While Ron and Al take a little break, please enjoy this guest post from Sage at My Beer Pix.
Even though Molly and I have lived in the San Diego area for more than 15 years and gone downtown numerous times to eat, shop and entertain ourselves, we’ve never actually explored the beer scene there. So a couple of weeks ago we decided to go downtown to San Diego’s Gaslamp District – a restaurant-laden portion of downtown adjacent to the Padres’ Petco Park, the convention center and the bay – and see what we could find.
Dublin Square
When it comes to beer bars (or just bars in general), there isn’t much open before 11 am, so Molly and I wandered several blocks until we wound up in the heart of the Gaslamp on 4th Street just south of Market. There we found an Irish pub called Dublin Square with the front doors flung wide and a small crowd milling about.
As Irish pubs go, Dublin Square was pretty typical — lots of dark wood Irish beer memorabilia (read: vintage Guinness advertising) and several wall-mounted TVs broadcasting soccer games. The beer selection is the usual Guinness, Smithwick’s, Harp trio you find in all Irish establishments, along with a tap each for the Buds and Millers, both regular and light variants. Nothing exceptional.
The food followed suit. Most of the Irish specialties listed on the menu weren’t available, so I settled on a California omelet and a Smithwick’s to wash it down, while Molly had bangers, mash and a Bloody Mary. (Molly’s not much of a fan of Guinness unless it’s in an Irish Car Bomb.)
What was exceptional, however, was the staff. Turns out that every member of the Dublin Square staff is the sort of slim, coltish lass normally reserved for a Victoria’s Secret catalog. (I learned later that the owner has a specific preference in his wait staff.) Friendly, cheerful and wearing quasi-Irish outfits that included knee-socks and short shorts, the ladies of the Dublin more than made up for the unexceptionable beer and food selection.
As we prepared to leave we asked our bartender about good beer places downtown, and she admitted that she wasn’t much of a beer person. She had, however, once had a blended beer drink that she said “tasted like raspberry chocolate cheesecake” just down the street at a place called the Yard House. Molly, loving cheesecake more than most, immediately decided that the Yard House was our next stop.
Dublin Square Overall Rating:
Beer Selection: 
| Atmosphere:
The Yard House
At 4th and Broadway, just a couple of blocks from Dublin Square, sits the Yard House. It’s a chain of restaurants most here in Southern California whose central attractions are an urban hipster ambiance and humongous tap list (largest in the world they say). This particular one is also know as the “Ubar” because of the enormous u-shaped stainless bar that surrounds the enormous u-shaped island of taps.
It was a little after 11 am when we walked in. (Molly had to make an important detour into Horton Plaza to do a little clothing shopping), so the place was still fairly empty. We seated ourselves somewhere along the middle of one arm of the “U” and surveyed the forest of taps looking for something of interest. Most of the taps were representatives of all the brew giants of the world – Anheuser-Busch, InBev, SABMiller, and so on. Craft brews were also well represented. From my vantage point I could see Stone, Pyramid, Lost Coast, Lagunitas, and Green Flash. On the other side of the “U” I found Bayhawk, Rogue, and Firestone as well as a number of others. (I was a little disappointed that Stone and Green Flash were the only locals represented.)
A trio of very attentive bartenders manned the taps and one quickly came over to us with a beer list and menu. Molly made mention of her love for porters and stouts and asked about one tap directly in front of us with a boxer on it.
“The bareknuckle?” our bartender asked. “Just so you know, it’s an Anheuser Busch product, so if you really like stouts, you might want to try something else.”
Chock up one point for a bar staff that know beer lovers.
Molly heeded the warning and thought for a moment. “The bartender at Dublin Square said you have a mixed beer that tastes like raspberry cheesecake.”
“Raspberry cheesecake?” the bartender answered. “You must mean the Youngberry Chocolate.” And then she flipped open the tap list and pointed to the section labeled “blended beer drinks”. Lindeman’s Framboise & Young’s Chocolate Stout. It probably did taste like raspberry-chocolate cheesecake.
Molly ordered the Youngberry Chocolate, I requested a Green Flash West Coast IPA, and the bartender dashed off to tap our order.
Our beers arrived and we sipped them, made small talk with a couple of guys at the bar and watched patrons, who at this time of day were mostly tourists with kids in tow, slip in and out. A great selection of beers, but the family atmosphere kind of took away from it. Probably a better place to visit in the evening.
The Yard House Overall Rating:
Beer Selection: 
(not enough locals) | Atmosphere:
Downtown Johnny Brown’s
We left The Yard House and took off in search of a place called Downtown Johnny Brown’s, which had come highly recommended from a friend of ours.
Johnny’s is a couple of blocks north of the Gaslamp in the middle of the Civic Center Plaza – a giant complex of mid-60’s-era high rises that house City Hall, the courts, and city administration. In the center of this concrete forest sits a small, squat building done in the same textured concrete style. It looks like it was a storage building or a bus station at some point. (We learned later that it had originally been built as a lunch counter, and operated as a Chinese restaurant prior to becoming Johnny’s in 1987.)
As you might guess, the Civic Center is deserted on weekends. Johnny Brown’s was equally empty. A bartender – actually the owner, Todd, and one staffer stood about an otherwise empty establishment. The place is obviously a sports bar during the week. Padres and Chargers pennants and memorabilia items were hung all over the large patio and indoor bar areas, and given its proximity to Petco Park (perhaps a 10 minute walk) and Qualcomm (Chargers) stadium, we could see how this place would be packed on game days.
But what impressed Molly and me the most was the tap selection. Not that it was unusually large (perhaps a dozen taps), but that it consisted entirely of local micro-brews. Alesmith, Alpine, Ballast Point, Port Brewing and Stone. Many other great craft brews were available in bottles. But the best part was if you wanted a macro-brew like Bud or Coors, it was only available in bottle and at premium pricing. (Read: you can drink that here, but it’ll cost you.)
We sat briefly on the patio – me with a Ballast Point Big Eye IPA and Molly with an Alesmith Speedway Stout — but decided to move inside to get out of the midday heat and chat with Todd.
We moved to the bar and chatted with Todd, learned that he’d just taken over the place a year-and-a-half ago, and was educating the locals (which consisted primarily of City Hall and Court people) in the magic that is San Diego’s local brewery scene. He had just held an all Ballast Point evening and was hoping to do one with Alpine Brewing shortly.
We sat for a while and ran through the taps while we talked to Todd and developed a deep appreciation for what he was doing. He was building a neighborhood bar steeped in local sports and local brews. I hate to say it, but it was like “Cheers”, where if you showed up more than once or twice, I bet everyone would know your name. A very refreshing alternative to the chain bars and pubs that attempted to replicate the same thing the same way everywhere they went.
After a few hours and three or so pints (we weren’t driving), we congratulated Todd on his outstanding establishment, and decided to move on. Like the Terminator however, we’d be back.
Downtown Johnny Browns:
Beer Selection: | Atmosphere:
The Local
Our car was parked out at 6th and C street, which took us right past another bar we’d heard quite a bit, The Local.
It was late afternoon by now and crowds were starting to build. A line was forming outside The Local that drifted down towards Broadway. We came from the opposite direction and approached the doorman/bouncer to ask what the line was for. He looked at Molly and then me and for whatever reason waved us in ahead of all the other people in line. (I’ve been told I look like Basil Rathbone, so that might have something to do with it.)
The Local is in an old building in the Gaslamp – narrow, but deep like lots of old buildings. A bar runs 100 feet or so — length of the western side of the place. Tables and a small dance floor occupy the rest. The bar gets its name from the fact that they only serve local brews. (Their slogan is “drink local”). The tap list is more than 20 deep and all of the bartenders (there were quite a few to manage a bar of that length) were quite knowledgeable. After a couple moments of questioning I felt that they were avid beer drinkers as well.
Molly had a Stone Smoked Porter while I enjoyed a pint of Alesmith IPA. The Local is quite fashionable and the music was rather loud so it was difficult to strike up a conversation with anyone. But we did enjoy our beers and admired the extensive tap list. Next time we’ll be back earlier in the day when the bar is more about drinking good beer and not loud music.
The Local Overall Rating:
Beer Selection: | Atmosphere:
It was late afternoon by the time we left The Local and wandered the several blocks back to our car. Both Molly and I had discovered that there are a number of good beer bars in downtown San Diego (all in walking distance from one another) where one could spend an afternoon or an evening enjoying great brews. (Plus Molly found that Victoria’s Secret and the Gap have some really good clothing deals.)
Next time you’re in San Diego, make sure to check them out.
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