Adams Avenue Beer Garden doesn’t yet have a website. Still, it does have a general concept, location, and approximate open date: a German-style beer garden at the corner of Hamilton Street and Adams Avenue in University Heights, tentatively in fall 2024.
Local real estate developer Michael Donovan, who’s behind the project along with his brother and mother, says he plans to customize the corner lot at 2611 Adams Avenue into six short-term, rental micro-units; four small commercial units; and an indoor/outdoor beer garden, which will sprawl over 1,000 feet of indoor space and 2,500 outdoor. He hopes to focus on beer and wine from San Diego, Baja California, and Temecula, but no further away than that.
“We want to do hyper-local beers,” he explains. I want to provide an outlet for the small brewers in San Diego that maybe don’t have 30,000 square feet. Maybe they’re still brewing beer in their garage, but they can actually sell some of their kegs.”
He says there won’t be any brewing element on-site—just guest taps and food. The culinary concept is still up in the air, but Donovan says it may have more of a Mexican influence than typical biergarten fare. He’s actively looking for an experienced operator interested in taking over the concept once it’s built out and all the permits are in hand.
“I don’t typically like to run businesses—I like to own property,” Donovan explains, adding that he’s tentatively open to giving restaurant ownership a try after focusing on real estate for years. This one is small enough and manageable enough that I think we could do it if we wanted to, so it could be our first venture.”
He says he decided to develop this parcel into a beer garden to bring a wide variety of local craft beverages to a convenient and high-density location. He hopes to also serve some morning offerings like coffee, scones, and other easy breakfast items. “I want to provide space and have people enjoy themselves. It’s a cool location.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
World’s Best vs. Michelin: The Beef, Broken Down
Earlier this month, chefs, restaurateurs, and foodies worldwide gathered to see who would (and wouldn’t) make it on the first-ever Michelin Guide to Mexico. Several worthy names landed on the acclaimed list—including some familiar ones—but one notable omission had tongues wagging almost immediately. Why was there no love for Fauna? However, some karmic balance was restored this week when Fauna reached The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 at spot #100. (Despite the name, they don’t stop at 50.) Congratulations to Chef David Castro Hussong for the well-deserved accolade and for restoring balance to the Baja California culinary cosmos.
Beth’s Bites
On Friday, May 31, the third annual North Park Music Fest returns to the mini-park behind The Observatory for two days of music, food, and… magicians? This is the first-year attendees (of legal drinking age, of course) will be able to imbibe across the entire festival area, not just a fenced-in beer garden.
The restaurant group behind Buona Forchetta South Park opened Meraki in (checks calendar) February of this year but is making things official–official with a grand opening on Saturday, June 8. I won’t question the timeline if you don’t ask how many empanadas I eat.
Gather ‘round to hear the tale of Ballast Point, the brewery that opened behind a homebrew supply store, expanded into a distillery, sold for a billion dollars—which the (former) owners used to launch Cutwater Spirits—then sold the brewery again to Kings & Convicts, and has now come full circle. It is selling the original homebrew supply store, Home Brew Mart, to former employee Jim Johnson. None of this was on my craft beer bingo card! That’s the wild world of late-stage capitalism.
