Unexpected Orange County trip

Hi Times in Costa Mesa is good stuff.

 

Beachwood BBQ Seal Beach, killer food and killer bottle list for on site consumption, cheers!

 

In Newport, best bets for take home are Whole Foods and Korker's. Bars (really restaurants) in Newport with the best tap lists are Crow Bar and Side Door (both have rotating taps with solid selections). Whole Foods also had decent stuff on tap (getting better all the time). There are tons of options in OC but the ones I mentioned are all really local to Newport.

 

these are all close to you:

crow bar: http://crowbarcdm.com/index2.html

side door: http://www.sidedoorcdm.com/site/#drink

goat hill: http://www.yelp.com/biz/goat-hill-tavern-costa-mesa

crow burger: http://www.crowburgerkitchen.com/

...best bottle shop is for sure hi times, if you are in south newport you can stop into the whole foods in fashion island. My personal favorite place when i leave newport is hollingsheads in orange.

 

wholefoods market newport beach. awesome beer selection. 24 beers on tap

 

Beware of goathill tavern on weekend night. That place gets packed, and appears to be the ritual mating grounds of the dreaded dudebros.

Seriously. If you think hipsters are obnoxious, you'll be blown away.

 

I may have to pay this place a visit, just to witness the Dudebro in its natural environment.

 

Make it a point to stop in Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach. You wont be disappointed. Just don't go in the evening. Unless you don't mind waiting an hour or more. Very busy. But worth it.

 

Go to Beachwood. Bottleshops in the area that are worth stopping at are Hi-Times and Liquor Warehouse (Huntington). If you're interested in some ticks, you could go to Newport Beach Brewing, their beers are okay. There's also Huntington Beach Beer Co., their beers are not good.

 

I'll add to this list Slaters 50/50, off of Beach and Adams.

 

Last time I was there was before I seriously got into Craft, but IIRC they had some reasonable tap handles and ran pitcher specials from 7-9 on Saturdays. Around 8:30 the place would start filling up, and by 9 it would turn into an absolute shit show. If you're serious, I wish you luck. Bring friends and get there early to secure a table.

 

Yes, the "Goat" is classic. I used to frequent there in the early-mid '90s (when it was a rare treat to find "micro's" such as Red Hook, Grants, Anderson Valley and Mendicino on tap). There were literally rats and mice running around on the floors and there was usually at least one good fight and more than one knucklehead running around with visible swastika tattoos (usually on the neck). Good times.

 

I still venture into the Goat. A few friends live within walking distance so we brave it. But yes "Founders Hour" is an hour each night where everything is half off, including pitchers of expensive high abv beers. The following hour is "Imports Hour" where all imports are half off. I can't remember what times those are each day, though 7 on Saturdays sounds right. If you can share a pitcher of Stone IRS for under $10 and play some shuffleboard the place can't be that terrible. But yes we try and get out by 9 or so when it starts to fill up with guys emitting unnatural levels of testosterone and axe body spray.

 

Do yourself a favor and go to The Bruery. Don't come to the OC as a craft beer lover and not go there.

 

Mr Kegs has Blind Pig. No Elder.