mentioned. Then Three Weavers and Firestone, plus the 2 beer bars in Santa Monica. By that time, with the flight and time change, I'll be about done for the day. It looks like when we hit the Rose Bowl on Saturday, there won't be too much action. But you gave may some good possibilities within UBER distance, so we may check those out depending on game time. I did see a place called Craftsman Brewing up by the stadium, but since neither of you mentioned it, I assume it's not too great. It looks like Chinatown will be my destination for the Dodger game. I see the Highland Park place, plus there are a bunch of other ones just south of that locations, in the downtown area. I'll have to do a little research on those and see what is worth checking out. And find a good place for lunch. For Anaheim, it looks like the Green Cheek is a must stop. I may hit The Bruery just because of the history of it. I know they are more on the Belgium side of things, which isn't may favorite, but I do like a good saison. I'm thinking of hitting one of the Beachwood places for lunch that day. Then fill in the rest of the day with a few other spots. Thanks again!!
No need for research in the DTLA area. After HPB you crawl over to Modern Times DOJO, skip over to Mikkeller and walk past all the urine and crap smell over to Mumford. If you must go to Arts District and Angel City it would be for the venue. Not so much for their beers. They both have a nice set up. Spend more time at the DOJO and/or HPB. Forgot to mention Bottlecraft in Long Beach right next to the airport. New to the Long Beach craft scene. And it’s busy there with the food court. You could do lunch at either of Beachwood Seal Beach or Long Beach location and stop over at Bottlecraft for some rare pours from all over California. Check out their site for what’s on tap. It’s always updated. And the food court has some of the more better choices as far as food goes. I’ve been going there more than my usual beer spots lately.
Craftsman makes great beer, they just don't have a tasting room. You'll probably come across at least one of their beers while you're in the area.
if you are really fired up to try Craftsman Maximillano restaurant in Highland Park is essentially their tasting room. they even brew their house beer http://maximilianohp.com
I agree with your observation regarding Angel City. They have been very generous with our Cystic Fibrosis fund raiser every year and last week on our DTLA pub crawl we made a point to stop in and personally thank a few folks. I'd never been in before and found the space to be absolutely amazing and very large. We all bought a different beer and they were totally serviceable. Years ago I took space in the arts district for a division of our design practice, we were living on the edge back then, literally ! Then came Wurstkuche and R-23 and we were happy campers, R-23 was right across the street from our studio, I ate a lot of very good sushi for a couple years back then. Cheers,
