clean and comforting space with large and varied draft list including locals, California mainstays and new breweries both, and some quality and semi-rare Belgians as well. 2-3 casks as well. extensive bottle list to make you happy. prices are surprisingly reasonable. all of this without the Toronado SF attitude.

Amazing place. Very friendly and helpful staff. Tremendous tap list and unmatched bottle list. Didn’t try the food, but the burgers looked great. Worth going far out of your way for this one.

I guess this has quickly grown into the must-hit spot in San Diego. I visited this place exactly one week before the San Francisco original and I must say the selection is very, very similar. At least 50% of the taps were common and 80% of the bottles. My sample is small, but San Diego had the better selection of the 2, including rarities like Cable Car (45$) and Russian River Toronado (I don’t remember the price, but I believe above 70$). Otherwise, the prices are democratic and the draught selection is crazily good. It does not get much better, many places have a larger menu, but that large a menu with that impressive a quality puts it top 10 in the US. Besides that, I quite enjoyed the feel of the place despite it being very packed even on a Tuesday night. It’s not very warm nor home-like, but is comfortable and plain beer-geek friendly. With a seat, I’d definitely spend an evening here. It’s nor pretentious by any means, with simple beer-related decoration and a relatively young, beer-geek heavy crowd. The one place which annoyed me a ton though if when they launched the last call around 11:45. Why close so early? And then I was simply insulted when the bell rang and the staff began kicking everybody out, not giving them an extra minute to finish their barley wines, having put all the chairs on the tables by 12:02 and launching threats at remaining customers who ’break the law’ by remaining there past midnight. A pathetic scene.

The layout is very similar to the one in San Francisco, except it is cleaner and a bit quieter here. The draft selection is beautiful, prices are decent and the waitress was very knowledgeable. All in all, a quality establishment I would love to go back to, but I admit the darkness and unappealing design didn’t make this too warm of a place. But a beer geek only needs a great menu, right?

Bright, clean open space which is a nice change from the dark dank cave that is Hamiltons... don’t get me wrong, I love Ham’s, but it’s like a bunker in there. On to Toronado though. There is a large assortment of hanging chalkboards advertising the brewery and the beer. The bar seems to be designed to make the servers work their butts off... all of the taps are located at one end of the bar in a double high stack of handles then walked back to the bar where you ordered. It’s not my problem, but I don’t think I’d enjoy it all that much. A very solid selection of bottles as well. It looks kind of sterile, but I can imagine that changing quite a bit as it ages. I like this place quite a bit and hopefully will be able to make it back before I leave SD.

A dive joint with a great beer selection in central San Diego. The food is typical bar food, though well prepared and quick. The beer selection was rather nice, complete with Lost Abbey Cable Car and Red Poppy. The Cable Car was $40 and the Red Poppy was $25. So, two beers into my night, I was down $65. I still had a third beer to go and dinner. The wait staff is helpful and friendly.

Just one word - AWESOME. This was a must visit for me and I loved every minute Had some very rare brews here. Loved the atmosphere and the service was off the hook. A must stop for any beer geek.

The tap list features a lot of California, and especially San Diego, beers including Alpine, Stone, Russian River, Green Flash, etc. There are some imports as well, but nothing terribly exciting on my particular visit. More impressive than the tap list is the bottle list. Of course, Cable Car, and other rarities from Russian River, Lost Abbey, 50/50, Hair of the Dog, etc. The problem is that the formula for bottle pricing here is: take the retail price and double it. For example, Victory at Sea for $19, 50/50 Imperial Eclipse for $42, Cherry Adam for $29...you get the picture. The service was good and the bartenders were helpful and friendly, which is always welcomed and a nice change of pace from the SF location. Other than the high prices, my main gripe with the place was the large number of hipsters in attendance. I try to ignore these folks as much as possible, but it can be difficult when they’re over running the bar.

Good lineup of taps, tons of bottles which we really didn’t look at. Spacier than in San Fran, but a little more boring as well, atmosphere-wise. Damn great, though.

Been to Toronado SD a few times. Always fun- gets pretty crowded at night like a good dive bar. Prices are cheap and tap list is extensive, ever changing, and highlights west coast local breweries. Food is typical bar food but there are some yummy things in there and it is all prepared well. Good service. Best thing about this place is you can get Cable Car for $40. A steal.