Note: This is a joint post from both writers, enjoy! Please be kind when commenting and include both of us. First portion written by Soo.
Most of my life Liberty Station was off limits unless you were in the military. I wondered what it was like inside. It was nice of Stone Brewing to invite me to visit for Yelp Elite Week.
Stone Brewing is located inside a historic building at Liberty Station. I talked to the manager Scott and found out they have been here for 7 years.
Place looks great.
I started off my meal with the Chinese sticky ribs. Pork was tender and full of garlic and soy flavor. Quite different from the mostly sweet ribs found at the Cantonese restaurants I usually get them from.
Carne asada taco featured tender juicy skirt steak on a corn tortilla. Loved the high quality beef. The sauce gave this taco a bit of a spicy bite.
For dessert I ordered an apple upside down cake. I have eaten lots of delicious pineapple upside down cake but I’ve never seen an apple one. Cake was served with vanilla bean ice cream which was sweet and full of delicious vanilla flavor. Cake was fluffy and had a bundt cake like flavor while the top layer of apple slices added a sweet apple flavor. These flavors all combined to make an amazingly delicious dessert.
Our server Lynzie was friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu items and beer. Lynzie provided great service and made for a great dining experience. I was very impressed by how Stone Brewing has made use of an old historic building. Thanks to Yelp CM Brad and Stone Brewing for a wonderful experience.
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens
2816 Historic Decatur Rd
Ste 116
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 269-2100
Second portion written by Maggie
The Gargoyle greets you upon entering and is known for warding off evil spirits. The interior decoration lives up to it’s name and incorporates numerous stone objects throughout the dining area.
This place has an impressive resume. Founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner opened their first location July 26th 1996 in San Marcos. Since then they have become the ninth largest craft brewer in the United States. Operating brewing facilities on both coasts in; Escondido, California and Richmond, Virginia. For more impressive information visit: https://www.stonebrewing.com/about
I love how the rows containing huge vats of beer are visible through the glass panes. It’s fun to take a peek and admire their girth and shininess.
The beer menu is large and informative making it easier to decide which one. However they do offer samples of course or you can just take advantage of their flights. Your choice of four 5 ounce pours.
I ended up ordering the Stone Lifeblood, an American brown ale. Excellent various notes of flavor at the beginning and end. This is not a boring brown ale. I tasted the Stone Experimental batch 114: Vertical inversion. A Belgian strong ale with tangerine. Very bold flavors with just the right amount of delicious tangerine! Also I tasted the Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime lager. This one is very light with a welcome amount of lime. My favorite out of the three, Stone Lifeblood hands down.
If all they offered here was beer I’d be super fine with that. However they do present many tasty food options incorporating clever beer pairings with each dish.
Scott the Manager was super informative and answered all of our questions. Lynzie our gracious waitress just knew how to make the dining experience excellent.
I ordered from the Restaurant week lunch menu. The Socal superfood salad with grilled salmon turned out to be an excellent choice. Taking my time, sipping my beer I ate the whole thing! The avocado kefir dressing with the Meyer lemon vinaigrette really paired well with the salmon and all the vegetables. The chia and flaxseed crunch was a nice surprise.
It’s important to note the old bones of this location (a Navy base in another life) lend their ambiance and beauty to this carefully orchestrated decor. It’s easy to see why they host weddings and large events here.
I’m really looking forward to tasting more brilliant beer creations and pairing it with the perfect meal. Thank you to Stone Brewing and our Yelp Community Managers for hosting this event!