I will be visiting Santa Cruz Wednesday thru Sunday. What must-stop beer spots would you fine people recommend? Brewpubs, bars, stores, etc...just want to make the most of my limited time in the area. Thanks!
Sante Adairius and Discretion are both breweries to hit, and are very close to one another. For Bars, Beer Thirty and Lupulo both have good draft plus bottles to go. AJs Market is another good beer shop.
I'll second or third what everyone else has said so far. For food though, don't skip Aptos and/or Mission St. BBQ or Lupulo. Also, Assembly and Soif for when you want a fancy dinner.
Would also recommend Burger on Mission St. (haven't been to the new outpost down in Aptos yet), and the Whole Foods for a fairly decent bottle selection. thequillen is being far too modest when he says to go to Aptos St. BBQ just for the food (he works there). In addition to outstanding BBQ, they have a killer tap list and a very good bottle selection. There are plenty of places where you can find good food in Santa Cruz county, but only a handful of places that have anything like the beer selection you'll find at Aptos St. BBQ.
Aptos is great. The only thing about that place that I didn't care for was the wonky prices on drafts. Would rather they round to .50 or .00 or at least .25. Getting something like $2.34 in change for a draft beer is just unnecessary.
Thanks for all the tips guys. I fly out tomorrow and will definitely be following some of your recommendations. Cheers!
I'm going down to SARA this Saturday and I'm looking for recommendations for beer and food in the Capitola/Santa Cruz area. My wife is not a beer drinker so I'm hoping to find some good food to keep her happy. Short Question: What do you think of this plan? I'm thinking about having lunch at Fish Lady with a beer from Beer Thirty. Then go to SARA for the afternoon. For dinner, go to Aptos St. BBQ and have a beer (I know that they deliver to SARA but it would be fun to actually go to Aptos St BBQ. Then go home and maybe stop at AJ's on the way out Longer Question: I'd like to make a list from best to worst so I know where to focus my limited time. I took a guess based on other Santa Cruz posts. I know little about the Santa Cruz area so please don't take offense with my ranking; half of the places I just randomly ordered because I didn't know enough about them. I know this can be very subjective but I'm trying to get a general feel Am I missing anything and what do you think about the ranking from best to worst? For drinking beer: SARA Aptos St BBQ Lupulo Beer Thirty Burger For food (doesn't have to have food) Aptos St BBQ Fish Lady - haven't heard it mentioned here but a friend recommended it along with Beer Thirty Assembly Burger Shadow Brook - nice and fancy, but not what I'm looking for this trip For bottles togo (mainly looking for stuff that I can't get at home in SF): SARA Beer Thirty AJ's Market Lupulo? 99 bottles Whole Foods Thanks in advance
New Bohemia is a newer brewery in the area. It's not too far from SARA or Discretion. They don't bottle right now, but do fill growlers.
Bump up AJ's over Beer Thirty. Very similar selection, but better prices at AJ's. Everything else you listed is almost exactly how I would do it. New Bohemia has a great space for a tap room. You kinda have to be into their styles to really enjoy it though.
