Nowadays, it’s not enough to just be a brewery. You’ve got to be a brewery and be willing to offer more than just beer if you want to stay in business. It wasn’t that way when Harland Brewing started in 2018—the good old days when you could get by on just beer. In the years since, the company has expanded to multiple taprooms, tasting rooms, and a full service restaurant in 4S Ranch. It seems to be working out for them. Or at least, they haven’t fallen prey to the harsh economic forces the hospitality industry currently faces.
But president Anthony Levas says the company has been actively looking for an opportunity to launch a more experiential concept, both for the economic stability and yes, for the fun of it. So when Harland’s chief of staff Naomi Marron heard through her local golf club that the Mission Bay Golf Course and Practice Center was looking for a tenant to take over the newly built, 2,000-square-foot restaurant on the property, it felt like kismet.
Harland submitted its proposal, which unanimously passed the first San Diego city council vote this month. Pending the final city council vote on April 7, and assuming there are no construction or permitting delays (which, admittedly, is an optimistic assumption), Harland Clubhouse is slated to open mid-May.
Harland Clubhouse will operate in line with the 18-hole public course hours, opening around 7 a.m. to provide coffee and breakfast items like the breakfast burrito and bodega breakfast sandwich. Lunch and dinner will run until around 10 p.m., with some items carrying over from the South Park menu like the best-selling smash burger and fries. Because of the clubhouse vibe with counter service, Levas says they plan to offer more handheld and deli items that “chef Scott Cannon will put a nice spin on and make it more elevated, but still approachable from a price perspective,” he says.
It’s not Harland’s first brush with sports, or even golf. Previously, Harland collaborated with TaylorMade Golf on Transfusion Sour, a 6 percent ABV fruited sour beer, as well as an American lager with TrottieGolf. More recently, Harland dropped a Jake Cronenworth collection featuring the Padres star infielder with his Crone Zone lager. But even before that, much of the brewery’s leadership team came from St. Archer, a surf-and-skate lifestyle brand that (seemingly tangentially) also brewed beer before it sold to Molson Coors in 2015.
I couldn’t help but ask: Moving from the counter-culture skateboarding lifestyle to golfing, essentially the polar opposite of edgy, was this the inevitable progression of time and aging?
“You are so right,” Levas laughs. “I used to skateboard every single day of my life, from the time I was probably 12 years old to the time I was like, 25, and now I’m like, ‘Nah, I’m good.’ I’ll go swing the wrenches though, at the golf course, and have a couple of cold ones.”
But times change, as does beer and even golf itself. No longer is it exclusively for wealthy snobs. “Now everyone’s golfing… and we want to make it fun,” says Levas. The Clubhouse will be family-friendly, and will host activations like live music, youth golf tournaments, team building events, anything people can think of. And pretty soon, they’ll even take it on the road.
“We can have a cart [at the driving range] on the weekends and be selling beers,” says Levas. “Maybe one day we’ll get a golf cart, and then we’ll be popping around there, slinging some suds too.” Now that’s an activation I can get behind.
Harland Clubhouse is slated to open in mid-May at 2702 N. Mission Bay Drive. Initial operating hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (subject to change)
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- For just $20, Project New Village’s Spring Solidarity Mixer on Tuesday, March 31 is a phenomenal way to shine a light on the hardworking farmworkers keeping us fed as well as celebrate the legacy of labor activism within the movement. Considering the recent controversy surrounding now-disgraced labor leader César Chávez and the brave testimony of United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, it’s more important than ever to reflect on the legacy of other labor heroes like Huerta, Maria Moreno, Larry Itliong, Gilbert Padilla, Phillip Vera Cruz, and Mack Lyons. (Plus, there will be food, drink, and live music, all at the Mt. Hope Community Garden.) ¡Sí se puede!
- The Marine Room may get packed with people watching every sunset, but now that chef de cuisine Derek Dupree has launched a new late night menu, you might be inclined to stick around after dark. On Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (yes, that’s late night for La Jolla), the seaside icon will offer specials like raw oysters, beef cheek ragu, local bluefin tataki, and specialty cocktails for between $12 and $40 per dish or drink. If you’ve been hankering to check out the elegant eatery but haven’t quite had the coin, this is actually a pretty good deal.
- Hotel del Coronado is ready for spring break and summer vacation, already bringing back the popular Movies on the Beach series with showings of Hook on March 27, followed by Spellbound on March 28, Lilo & Stitch on April 3, Peter Rabbit on April 4, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on April 10, Frozen 2 on April 11, and so on. How does this relate to food news, you might ask? I personally don’t go to the movies without mega-planning my snacks, and the Hotel del’s got you covered with an upgrade package that includes a bonfire and unlimited s’mores. It doesn’t get much more San Diego picture-perfect than that.
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