Half Door Brewing Co

Stopped into Half Door Brewing with my sister for an afternoon beer and absolutely loved it! Ordered the Father Ted Belgian beer and really enjoyed it. The whole atmosphere of this place is the biggest selling point for me. Its an adorable little house with a nice upper and lower deck situated right in the Gaslamp. It feels very homey and is is the perfect spot to relax with friends. When I return to San Diego next I plan on stopping by to try some more brews!

Brunch was delicious, farm fresh and the Chef knows how to cook a poached egg. Portions are perfect, not overly stuffed. Bloody Mary just ok, we’ve had better. Nice atmosphere, friendly staff Will definitely come back.

I finally got around to trying this place with some friends. I have lost count of all the places in town that make their own beer. I am not surprised I have not been here before. The location is one the last few houses in the area that has not been torn down for an apartment or condo complex. It adds to the character of the place. It feels like a house and not a bar. They offer flights of beer in 3,4, or 5 samplers. The beers are pretty good. They offer a wide range of beers from the usual IPA to a tripel and red ale. Service is friendly. Kitchen closes early compared to the bar. I would definitely stop in again to try some of their other beers.

Great neighborhood-​feeling bar and brewing company. Everyone at the bar (patrons and bartenders) are friendly. Good music, not too loud. Well lit interior, not too dark. Patio, especially upstairs is awesome. The cider is superb… not sweet. Tasted the Julian cider on tap and loved that as well. Will be ordering that next time. Pretzel bites hit the spot, fresh… not some microwave thing. Happy Hour prices make me even more sure that I’ll be back!

Pretty cool place. Definitely reminds me of sitting in Key West as the house that it’s in is very similar to what you see in the Florida Keys. I’m not a beer drinker so I can’t speak to the craft beer selection but I’ve noticed the few times I’ve been in there that a lot of people are ordering the beer flights and seem to enjoy them. I’ve only been on the lower level bar and it’s nice and quaint. The outdoor patio is nice, feels like you’re sitting on your front porch drinking! The indoor bar is small but nice. A little TV in a weird spot in the corner but it works. Not a place I’d go watch the «big game» but definitely a nice hang out spot, date spot, whatever spot if you’re looking for low key and cool ambiance. The bartenders, for the most part, have been friendly and knowledgeable but not overly talkative by any means. That’s either good or bad depending on what level of ‘wow’ you’re looking for but it works. Food looks great although I’ve never actually tried it. One fun fact I learned is that they don’t stock any Canadian Whiskey. I found that quite odd based on the demographic of tourists that migrate south in the winter and just the amount of people that are in the area for conventions, etc.
Definitely a neat spot.

We will definitely go back!
This time MORE than just the AMAZING pretzel bites and pints. Everything being served here looked amazing. The atmosphere was great and cozy and welcoming, definitely gave you the feel that they wanted you to come back.
The ‘house’ atmosphere fits here thats for sure!

Irish pub feel with a decent selection of in house brews! Stopped by in the pouring rain today and sat at the bar. Service was quick and amicable and happy to let you taste better before you committed. Both the session and regular IPA were good and paired well with the sausage Mac & Cheese. Gimmick is good as well, love the white Stout style!
Menu sounded good all around and this was just happy hour, glancing at the brunch and dinner menu has me wanting to come back here.
I would be interested to see more info on their history and brewery beyond what I found online.

Cute place!
Went here for happy hour with a friend, last week and we enjoyed our beers outside ont he 2^nd floor.
This place has lots of outdoor seating so you can enjoy the beautiful San Diego weather. They have a good selection of locally brews, I went for the golden ale which was good and my friend had the raspberry cream ale, which she liked. We had food, she had a salad which was standard and I had the sausage mac n cheese, which was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. We also shared the truffle fries which were good. I would try other menu items when I come back.
I really do love their outdoor seating area, hence the four stars, I’d give it 5 if I try an amazing dish. Service was fine.

July: Great pre-​game place for sure. Before we head to the pricey food vendors inside Petco Park we decided to stop by a place that have craft beer. Using out handy dandy Unilocal App, this was the best option.
We were greeted at the front of the stairs, the place looks like a little house. Very cute, the patio area wasn’t ready for us to be seat yet, but it didn’t matter to us as we were looking to just sit at the bar. We definitely came just for the beer, but we did end up ordering their Fried Goat Cheese. Those fried cheese balls were so good. If you like cheese and you like fry stuff this is for you. I like goat cheese so it wasn’t strong for me at all. Hmmmm it would be so cool if they had 3 cheese fried balls. *lip smack, yummy*
We sample a few of their beers. I like tasters, it’s always perfect to taste everything before you buy. It would be great if one day there were cocktail tasters. hahha.
The bartenders were very friendly and it was a nice cozy environment. Great place to grab something before the game.
It’s game time!

I love San Diego because there’s always a brewery somewhere. In this case, we were staying at the Hotel Solamar and Half Door was right across the street. The drive down from OC was laden with traffic and we were pretty hungry. As much as I wanted all the beer I also knew I had to eat something. We were in luck because Half Door also has a pretty good menu.
We ordered a few appetizers to share and pretty much fought over all of them. My favorite were the ahi tacos. Why? Well, you know how most places have an ahi dish on their menu and it’s ahi with some wonton crisps of some sort? Half Door’s version was unique because they took that wonton crisp and made it a taco shell. Yes, a wonton taco shell filled with delicious ahi. They won me over right there! I love when places put a spin on something and execute it well.
They are a fairly new brewery so the beers didn’t completely stand out for me. I think my favorite was the Bearleener Berliner Weisse. It was nice and sour and refreshing on the hot day that it was. I’m excited to see what this brewery will put out as they grow and become more established.
Oh, and this is the cutest little restaurant. Feels like you’re at someone’s house having lunch/​dinner and enjoying life.

Located behind Petco Park is a charming Victorian-​style house converted into a pub/​brewery. The place is roomy with bar seating and tables on the first floor and an outdoor, dog-​friendly patio arrangement upstairs. A perfect place to hangout and relax. Service is excellent; our guy’s name was Eddie and he really went above and beyond in making sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed.
We weren’t there to indulge in their brunch entrees (which, I might add, looked to be quite hearty) because our main focus was to sample their brews. They give you a useful form to order beer flights from so we went with those. You can check off 4, 5, or 6 4-​oz. tasters at $ 10, $ 11, and $ 12, respectively. I’m not a fan of the flight holders they have since it’s difficult to take your tasters out without spilling… Either way, I’d recommend their Hoban House IPA; it’s a well-​balanced IPA and, in my opinion, very likable if you don’t want too much bitterness. While on that vein, their House of Hops IPA is definitely a bit hoppier than the former, but still very enjoyable.
Great place and OK IPA’s. It’s in the downtown area so I don’t think I’ll return very often to sample more brews, but definitely worth a visit if you’re looking to check out a new brewery.

I’m kind of in love with this brewery. First, it’s super close to home, so walking there and staggering back is nice and easy. (Not that I’d know — I’m assuming…) Second, I love the location. If I remember correctly, this building sat abandoned for years and years before Half Door moved in. The staff was friendly and helpful. The food (though we only sampled on dish) was delicious. And the beer. Well — sign me up.
We made our first stop at Half Door on a Saturday before a Padres game. We had planned to meet up with a friend there before joining my family for the game, and when we got to Half Door, they were packed, and several of the tables had «reserved» signs on them. Yet, they sat us at a table for three upstairs right away.
Our waitress was super sweet, and helped us make sense of the names of the brews on the menu that day. Being relatively new, their beer menu was kind of limited, but they do promise that it’s growing.
I was immediately drawn to the Gimmick Ale, a «bright» beer with a good, smooth, light and fresh flavor. My husband, meanwhile, started with the Colemans Stout. We placed our order, and sat back to wait for both the beer and my friend to join us.
The beer came first — the waitress made it a point to tell us that the Gimmick Ale was, in fact, what I was given. I guess people expect something different, and I can see that. It’s billed as a vanilla, lactose, coffee blend, so she said that people expect something darker than the light glass that’s plopped in front of them. That being said, the flavors were subtle, and it certainly was drinkable. I’m glad it wasn’t very heavy, because we were sitting in the sun, and I’m sure a heavy ale would’ve done me in.
My husband, meanwhile, was falling in love with the Colemans Stout. He said it was like Guinness, but I thought it wasn’t as strong or coffee-​y as Guinness.
Around that time, my friend arrived and as he placed his beer order, we placed an order of the pretzel bites. My husband and I also placed our second beer orders: Dadbod Brown Ale for me, and the Roark Red for him. Again, the beers — all three of them — came out quickly, while we sat and waited for the appetizer.
And we waited. And we waited. And we… waited.
Finally, our waitress came by to tell us that they had run out of pretzel bites, and asked if we wanted something else. Really? At that point, I was in mad need of some food to soak up the booze, so we went with the item that my husband was most drawn to: the sausage flatbread.
Let me just say: I was not looking forward to that dish. I’ve never been impressed by any flatbreads I’ve had in the past — way too much dough, not enough toppings and lacking on the flavor — so when we placed that order, I was mentally calculating what I’d buy to eat at the ballpark.
Still, once the bread finally came to us (it took way longer than I would have liked), I was blown away by the flavors. We all were. I had expected doughy — it was light and crisp. I had expected bland — the flavors of the toppings almost ‘sploded in my mouth. I had expected a lack of toppings — things were falling off the pieces. Without a doubt, it was the mixture of burratta cheese and the onion marmalade that really made the flatbread shine. The two flavors — and the meltiness (totally a word) of the cheese were outstanding. I’d absolutely order again.
As we were polishing off the bread, our waitress came by to ask if we needed more beer. Silly question. My friend asked about the Grapefruit Radler, so she had three samples brought to our table. The boys didn’t like it, but I really did. It took my head off, first sip, but as I kept going I found that I rather enjoyed it. It’s not something I’d drink on the regular — too tart, too fizzy — but it was a nice change of pace.
We placed our order for our third and final round of beers as we were picking at the final pieces of the flatbread. By that time, the rooftop had started to fill up, the crowds on the street below were starting to swell, and the sun was finally starting to sink behind the buildings across the street from us (we were in the sun for quite a while).
It was an experience I greatly enjoyed — good beer, good food, great company. I’m hoping that it lives up to my hype on our next visit, and that their beer menu is a bit more expansive by then. I absolutely want to go back!

Half Door Brewery Company
SD East Village
4pm Saturday 23^rd August 2015
Four Stars
Located near Petco Park, this restaurant and brew house was relaxing place to imbibe and hangout. I had the grapefruit Raddler which a combination of their Pot O Golden Pilsner and Grapefruit soda. It was light, refreshing, and sour. The converted Victorian house gives the place a fun whimsical feel like a old time-​y countryside inn.

August 9^th 2015
SUNDAY FUNDAY… or SUNDAY SCHOOL?
BEER BRO: «Dude! What’s that you got? What did you call it, Nitro?»
CHUN P: «Yup, its delicious, I’m a Nitro-​Beer-​Whore»
BEER BRO: «Is that kind of like Guinness, is that Nitro too?»
CHUN P: «No, I think that’s a different process, Nitro beers has only been around a few years…»
BARTENDER GAL #1: «Actually, Guinness is a Nitro beer, it was one of the first!»
CHUN P: «I don’t think so… I think they has a different old school process 100s of years ago…»
BARTENDER GAL #2: «Oh it is… I’m 99% sure…»
CHUN P: (Googles on his iPhone) «…uh…um…yup…I’m wrong… Guinness is a nitro beer… I’m just gonna stop talking about beer altogether now…»
BEER BRO: «Duuuuuude…»
I got beer schooled by two bartender ladies whom were at least a decade younger than me… Chun P’s Masculinity: –100 points. My entire visit was about 15 minutes.
$ 9 for a 3 4oz taster flight…$ 7 for most pints… is more $$$$$ than I usually spend on craftbeer. Its more than I’d like to spend on beer, but in this case it came with a good lesson.

I thoroughly love the uniquely San Diego atmosphere here at Half Door Brewing Co, and the food ain’t half bad either.
Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere?
The whole white wood New England décor that seems to have caught on so prominently in San Diego is one of my favorite aspects of the city (I see you Point Loma), and HDBC has latched onto the theme brilliantly. The location is tough to beat, the servers fast and friendly, and the seating abundant. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
I’ll be clear — $ 11.00 is a substantial sum for a dish of Sausage Mac n Cheese, but I’m going to let it slide on the account that A) there was a significant quantity of sausage in the dish, and B) this was some seriously rich mac n cheese that sufficed as a full meal. It’s a close call here, but know that it’s worth it. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Was this good mac n cheese? It was. The pasta was cooked appropriately, the mixed cheeses rich and flavorful, and as I touched on earlier, the sausage portions were significant. My issue here is that the dish really wasn’t more than a sum of it’s parts, and I could have gone for a crumble of some sort on top, some peppery flavor within, or maybe slightly more flavorful sausage. Again — good, but not near the best I’ve had. Single Star Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
HDBC has a great atmosphere and a solid selection of craft brews, but the food left just a tad bit to be desired. No Star Granted.

I love me some breweries! I especially love breweries that serve food. There are few better pairings in this world then damn good food served with a damn good beer. That kind of stuff sets the tone for your day! Twas our day off and we wanted to go on a culinary adventure somewhere new… a brewery with yummy creative food and a patio to enjoy the sunshine on, which lead us to the Half Door.
We started with the Salted Pretzel Bites: Thyme mustard, HDBC pale ale cheese sauce. I LOVE PRETZELS!!! Especially with beer… cause carbs on carbs ya know?! Sadly we weren’t very impressed. The cheese sauce was broken & under seasoned and the pretzels themselves were over cooked. *sad face* We did enjoy the mustard dipping sauce but only in that of the 3 things this dish came with… it was the least disappointing. ²⁄₅
We then split a Hanger Steak Sandwich: Caramelized onions, roasted poblano, gruyère cheese, oyster mushrooms, onion marmalade. The Sammy reads delicious no? It had so much potential to be amazing… but alas it was crazy under seasoned and the steak pieces were cut too thick and were a bit chewy… but atleast the french fries were good! ²⁄₅
The beer selection is quite small to begin with and they were out of a few beers leaving not a lot to choose from…
The upstairs patio is beautiful tho! We really loved sitting outside under their large umbrellas people watching our hearts out. The service was great and the staff very friendly. This place has so much potential I really want to love this place but this visit just fell short.
Maybe we’ll give it another shot down the road… Maybe

I came here for a work happy hour and it was my first time here. First of all, I would advise you to try to sit on the upstairs patio. It has a great view of Petco Park. It’s in an old country-​style house in downtown which gives it a unique vibe, especially since it has a two level patio with all the rest of the fancy downtown buildings towering above. It’s definitely not a fancy place to bring a date, but it’s a cool spot for HH.
Drinks:
I strangely started the night off with an Irish coffee because someone inspired me to do it. It was awesome and hit the spot too because I was a bit sluggish getting off work and it was a chilly outside. They do have heaters on the patio, FYI. After the coffee I decided to hit the beers. I started with a few of their house pale ales and then graduated to their Hoban House IPA. Both were delicious and to my liking. Then things kinda spun outta control and someone ordered Irish Car Bombs… twice!
Food:
Sausage and bacon flat bread — must try if you like the description. Very good, especially with an IPA.
Fried goat cheese — amazing, but try to limit yourself to only a few (I had probably a half dozen or so…)
Pretzel Bites = boring. Once the cheese dip gets cold (immediately) you’re SOL.
Sage scotch eggs — sausage wrapped eggs and deep fried, I think. I was drunk when I ate them, but I do remember expressing my approval aloud once I ate one or 3…
Overall, HDBC is on point and did not disappoint. Good beers, food and service. Oh yea, props to the two servers who put up with our rowdy group and managed to smile the entire time!

Our first stop on our beer tour!
We just happened to be in gaslamp and some of our friends were coming here. The place literally look like an old downtown Victorian house converted into a trendy restaurant. I’m glad it has the different feel and looks as compared to all the trendy places now. They were all starting to look the same– reclaimed wood, exposed pipes, mismatch chairs, etc.
I didn’t get any food and will be coming back. I did get to try their House of Hops IPA. And it was very hoppy but I liked it. They didn’t have a big selection of craft beers but I think they just opened and I’m sure they will be expanding their beer selection. I’ve heard good things about their food so next time I’ll have food reviews!

We came to this bar as the first stop in our self-​made brew tour in San Diego.
The concept is super cool. It’s a house on the corner in downtown with a bar in it. It’s takes you back to high school/​college days chill house parties in the middle of the day. They have 2 levels and balconies on each. It’s a beautiful design and the taps are so antique. It fits well with the décor.
The wait staff is kind and smiling. No attitude or stink faces. Smiling faces and patient tones throughout. There shouldn’t be any reason to have it any other way as the crowd there is very chill. Just hanging out and catching up.
Why 3 stars? Because they only have a few beers. I understand that they are still fresh so I will give them an update after some time has passed.
Unfortunately, I didn’t try the food but I did get a chance to sample several beers. House of hops was one of my favorites and appears to be a go-​to of theirs when you just aren’t sure where you want the night to go. Roark Red Ale came in a good second with a smooth flavor and nice color. The Bearleener Berliner Weisse was not for me. Sour. But 1 friend seemed to like it. To each their own.
Overall it’s super chill and really nice and really believe that once they have a bigger selection, it’s going to be a big hit!

This place is having a good start, and I liked it, but I did feel there was room for improvement. I came in on a lazy Sunday afternoon and ordered their Sausage Flatbread which also came with Applewood Smoked Bacon, onion marmalade, burratta cheese, house the said mildly spicy sausage for I believe $ 12.
I really liked the combination of ingredients on the flat bread, but overall it suffered from blandness. The burratta cheese melted to a saucy consistency, but it need salt. A sprinkling of coarse salt on the flat bead upon arrival would of been great. I asked for crushed black pepper and that helped. The applewood smoked bacon was nice and crispy and had good flavor, and the sausage provided a mild spiciness, but it needed help via some flavor. Some fennel would of been good, or more of it, if it came with some.
Another issue I had with the flat bread was the flat bread itself. It had good flavor, but I was not pleased with its texture. The ends were to dry and a little on the hard side, and the inside, where I expected a little more moistness, all be it a little softer, it also suffered from a little dryness. I would like to see an even consistency throughout the flat bread: a little crispiness on its exterior but a soft warm center throughout.
Service was quite good. My server was very nice and had a great sense of humor. She kept my ice tea filled and checked on me a few times. In the end, I truly believe this place better than what I experienced, and with a few minor tweaks, that flat bread will meet my expectations.