I have reviewed and appreciate some of the advise on threads given on breweries and bars that one should see in the San Francisco. I also saw that some of the establishments are 21+ older. I am visiting on a family vacation in a few weeks for spring break. I am not solely looking for breweries but was hoping to get some good advise on kid friendly places to grab a bite to eat and have a good brew also. My children are 7 and 4 and go out to dinner with us a lot and are well behaved and all. Not looking for a lot of "kids should not go to breweries" discussion although a valid point of view. I know on the east coast many places have taprooms and restaurants mixed with places children are welcome. I know this limits some of my options and I may still get away on my own for an hour or two but just seeing what I should focus on. Also K+L bottle shop was offered, any other bottle shops to hit up to bring some California bottles home? thanks
I'm of the belief that kids belong in the brewhouse. Seeing adults consuming responsibly does them much more good than harm and as an added bonus, they get used to the sights and smells. That said, Drake’s Dealership in Oakland is kid-friendly until 9 pm.
"Children are welcome in [Drake's Barrel House] if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, and they stay with that parent or guardian at all times (no wandering/climbing/hiding in barrels). " I believe that Magnolia is kid allowed, but but can't speak authoritatively on that. I am 99% sure Toronado and Cellarmaker do not allow under 21.
Fieldwork & Triple Rock (one of the oldest brewpubs in the country) in Berkeley both are kid friendly. Independent Brewing in Oakland is as well, though there's not regular food service there. Pacific Coast in Oakland has both indoor and outdoor seating. Check out www.beerbybart.com for transit alternatives.
Confirmation from Fieldwork here on being kid friendly: https://twitter.com/FieldworkBrewCo/status/706917411350384640 "well behaved adults, children and dogs are welcome. Cheers!"
We took ours to SF over Christmas break and couldn't go to Beer and CellarMaker obviously. I think you can go to Rare Barrel. One place that had great beers and food is 4505 Burgers and BBQ. Monk's Kettle is a restaurant so I'm sure that's easy too.
I actually engaged with Cellarmaker about alternative spots to find their beer since I was visiting with my little guy. Kelly was super helpful and suggested Monk's Kettle, Caskhouse, and Nopalito. Basically most places that serve food, with the Mikkeller being an exception
I can confirm: 21 and over for both. They do not ID dogs, tho Edit: I wanted to add that K&L does not have a good beer selection in store, but if you order online 3 days or more before showing up, they will ship internally for free and hold anything they stock in their SF store for you. You could also pop in to City Beer with the wife and kids in the car. AFAIK the stores like Healthy Spirits and Ales Unlimited do not have age limits for customers.
I should have thought to do that - when I was there this summer, I just had my kid stand on the sidewalk while I worked through a flight of tasters and a couple of pints.
LOL I wanted so bad to do this but I also wanted so bad to sleep on the hotel bed instead of out on the hallway.
I should also have mentioned that he is 16 and I was up there taking him to see the Dead in Santa Clara - as you can imagine, him watching me down beer through a window from the sidewalk was probably one of the tamer things he witnessed that weekend.
I've tried to sneak into pretty much every beer establishment in SF with my 4y/o lol. City Beer, Cellarmaker, Toronado = NO GO you'll get 86'D + everyone in the place scoffing at you lol. I go to Social Kitchen with him fairly often cuz I live a block away. Their beers arent the best, but they have solid guest taps a some of the time. Kezar Pizzetta was pretty clutch during beer week and has good stuff on draft pretty often. Monks kettle and The Willows have a great selection and I've brought my kid there, but someone told me they don't always allow them, so not sure. Hogwash has a large tap list and allows kids I've heard Hopwater Distribution allows kids, but I got denied during SFBW and haven't tried again. Speakeasy allows kids, but is kinda out of the way. Not the greatest, but I really enjoyed Syndicate no 03. All I can think of for now, but If you want to travel a little, Russian River and SARA for sure allow kids.
In terms of bottle shops, I take my kid into Ales Unlimited and Healthy Spirits all the time without a problem. Again, City Beer is a no go even if you just want bottles. Whole foods on Haight is pretty decent too.
Get out of SF and go mostly anywhere worthwhile in the East Bay (Fieldwork, Faction, Jupiter, Drake's Dealership, the Hop Grenade). Better weather to boot!
