What Breweries are Good for Kids in San Diego?
Ok, so I have kids. A few of them. Ok, a lot of them. And I like beer. And I admit that while maybe I’m not as cliche as the hipster with a waxed mustache and a dog who visit a brewery, I am the other stereotype of a 40 year old ‘cool dad’ who wants to sit at picnic tables sipping IPAs while my kids run wild.
I love my kids. I love San Diego. I love drinking beer. I feel like its my parental duty to continue to seek out great locales for places to drink amazing beer that are kid friendly. So don’t expect this to be my last blog post. But here is a start of some cool places around town:
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens (Liberty Station): so you have probably heard of Stone. When this place opened, it was the largest restaurant in San Diego. It probably still is. While they don’t have a playground or anything like that, it’s huge. There is a lot of (artificial grass) and some bocce ball courts as well (which are good for kids if there are no adults who want to take the game seriously hanging around). The beers are amazing. They have a kids menu. You won’t be getting any happy hour deals here, however. Don’t expect to get out of here for less than $100 (no matter how small your family is).
Waypoint Public (North Park): these guys boast about how kid friendly they are, and I give them credit for that. They have games and coloring, which is really cool. Its primarily inside, however. So when you have children who behave like crazy wild animals, its sometimes not that great to keep them caged up. But the food is also legit here.
Station Tavern (South Park): again, this restaurant has been known for being kid friendly with pretty well price hot dogs and other kid fare. The beers are pretty legit and they have Oktoberfest like picnic tables set up out back, which further promotes community (and sitting with strangers). The play area seems to have deteriorated over the years…or maybe its just me as my kids have gotten older and aren’t as amused with a wooden train thing as they used to be.
Modern Times (Pt Loma): it isn’t not that this place welcomes kids necessarily, but it’s just massive. So kids can kind of move around. There is some really cool comic book art on the wall that will keep their eyes occupied for at least 90 seconds. And hey, they also brew coffee there so if you want to annoy your fellow bar goers even more, there’s that option.
Pizza Port (anywhere): You can’t write an article about kids and beer in San Diego without mentioning Pizza Port. I dare you to go to the OB location at 5:00 on a Friday WITHOUT kids! “Are they doing a fundraiser here?” one of my friends recently asked me as we me there. Its loud (which is a good thing). The pizza is great, and PP has amazing beers that they brew and distribute, in addition to a pretty rich cupboard of other beers from around town. Don’t tell my kids that the video games here actually need coins. And as you see the families starting to clear out around 7:00 or 8:00, you’ll see the place completely transform.
