San Diego, CA - Karl Strauss, Brewpubs & Restaurants Options

[Jimmy James]

Karl Strauss Brewpubs and Restaurants and Microbrewery are named for one of the founders who grew up the son of a master brewer in Bavaria before moving to San Diego and leading the brewpub revolution in San Diego in 1989 with the opening of the first Karl Strauss brewpub. This has expanded to now include locations in Downtown San Diego, La Jolla, Sorrento Mesa, Carlsbad and further afield in Costa Mesa and at Universal CityWalk http://www.karlstrauss.com/PAGES/Locations...rants/Start.htm

Atmosphere: The atmosphere varies by location. The Old Columbia Brewery downtown is the prototype, with a good sized bar and plenty of tables for dining. Most of the locations in San Diego draw a corporate crowd for lunch, families and friends for dinner and towards weekends folks on their way out to bars or clubs. The Sorrento Mesa location is the exception, being situated in a large Japanese garden with Koi pond, bridge, cherry and maple trees and giant bamboo.

Service: The service consists of young attractive waitresses and waiters for the most part, who are helpful and friendly if not always knowledgeable about the beer.

Beer Selection: Purely house brews, no other micros available. There are always true-to-style German brews available including the Oktoberfest and Hefeweizen, Pilsener (Woodie Gold) . American-style ales include the Stargazer IPA, Red Ale and the Amber Lager.

Food: The food selection is varied and includes basic pub fare (burgers, fries, sandwiches), Asian inspired cuisine (seared Ahi, ginger salmon), Southwestern (nachos, quesadillas), as well as pizzas, ribs, steaks, jambalaya and some vegetarian dishes. Despite the wide range of cuisine the dishes are well executed.

Notes: The Downtown location is close to Santa Fe depot (Amtrak & Coaster) and multiple Trolley stops. Parking is tight downtown after 5pm. Arriving at Sorrento Mesa before noon for lunch is recommended as it gets crowded and parking is tight.

Summary: Karl Strauss is a solid brewpub and restaurant chain in SoCal, with a wide enough selection of beers and food for everyone to find something. The website lists events such as Karl Fest and Firkins http://www.karlstrauss.com/index.html