San Diego recommendations (so many options)

@walterfredo
I'll recommend MT as well. Another p!ace my wife and I enjoyed was Wonderland. Great place with very good food, a great view and a nice all around vibe.

 

Aside from what you mentioned:
Newport Pizza & Ale House - Good pizza and well-curated beer selection.
Raglan Public House - Good burgers and usually a solid beer selection. People will tell you to go to Hodad's, I think it's overrated but if you can try it without a line, it's by no means bad, just not worth going out of your way or waiting a long time for.
It's Raw Poke Shop - Hole in the wall with the best poke in San Diego.
BO-beau - French food in a fairly casual setting, make sure to get the Brussels sprouts.
The Joint - Tapas spot with surprisingly good sushi.

Also, Olive Tree Marketplace is a good spot to buy bottles and their deli sandwiches are great.

If you decide to venture out of OB, Pt Loma/Liberty Station are very close by, a few spots I'd specifically recommend over that way:
Bottlecraft (at Liberty Public Market) - Good draft list and an excellent selection of bottles that can be enjoyed on-premise or taken home.
Solare - One of San Diego's best Italian restaurants.
Mitch's Seafood - Fairly self-explanatory.

 

thanks Xul (and others). Great recommendations.

 

Which is why La Taqueria makes the best goddamn, no-rice, burritos in SF.

 

I might have glanced over this but who is doing the best hazy ipas in SD?

 

Modern Times gets my vote. Resident and Pure occasionally have some good ones.

 

My wife and I are considering a move to San Diego next year so I'm headed out next weekend for another trip to scope the area. I'm still learning my way around but, with 2 young boys, we're thinking somewhere in North County not too far inland from the beach if we can afford it (which is a big IF).

I've pretty much spent all of my previous trips around downtown and have been to several breweries (AleSmith, Societe, Modern Times, Abnormal, etc.) as well as many bars in North Park. But what are some of the better beer bars in North County? I'm familiar with Bottlecraft locations, Churchill's, O'Brien's but what are some other good spots from Mission Valley up through La Jolla to Del Mar and even East?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated by this newbie to the area!

 

When I think north county I tend to think more Cardiff/Encinitas. So in that respect I would say Bottlecraft Solana Beach, Encinitas Ale House (my personal favorite), and Lost Abbey Confessional.

However, in downtown La Jolla, I would say The Public House. This place use to be owned by the same people that own Encinitas Ale House, but they ended up selling it, for whatever the reason. However the new owners keep basically the same menu, same vibe, same 80in80 club, and the same beer buyer as the one in Encinitas.

 

A bit further north to Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista and there are a ton; PP Carlsbad, Urge, Bagby, Breakwater, Mother Earth, Toolbox, Wild Barrel, Port/Lost Abbey and many more.

 

Along with the above, Regal Seagull and Priority Public House both have solid tap lists.

 

For La Jolla I'd also throw in Regents Pizza. Large & well curated taplist and solid pizza (NYC & Chicago style). Definitely works for kids too.

I'm in Oceanside and I echo the spots that @ChazMania mentioned. I would just add that there are also Pizza Port locations in Bressi Ranch and Solana Beach, which are pretty close to other spots noted on this thread. Burgeon is also in Carlsbad and have made some solid IPAs as well as a good stout. Don't forget how far North the county spans!

 

Don't know whether i did this already but here it is (again possibly) I understand others have their favorites but let these other individuals think for themselves & choose. Have fun outsiders & remember, choose according to Your Liking & experiment. Sure you can ask others about what & who is so on & so forth but, try something different. Same applies to Pliny; get over it & try other much better alternatives Like Kern River.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/place/city/28/

 

You started off saying let people decide for themselves and then said Kern river better than Pliny.

First off Kern river is a brewery and Pliny is s beer made by Russian River. Apples to Grapes imo.

Having been to both Russian River and Kern River, my opinion is they are both awesome for different reasons.

Also in my opinion Pliny is better than any Kern river IPA I have tried, even though I have thouroughly enjoyed many Kern River IPA’s

 

Heading to San Diego in late September. Put the guide below together using combined RB/BA place scores and plan on hitting most of these spots. Just wondering if there are any glaring omissions that are worth visiting (I'm aware that the original Stone, Lost Abbey, Russian River, etc. are outside the city). Also seeking advice on the best neighborhood to stay in San Diego proper for a beer geek / foodie. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Breweries / Brewpubs:
Stone: Liberty Station – RB: 98 / BA: 90 / CS: 94
AleSmith Observation Room – RB: 97 / BA: 82 / CS: 90
Ballast Point: Little Italy – RB: 96 / BA: 79 / CS: 88
Green Flash: Mira Mesa – RB: 96 / BA: 77 / CS: 87
Societe Brewing Company – RB: 94 / BA: 80 / CS: 87
Modern Times Beer – RB: 90 / BA: 83 / CS: 87
Pizza Port: Ocean Beach – RB: 94 / BA: 78 / CS: 86
Pure Project – RB: 88 / BA: 82 / CS: 85
Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery – RB: 91 / BA: 77 / CS: 84
Mikkeller San Diego – RB: 87 / BA: 81 / CS: 84
Coronado Tasting Room – RB: 85 / BA: 83 / CS: 84
Mike Hess Brewing – RB: 91 / BA: 75 / CS: 83
Half Door Brewing – RB: 87 / BA: 79 / CS: 83
Fall Brewing Company – RB: 86 / BA: 78 / CS: 82
Council Brewing Company – RB: 85 / BA: 78 / CS: 82

Bars / Eateries:
Toronado San Diego – RB: 98 / BA: 90 / CS: 94
Hamilton’s Tavern – RB: 98 / BA: 90 / CS: 94
Urge American Gastropub – RB: 95 / BA: 89 / CS: 92
O’Brien’s – RB: 94 / BA: 88 / CS: 91
Neighborhood San Diego – RB: 91 / BA: 86 / CS: 88
Tiger! Tiger! Tavern – RB: 88 / BA: 86 / CS: 87
Slater’s 50/50 – RB: 88 / BA: 85 / CS: 87
Live Wire – RB: 88 / BA: 82 / CS: 85
Waypoint Public – RB: 85 / BA: 83 / CS: 84
Sessions Public – RB: 82 / BA: 85 / CS: 84
Brothers Provisions – RB: 80 / BA: 88 / CS: 84
Blind Lady Ale House – RB: 91 / BA: 75 / CS: 83
Newport Pizza & Ale House – RB: 88 / BA: 75 / CS: 82
Underbelly North Park – RB: 80 / BA: 82 / CS: 81

Stores:
Best Damn Beer Shop – RB: 96 / BA: 88 / CS: 92
Bine & Vine Bottle Shop – RB: 93 / BA: 91 / CS: 92
Bottlecraft: Little Italy – RB: 94 / BA: 88 / CS: 91

 

I hope (for your liver's sake) you have at least a week to get to all those places!

 

We'll be in town for a week.

 

I would, personally, hit up Bottlecraft at Liberty Station (instead of Little Italy)...mostly because a good buddy works there and the food options are fantastic. I would also skip Slaters 50/50 in favor of eating inside Liberty Station.

Otherwise, you have a rather solid lineup where you can cross off 3-5 places in a single visit to the area

Now, as for the best place to stay for a beer geek, it would probably be North Park.

 

Awesome. This is all very helpful. Thanks so much!

 

I'd add Resident (near Half Door and Best Damn Beer Shop), and probably skip Green Flash and Mike Hess. Just personal preference, but at least taking GF off means you don't have to venture further north than AleSmith/Pure/Mikkeller.

I'd also add North Park Brewing.

 

Based on my brief visit there in March, I would agree with this in regards to Bottlecraft at Liberty Station as opposed to Little Italy. I liked the Liberty Station one better, but maybe that's because I liked the whole vibe of the market there as well.

I would also agree on skipping Slater's 50/50 - it was decent, but I bet the market food options would be much more interesting.