Where to go in Santa Ana, CA and San Francisco, CA

So - heading out to CA on business (then pleasure) from Jan 11 through Jan 18. The first leg of the trip will be in Santa Ana/Irvine. Good recommendations of brew pubs to hit? Any good bottle stores?

Jan 15 we head up to San Francisco (via either rental car or bus, still working that out). Any places we shouldn't miss in between? Will be in San Francisco until Sunday morning (Jan 18). HWMO and I are staying with his aunt and uncle, so family time will be the main feature, but we're hoping to get to Muir Woods and also see Mavericks.

Any must-see suggestions are appreciated!

that's a long drive from Santa Ana to San Francisco. for sure get a rental car instead of taking a bus.

while in Santa Ana if you are willing to go a little south go to San Clemente and check out Pizza Port. that's probably my favorite brew pub. (Note: I've only been to the Pizza Ports in Carlsbad and Solana Beach. I haven't been to the one in San Clemente but it's the closest to Irvine)

while driving up to San Francisco are you going to take the coastal route or the 5 for most of the trip? if you take the coastal route there is literally tons of stuff to see along the way. Big Sur is awesome for like a picnic or something like that. you can stop in Monterrey and see the Aquarium. The Wharf in Santa Cruz is awesome and the Seabright Brewery there is great. plus Santa Cruz has a certified organic LHBS.

I'd definately suggest driving up the 101. It's much more scenic, and you can stop at a winery or two along the way (if you're interested I can recommend some). There is also the Firestone Walker Brewery if you're more inclined for beer. They have a restaurant in Buellton and a tasting room at the brewery in Paso Robles.

21A, Tornado, Magnolia.

Absolute best place for commercial beers and great food: Monks Kettle (get there early)

Breweries:
Welcome to Anchor Brewing (you'll need to set up an appointment or go to a regular tour)
Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant - San Francisco - awesome food and good brew (expensive)
Rogue Ales - i'm not a big fan of rogue beers, but had fun last time i went

A couple more i have never been to:
San Francisco Brewing Company Welcome!
21st Amendment - Brewery - Restaurant - Bar

i'm sure there are more. if you feel like going to oakland or alameda, check out The Trappist and especially Speissekammer (the best german restaurant i've ever been to...where you can get german beers by the liter )

GregR said:

while driving up to San Francisco are you going to take the coastal route or the 5 for most of the trip?

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Thanks for the Pizza Port suggestion - I will check it out online and put it on our list of possibilities for one of our nights. We will probably take 5 for the majority, but I was thinking I would try to pop over to the coast for a bit. I don't think we can do the entire trip via the scenic drive, mostly because I think it adds like 3 hours.

Thanks for the suggestions, Olllllo and holden. I had seen Tornado on BeerAdvocate, so I'll definitely add that one.

DB - Thanks for the German restaurant suggestion, I can almost guarantee HWMO will be up for that (especially given the serving sizes of beer!). And we will definitely try to check out Monks Kettle.

jmulligan said:

Thanks for the Pizza Port suggestion - I will check it out online and put it on our list of possibilities for one of our nights. We will probably take 5 for the majority, but I was thinking I would try to pop over to the coast for a bit. I don't think we can do the entire trip via the scenic drive, mostly because I think it adds like 3 hours.

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From Santa Ana, it only takes an additional hour to take the 101, and there is a lot more to see and do on the way (so if you stop frequently I guess it will take longer). The only thing to see (and smell) on the 5 is Harris Ranch. Also if you take the 101, you won't have to pay the toll to cross the bay bridge and you can avoid a lot of traffic if you can take the 280 and then the 1 (which will take you in to the west side of the city - the Sunset).

Also, trying to take the 5 and then cutting over to the 101 once you're in the central valley and then back to the 5 will take a very long time. Longer than taking the 101 the whole way.

holden said:

From Santa Ana, it only takes an additional hour to take the 101, and there is a lot more to see and do on the way (so if you stop frequently I guess it will take longer).

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Ah, you're right - I think I got freaked out when I saw the Mapquest results saying it would take ~8 hours (when someone had told me that driving there would only take ~5 hours). I've realized that the person that told me that was just way off. Thanks for the tip - scenery is definitely preferable to highway and animal smells.

here's the restaurant info (i always spell it wrong)

Speisekammer Restaurant

No one recommending Hanger One vodka in Alameda? It's located at Hanger one at the old Alameda Naval Air station. Free samples. Have a burger at Nations burger-if you dare.

oh, and if you've never had it you must stop at an in-n-out. hands down best fast food burger you'll ever have.

lol, i've lived here 9 years and i still haven't tried an in-n-out burger. i've heard they are good, but i don't eat fast food very often...maybe once a year.

neither do I. but I don't even like to put them in the "fast food" category. such a good burger. . . d@mnit! now i'm gonna have to go get one.

Perfect! I will hit In-and-Out for one of my non-reimbursed meals. A girl I work with was telling me I've got to go (and she is a food snob and a half), so it must be good.

in my defense, the closest in-n-out is pretty ghetto and does not have a drive-thru

I'm assuming this one is the closest to you.
IN-N-OUT Burger

*drive thru service only after 10pm. . . LOL! DON'T GET OUT OF YOUR CAR IN OAKLAND AFTER 10PM!

For your time in socal, you can't go wrong with any of these establishments.

Home of The Stuffed Sandwich

Lucky Baldwins British Pub & Cafe

Blue Palms Brewhouse 6124 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 323-464-2337 ( BEER )

Father's Office

Verdugo

GregR said:

I'm assuming this one is the closest to you.
IN-N-OUT Burger

*drive thru service only after 10pm. . . LOL! DON'T GET OUT OF YOUR CAR IN OAKLAND AFTER 10PM!

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actually, no. there is one about a mile down the hill from where i live and it has no drive-thru. i can't seem to find it on their website or on google! they don't want anyone to visit it!

it's not really that bad of an area during the day. it's just a crummy looking old place and i wouldn't really trust the food.

While in Santa Ana come over to Brea, the corner of Imperial Hwy & Brea Blvd. The place is called Taps. Get there for happy hour and pig out on the appetizers, their food is good. They are a brewery and have a good selection. If you are lucky they may have their cask conditioned ale available.
Also get down to Shoreline Village in Long Beach. There is a brewery there on Pine St. and some dang good eats.
On the way up the 101 you can hit the taproom at Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles. They open at noon. Nothing fancy but they do have some good beers.
Oh yea, you asked about bottle stores, BevMo in Brea, right around the corner from Taps. Great selection of just about everything brewed here on the west coast
AP

If you are going to head south into the San Diego area you might want to check out the Stone Brewery in Escondido. Be a shame to be so close and not go....

Stone World Bistro & Gardens

Jupiter in Berkeley tons of great guest brews and an awesome patio - wood fired pizzas as well if you must eat.

In SF:
Toronado is a GREAT tap house: Toronado Pub, San Francisco
Speakeasy is one of my favs: Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, San Francisco
21st Amendment is excellent: 21st Amendment - Brewery - Restaurant - Bar
Magnolia is not too far from Toronado: Magnolia Pub and Brewery
John Wunder does some great beers: Wunder Brewing Company ~ Wunder Beer, Brewery, Restaurant and Bar ~ San Francisco, California.
Beach Chalet has great food and views: Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant - San Francisco

Can't go wrong with Bufflo Bills in Hayward (Just south of DeathBrewer) You can see all their equipment as your eating

Buffalo Bill's Brewery, Pub and Restaurant in Hayward, California

Or there is Pyramid Brewing in Berkeley just off of Gilman & 8th

Pyramid - Berkeley

Nobody mentioned www.RussianRiverBrewing yet?

Bobby_M said:

Nobody mentioned www.RussianRiverBrewing yet?

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That would be on my list, but it is an hour north of SF.

Doh, I read Santa Ana as Santa Rosa. Too many Santas.

Thanks for the huge list, velotech!

I hadn't even thought of Russian River - we do plan to do some driving around, heading north a bit, so that might well be a viable option. Thanks, Bobby!

Try this out for some good food and beer:

GORDON BIERSCH - restaurants

It's just south of San Fran.

If you are heading down south of Santa Ana, there's a Pizza Port in San Clemente, maybe 25 minutes south off the 5. If you plan on going to Stone, 5 south to the 78 east, it's about an hour south, and there's another Pizza Port near by in Carlsbad off I5 just past the 78. Port Brewing/Lost Abbey is also near Stone off the 78 in San Marcos in Stone's old brewery.

If you are looking for something close to SA or Irvine, there's a Yard House restaurant in the Irvine Spectrum with over 100 beers on tap. In Anaheim near Disneyland, the Honda Center and Angels stadium is J.T. Schmid's Brewery and Restaurant just up the 5. There's a Karl Strauss Brewery and Restaurant in Costa Mesa just up the 405 from Irvine.

There's at least one of the BJ's Pizza and Brewhouse places around, one in Irvine. There's also a couple smaller brewpubs like Oggi's Pizza in Orange and Tustin and a Steelhead in Irvine near UC Irvine.

Unfortunately Orange County and LA County are not big microbrew destinations. It's all either south in San Diego, or north towards the SF Bay area. There is some good beer to be found, but it takes a little more work. Most of the places near you are going to be the chain restaurants like BJ's, Karl Strauss, and the Yard House. I would reccomend hitting Stone if you can make the trip down there, and Port/Pizza Port are near or on the way. I have never been to the J.T. Schmidt's but have heard good things. Hope this helps.

For bottle shops, there's a big one in Costa Mesa, I don't remember the name, but I'll find out today for you. There's also several Beverages and More locations all over that have a pretty good selection of just about everything made locally.

ooh! i almost forgot. if you want to buy bottles of commercial beers and imports, go to CITY BEER in san francisco. it's a great little tasting bar with a few taps and TONS of domestic and int'l brews in bottles. i stop by and get a case of different stuff every time i'm in the city.

Awesome, thanks for the heads' up for the bottle shops. After all the fuss about Pliny, I'll be happy to get my hands on one, finally! I may need to bring a second suit case...that or a box, lots of newspaper, and my company's FedEx billing code...

You'll have to get Pliney up in SF. I'm still waiting for it to show up here. Although when I stopped by the Pizza Port in San Clemente a week and a half ago for a growler refill, they had it on tap...

they had pliney at city beer last time i was there.

Brewsmith said:

You'll have to get Pliney up in SF. I'm still waiting for it to show up here. Although when I stopped by the Pizza Port in San Clemente a week and a half ago for a growler refill, they had it on tap...

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There are several places that have it in stock now man. I picked some up near my house last night. PM me if you are looking for some.

HBHoss said:

Try this out for some good food and beer:

GORDON BIERSCH - restaurants

It's just south of San Fran.

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I think you need to check your directions. It's right by the Bay Bridge... in the city.

holden said:

I think you need to check your directions. It's right by the Bay Bridge... in the city.

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You're both right, there's three in the SF area, including San Jose and San Francisco.

Brewsmith said:

You're both right, there's three in the SF area, including San Jose and San Francisco.

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The one I went to was in San Josey. We had an office dinner there. Too bad that was before I got into brewing.

The bottle shop in Costa Mesa is called Hi Time Cellars. They seem to specialize in wine but seem to have the largest sellection of beer just about anywhere.

Hi-Time Wine Cellars
250 Ogle Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Store Hours:
Sunday 10am -7pm
Mon-Wed 9am-8pm
Thurs-Sat 9am-9pm

DeathBrewer said:

lol, i've lived here 9 years and i still haven't tried an in-n-out burger. i've heard they are good, but i don't eat fast food very often...maybe once a year.

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You only need to eat at In-n-Out once a year because the heartburn lasts that long.