San Diego (2020)

Heading to SD on Thursday for work and staying downtown. I only have Thursday afternoon(flight gets in ~12:30pm) and night to explore and taste a bit. The current plan:
Bottlecraft (little Italy)
Mikeller (little Italy)
Resident

Queenstown looks interesting from the above review. Is Bolt worth a stop? Any other great food spots nearby worth checking out? I may get to Half Door, it's just a bit out of the way with no car. Any other recs are always welcome!

 

If you're at Resident, you're already Downtown. Check out Half Door and Amplified. Mikkeller is kinda "ehhh" but that's up to you. Skip Bolt. For food, Crack Shack is good, Craft and Commerce, Harumama. If you wanna spend more for a good meal, try Born and Raised, Cloak and Petal, Juniper and Ivy, Kettner Exchange.

 

Definitely not. And +1 to all of the food recs @tyrsis listed. Getting Crack Shack to go and eating it at Bottlecraft is never a bad idea.

 

Have you guys tried Bolt more recently since Gino took over? I still need to go there but I assume the beers have improved since he's a former Pizza Port brewer.

 

#8 at Mona Lisa

 

Just got back from a great weekend in SD. As usual, Modern Times and Resident didn't disappoint, and got to try a couple of new ones (for me), including North Park Brewing (really solid WC IPAs), Half Door and Eppig's tasting room in Point Loma, where I liked everything I tried (mostly German styles) and it was cool hanging outside on the water with some fresh seafood from Point Loma Seafood next door (definitely touristy, but hey, I am a tourist in SD). My friends and I went back to the Friendly (next door to Fall) for their smash burgers, which are awesome, although I probably could have done without the second one.

 

I'm a fan of Queenstown, though only been there for brunch. If like good coffee, check out bird rock.

Agree with all the recs above in regards to breweries. Bolt wasn't worth a stop 18 months ago when I last ventured there.

 

When did Gino take over? I went the second weekend in February and the beer was maybe slightly better than when I checked it out in 2017, but still not particularly good.

 

I think Eppig needs more love. They make very good to great clean beers, no pastry/hazy styles just well executed beers. Their new production spot in Vista is 3 miles from me and I dig it.
Also, the best unknown spot in Carlsbad is Culver Beer Co. Very good clean beers and Mike (the brewer) teaches brewing at Mira Costa and loves to share knowledge on beers. Very small and they have a fantastic deli inside (Locally Toasted). Not a hyped crowded spot whatsoever, feels like your neighborhood Cheers bar. It's across the street from work, so I'm a mug club member there which has some amazing perks, check it out when in Carlsbad.

 

Maybe not here but Eppig gets plenty of love in the SD beer community. Booze Brothers is the brewery that needs more love in north county.

 

I think it's been a year now. I get the vibe from him that he's got some janky equipment and maybe not the biggest of budgets for ingredients.

 

Crack shack was great, the firebird was fantastic. Now to bottlecraft. I was going to take the food to go but saw the Pupil on draft so I ate here and grabbed a pour.

 

For those who've been out and about in the last couple days, or know someone in the biz, what are different bars and breweries like now that schools, sports, theme parks, etc., are shut down but bars and breweries are (for the moment) still open?

What kinds of crowds or lack thereof are you seeing? What are places doing differently, if anything, in light of the virus?

A friend was at Societe earlier tonight and said there were not a lot of people there, around 20ish, and they were spread out across different tables. But this was fairly early so maybe it'll pick up? Curious about other spots.

 

Was at Alesmith last night and the place was hoppin. Checked out the new pizza place next to Rigoberto's on Distribution Ave. afterwards (well not exactly next to, but same shopping mall area). Pretty decent food. 12 taps, no beer license yet but the guy told me "we'll have beer next week".

O'Brien's has said they will stay open until they are forced to close. Haven't been there since last weekend, so unsure of the crowd.

 

Hope more breweries start taking Thorn's lead: https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/thorn-brewing-barrio-logan-beer-drive-thru/

 

Don’t overlook Rouleur in Carlsbad. Domestique is really good.

If North 40 wouldn’t have been delayed you’d also have AleSmith and Fall in Carlsbad but Pure Project will be opening soon.

 

How many of you are self-quarantining/social distancing/not going to bars, breweries, restaurants...?

 

OB was pretty full yesterday. Felt like more locals and less tourists. Every place had good crowds. I heard Friday night was super busy. Today is pretty crowded too. Seems like more than yesterday with shittier weather. I'm just doing a recon lap with a few beers here and there to check in ony peeps and heading home.

Geez. Big group just met another big group and hugs and handshakes all around ‍♂️

 

Sounds like a bunch of absolute fucking morons. Gavin just issued a guidance that bars and such should close.

 

I can see that side. The other side is that we need to be led. If we are allowed out we shouldn't feel guilty about it. Get mad at government for not shutting places down if you want. In the meantime I don't pretend to be an expert. I practiced safe measures as best I knew how related to this while out. I just had to tell a lot of people they won't be getting any hrs or tips indefinitely. I'm OK with what I did today. Spent money and over tipped. I'll follow the local leadership, which I trust (Newsome/Gloria), on what to do going forward. They're smarter than I am. If they say places can stay open with a 6ft distancing rule, I'll go support those businesses while I can. If they say stay home, I will.