I'll be in Redwood City next week. I'm wondering if there are any good places to grab a pint in the area, or do I need to head into San Fran? Also, if anyone has any good restaurant recommendations (hopefully with great draft selection) that would be awesome. Thanks.
Fieldwork is San Mateo is close and a solid space ... heard good things about Alpha Acid off the 101 in Belmont
Gourmet Haus Staudt will be your one stop shop for both drinking and grabbing bottles/cans. Good food, too, make sure to get the pickle plate.
Now that I'm in front of my computer, I can provide a bit more info than the obvious GHS recommendation... Beer: * As I and others said, GHS is excellent. They essentially have two taplists - one German, one craft, and both are well curated. They also have a damn good bottle shop up front - it's not big but it's a killer selection. * Harry's Hofbrau is up and down, the beer program has declined somewhat as they've made some changes. I'd recommend checking the taplist online before you head over there to see if there's something you want to drink. The food is...polarizing shall we say. It's good for what it is, but it's essentially cafeteria style eating with a crowd that's a half step away from an assisted living facility. I've had some fun times at Harry's while visiting friends, but I wouldn't necessarily send a visitor there unless there's some really good stuff on tap. * Fieldwork's San Mateo tasting room is easy to get to via CalTrain or Uber. It's entirely outdoors, so consider that if you'll be with people who are particularly susceptible to sunlight/heat/cold. That aside, it's a fun place to spend a few hours in the afternoon. * Depending on how long you'll be in Redwood City and how much time you have, taking the CalTrain into San Francisco is pretty easy. If you have the free time, go for it - Cellarmaker's not terribly far from the CalTrain station and nothing in the city is terribly far via Uber. If you're in Redwood City for work or will otherwise be fairly busy, it's up to you whether it's worth the transit time to get up there. There's plenty of great beer to be had in Redwood City if you're on a tight schedule. Food: * Crouching Tiger (Redwood City) - Killer Chinese food right across the street from GHS. I highly recommend the Dry Cooked Chicken, Asparagus in Black Bean Sauce, and Dan Dan Noodles. * Quinto Sol (Redwood City) - A bit spendy (as a lot of places on the Peninsula can be) but great food and excellent margaritas. * Tacos El Grullense (Redwood City) - There are a few locations and different people have different preferences for different reasons. I recommend going to El G #1 at 1243 Middlefield Rd. Don't overthink your order - get some tacos and try a few hot sauces. * La Viga (Redwood City) - Latin American seafood, small space but excellent food. * Pazzo (San Carlos) - Excellent Neopolitan-style pizza. Get the meatballs as an appetizer. * Refuge (San Carlos) - Get the reuben and garlic fries. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it. You'll feel like a piece of shit after you eat it but damn is it good. Plenty of other good restaurants in the area - off the top of my head, Vesta, Kemuri, and Orenchi are all great as well. Those are just a handful of my personal favorites when I'm in the area.
That being said... if you don't normally travel to California/SF Bay Area, then... 1. Go to Cellarmaker in San Francisco. It's the best brewery here period. It's worth the trip to SF alone. But if you end up in SF, you may as well check out Toronado as well, since they have the best CA taplist of any bar including Cellarmaker, Sante Adairius, Moonraker, Fieldwork, etc. I 2. If you have access to a vehicle and want to also see what outer Bay Area has to offer, go to Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Santa Cruz or Capitola. They're known more for their sours/Saisons - and they make some of the best, but their hoppy beers are low-key killing it too. The thing with Cellarmaker and Sante Adairius is while it's hard to find their stuff on tap at a bar, when you do it's like 1 - 2 taps max. Since they're the best breweries here, it's absolutely worth your while to go to the source and have their entire board (and vintage bottles, in the case of SARA).
