Hey folks, I'll be heading on over to the Pasadena area this weekend for JPL's open house event and I'm looking to wet my whistle once I'm done. Last time I went to the Stone Company Store as well as 38 Degrees and Ohana in Alhambra but I'm wondering if there are any other places I should hit up. I will be driving to and from the Thousand Oaks area if that helps things.
Slaters 50/50, King's Row, Der Wolfskopf, Congregation... if you are open to non beer, The Raymond restaurant has some pretty cool cocktails also.
My two picks are Lucky Baldwin's & Congregation. I'd also throw in Stone, but it's already on your list.
yep! There are two lucky baldwin's so you can check tap hunter and see which one has a list you'd prefer. But Lucky Baldwin's in old town/Congregation/Stone are in a .3 miles radius walking between each other.
You could also drive the 15-20 minutes down to Highland Park Brewery if you feel like it too. Other than that, Slaters, King's Row, and Stone/Congregation would be my picks for Pasadena. I've had nothing but bad experiences like old beer/dirty lines at Lucky Baldwins recently which makes me sad.
If i was to choose a lucky baldwins to go to it'd be the newer one on Colorado. Beer tends to taste fresher/cleaner there.
First slot on Saturday, HPB does sound tempting on the way back. I've only been once many, many months ago.
Small update: JPL was a blast, it was a lot of the same stuff from their last open house but it was great to see all the rovers up close and to learn about the upcoming missions. In terms of beer I decided to forgo heading to Congregation or even hitting up Alhambra. Instead I hit up Eagle Rock and Highland Park instead, although I did grab the famed Sandwich from Roma Market. The Rudy from Eagle Rock was tasting mighty fine for a session beer while HPB continues to crush it with beers like 1 Up and Neon. I also ate a delicious Samoa-inspired donut next door at Donut Friend.
To resurrect an old thread: I visited Lucky Baldwins on Raymond to have a pour of Pliny the Elder and I'm a bit befuddled. It was an 8 oz pour for 8 bucks. Is that the going rate these days? I haven't had elder on draft in a while so I can't recall but it seemed a bit high to me. It also seems like the pours were inconsistent from person to person when I was there.
We pay about $7 for a 16oz down here at SD Toronado....roughly the same at O'Brien's, and I would guess similar at Hamilton's. I think it is $7.25 for a 16oz at Encinitas Ale House....so no, you got hosed.
Lucky Baldwin's has always, in my opinion, had pretty high prices for their beer. I'm pretty sure it used to be $8 a pint and they've scaled down the glass over the recent years. It's definitely not my favorite place to go. You'd be better off at King's Row, Harlowe's, or even Slater's if you're looking for a good pint in Old Town.
yeah some places like Cannibal in Culver City have really high beer prices. Usually if a place has $1/ounce pours, its a super rare or expensive beer to male ala a barrel aged stout or something of the like
Lucky B's in old town was a very good beer spot late 90's up through maybe 2006ish. I was walking distance for years, spent ALOT of money there and had great times. I was friends with a bartender, one night he gave me a "pint on the house" and I found out the next time I was in he was fired for being caught on camera not charging for a pint. I moved away from there 4.5 years ago and my beer friends in the area still say they don't go because now there is too many far better options. If I'm up there, I would far rather go to Burbank and hit Tony's Darts Away.
