Latest reviews from Santa Ana

“Tucked way back in an industrial park; just trust google. Some parking. Place is deceptively large; looks tiny when you walk in, but you are free to head into the production area where there are tables and pinball machines, or out back where there are a few picnic tables set up. No flights, but they will do half pours. I got two and both were excellent. Interesting place“

bytemesis 619 days ago

“First beer stop of the evening. In the center of Santa Ana, which as of this writing (Aug'22) basically looks like a series of bombs went off int he middle of it. Streets are closed and torn to shit all over the place. The good think is that the ramps are free to encourage people to still deal with the mess. Cerveza Cito is an interesting place, limited outdoor seating, but quite large inside. I believe there is a second level as well. Perhaps 16 taps total including some seltzers. They are big on Micheladas. I did a flight of four and they ranged from OK to pretty decent.“

bytemesis 621 days ago

“Visited on a Thursday evening. This brewery is tucked away in a low industrial park right by a giant self storage facility - not easy to find, but once you get back to the brewery, there is plenty of parking in the front, or around the back. The bar is immediately inside the door, and there is a very small seating area to the left. There are many more tables set up very much in the middle of the brewery area. Brewery area also has 4 pinball machines. In the back parking lot, there is an AstroTurf spot with two picnic tables. Beer selection is 7 house beers, plus 1 seltzer available as full pours or crowlers to go. Great service, friendly folks, cutest dog I have seen in awhile. This place was haphazard, though in the best way! (Worth the visit, must for locals, and visitors with time) I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 726 days ago

“Visited early evening on a Wednesday. Parking is on the street, and likely would be a challenge on a busier night. Located in the center of Santa Ana, in a narrow brick building with a long bar and table seating in a front room and the sidewalk patio. 13 beers, seltzers and micheladas available as full pours, 5 oz tasters or crowlers to go. Brewery upstairs. Good service and nice crowd.“

theisti 727 days ago

“Located in a sweet spot next to Santa Ana market and a thriving downtown this bar offers a great tap list and an awesome patio overlooking the street. Geeks were conducting a beer tasting inside. Had Russian River beers on tap (hazy, Pliny) and a slew of bottles. They have food and apparently in the summer they BBQ. Will definitely return.“

Cristobal37 1585 days ago

“Visited on a Monday midday. Located in a strip mall on a main road. Layout is the typical smaller Trader Joe layout, with a slightly better and larger beer selection than I am used to seeing, though that might be a function of being in California. Single policy is same as all TJs, all beers available as singles.

64 = ** (Just ok)

I only use the total score, not the component parts.“

theisti 2141 days ago

“The food Is a strange eclectic fusion of various ethnic offerings, but the real reason for rating it here is the food. They had at least 15 local brews on tap and a nice variety of bottles along with a full bar. The service was very good and the food was tasty albeit not cornbread and beans. As one of my workmates suggested this restaurant as having all American food, it was a disapointment. But once you get over the fusion theme, I could find an asian meal that wasn’t half bad.“

Aggiebob 2662 days ago

“Dec 2016. Cool little place. Generally about 10-15 beers on tap. Bar staff is friendly. the area is very small but there are never a lot of people there so I’ve never had to stand.“

Blairgus 2696 days ago

“Another gem on this long weekend jaunt in orange County. Very nice place, old building with old brick wall, Cathedral wood ceiling, loads of barrels. The specialty here is sour beers, thus a must for sour heads. 10$ will give you 5 x 4 onces pours. Beers are solid. A must.“

Lubiere 2857 days ago

“An absolute stunning location in the heart of town this is very exceptional. Service was at the bar and honestly not that enthusiastic. Selection was pretty big and samplers in very nice glasses one at a time for a bit of a premium. Beer was a bit disappointing, not bad just not as good as expected considering the names and deScriptions. I found everything a bid bland. This place is all show, but would come back with a crowd that isn’t really into beer.“

Ferris 2975 days ago

“Visited December 6, 2014.

I can’t remember the last time I was in Santa Ana for anything. Now that there’s a brewery here I’ll probably stop back in at some point to try all the various rateable places that look decent (Playground and Native Son). Parking was a pain on a Saturday night as was expected, though there is a lot you can pay to park in just around the corner. Wish I could say that the beer here was worth the price of parking.

Inside is a very nice setup. Brick walls, high ceilings, exposed rafters, very old timey industrial look. Also, very (very) hipster. Chinoskillzian and I were the only people in the building not wearing really tight jeans and thick rimmed glasses. Oh well, that’s just the way things are these days. They don’t do flights or tasters, though if you ask nice they’ll let you try a sip of a some stuff. I tried all three of the saisons and went with the best one (still just alright). That brings me to my next gripe: the beer quality.

The beers all have very appealing names/descriptions. Hoppy Belgian ale, bretted saison, fruity sour ale, dry hopped saison, citra hopped IPA, citra hopped wheat. Were any of them good? No, damn it. They weren’t bad or anything, just too sweet. I can deal with the crappy parking situation and the ultra hipster crap (be unique by being exactly like the other 10 million douchebags) but I’m not dealing with those if the beer isn’t that good. Also worth mentioning that a lot of the beers are either bretted or barrel aged, so they do have some fun stuff to try, even if it’s not worth drinking much of.

I’ll gladly stop in again when the beer gets better but until then there are too many other breweries around to check out.“

t0rin0 3419 days ago

“Sort of a mix of a speakeasy, pool hall, and beer hall. Dark, underground bar just around the corner from Chapter One. It’s easy to walk right by it.

It’s actually kind of a nice and hip place, and they have a pretty decent tap list. A lot of local beers here from Bottle Logic, Bootleggers, Ritual, Hangar 24, The Bruery, etc. Some stuff from Colorado and a few imports. Pricing on the beers are pretty good, too.

Definitely a place worth checking out if you’re hanging out in DTSA.“

brokensail 3428 days ago

“Interesting place. Kind of open air and located on top of a taqueria. They have a lot of communal tables and a pretty sizable patio area to sit on.

The tap list is decently varied with a lot of different styles offered. Breweries from all over Southern California like Monkish, El Segundo, Stone, Valiant, Noble, Ritual, etc. Some bigger out of state offerings like New Belgium and Great Divide, and an import or two.

Pretty decent place in terms of the atmosphere and the list of beers. But, the prices are kind of high, maybe laughable. Most beers in the $7-$9 range. No thanks.“

brokensail 3428 days ago

“Sort of an art deco feel to the decor of the building. A definite old school deli/diner theme going on. I kind of like it.

Food-wise, it’s not a totally authentic NY deli, but they make a decent sandwich and have the standbys like pastrami and corned beef.

Beer list is pretty eclectic and actually interesting. Some stuff from the nearby and newly opened Good Beer Co, Cismontane, Bootleggers, as well as beers from the bigger boys like Avery, Stone, etc. A couple interesting bottles like some sour beers from Cascade.

Beer prices are pretty decent ($4-$7 a pop, it seemed). The traditional pastrami, Reuben, etc. are kind of pricey at $10, but you get a good amount of food. Not a bad little place to grab a beer and a bite to it.“

brokensail 3428 days ago

“Stopped in on a mini-pub crawl of DTSA. These guys had twelve beers offered during my visit and seem to really be doing a whole lot of styles to appeal to beer nerds instead of just the usual blonde, pale, sout, amber, brown ale sort of line up.

They hadn’t been open for too long yet, so I’ll cut them some slack on not doing flights at that point. I ended up being able to bargain with them to essentially pour me a flight instead of having to make the terrible decision between: get 12 half pints or don’t try everything. Yikes, the horror. Hopefully that changes at some point, but for most people it’s probably not the end of the world.

I thought most of their beers were pretty good. The fact that I actually drank them seemed to be surprising enough.

Anyway, kind of a modern interior. They share the space with another business, which seemed kind of odd, but whatever works. There are a bunch of long communal tables and a handful of seats at "the bar", which isn’t really much of one.

I’ll have to come back and revisit these guys, particularly if they keep making good beer. A lot of cool, interesting people hanging out at the tasting room to chat with as well.“

brokensail 3429 days ago

“New little brewery in downtown Santa Ana (bring quarters, parking is metered), they don’t bottle, but have growlers to go. I thought they had a nice selection and the beers were pretty good. Definitely worth checking out.“

JohnC 3439 days ago

“The Copper Door is a pretty awesome semi-hidden craft beer bar. The bartenders are very knowledgable and can give out samples upon request. I highly suggest checking out their happy hour which is Monday-Friday, 3-6pm. $2 off beers and discounted food items - amazing deal! It has a vibrant nightlife scene with live bands, DJs, and even burlesque shows. Props to The Copper Door for not charging a night cover. People definitely need to check out this place for its unique ambiance. It has an amazing speakeasy meets European drinking hall atmosphere.“

heyitsyu 3569 days ago

“I only came in here because it was next to the grocery store and I thought I’d just give it a shot and see if they had anything worthwhile. I was pleasantly surprised to see a bunch of micros right away, so I took a look around. Lots of cooler doors and a fair amount of shelf space, too. Really cramped and seemed a bit dingy, though.

Lots of local beers from places like Bruery, Bootleggers, Valiant, etc. The San Diego breweries were well represented as well. Lots of Alesmith, Lost Abbey, Hess, Port, Pizza Port... Decent selection of imports as well. Biggest complaint was the price on some of the beers, like $15 for a Hottenroth which is an $8 bottle anywhere else. Other stuff seemed to be normally priced, maybe a dollar more on a few bottles.

Basically, it’s a pretty decent shop, but you can probably find a better place in the area in terms of pricing.“

brokensail 3597 days ago

“Finally made it here. Firstly, the food here is amazing. The staff and service were top notch. They have a nice but somewhat small list of cocktails and spirits, but it’s a well put together list. Nice selection of bottles and a very respectable tap list. The place isn’t cheap, but it was a truly excellent experience. I will definitely try to make it back here soon. If you plan on going on a weekend night, reservations are highly recommended. We sat down right away because of it, but other parties were waiting quite awhile.“

brokensail 4004 days ago

“Cool bar in the now somewhat gentrified downtown Santa Ana. Upscale liquor list and the prices to go along with it, same with the food. The beer list was adequate, though nothing really worth a second look. Good cocktails, though. The Moscow Mule is the house specialty of sorts. Service was very friendly, though a bit on the relaxed side in terms of pace. Not necessarily a great beer place, but a good bar/restaurant.“

brokensail 4004 days ago

“Came for the first time for a Sunday Supper. Ambiance is nice with a cool vibe, the TVs playing the Sunday night NFL game was a bit odd for the environment but I didn’t mind. Had around 20 taps of all California craft offerings. Higher end selection of food that was very well done. Only complaint would be the meal was very much a crazy mix of styles. Very good but not cohesive. The best was no corkage fee for bottles so we shared a number of fun bottles and gave the remains to the staff. Would come back for sure.“

thome50 4249 days ago

“Great little place in Santa Ana. Free parking on weekends in a lot across the street. Stopped by for a Sunday brunch. Great food as to be expected. Pork Belly Hash was killer. Menu changes daily. Casual atmosphere with a few TVs for sports games. Great beer selection of about 15 taps, all Californian. The concept is that each beer is $5 for either a 16 oz, 12 oz or 7oz pour depending on the cost of the keg. Jarred was working behind the bar and was friendly as always. Really a great stop in the area. Very fair pricing.“

BMan1113VR 4437 days ago

“13 taps and two casks, but casks are rarely used. Draught ales are the cheap British ales you mainly find in the supermarket: abbot ale, wells, boddingtons, belhaven, marstons, old speckled hen. My belhaven didn’t taste that fresh. Either it doesn’t travel well or once tapped, it doesn’t get drank very fast. Food is great but expensive. I’m sure the whole "British pub" means that they can have higher prices.“

Blairgus 4481 days ago

“(Second visit - 7 July 2013) despite my first experience I thought I’d go back for one beer since I was walking past. The bar service was much better even though there was a street event only a block away. Still, I’m not happy. After I showed my ID and bought my beer I was told I had to remove my hat (only golf hats are allowed). So basically, hipsters are allowed to wear their hats but no ball caps are allowed. And for all the "atmosphere" they are trying to create, the tv is showing sports. I’ll never go back. (First visit) i would have been really happy with this bar. food prices are a bit high but they’re fancy bar meals so it is expected. Their beers taps were amazing: Avery, last coast, and others. some big DIPAs on tap when normally out of 10 taps there might only be one. the thing that makes this such a bad rating is the employees. service was absolutely terrible. there were 3-4 people behind the bar but none of them could be bothered to move quickly or seemed to care that there were people waiting. when the finished serving someone they didn’t immediately move to the next customer. and their pours were atrocious. i saw several beers poured where almost a third of the glass was head. I’ll never go back.“

Blairgus 4490 days ago

“If you’re looking for an authentic British pub, you can’t go wrong with the Olde Ship. Sporting lots of authentic British beers on tap and in bottles, they go well with Bangers and Mash or Fish and Chips. It’s your standard British Pub elevated a bit. Lovely atmosphere, awesome steak fries, and good beer to boot.“

Blake 5124 days ago

“The beer selection is reasonable and has a good resprentation of styles and imports. If you’re in the area, it’s worth a look, but don’t go out of your way to buy beer there The food here is for grocery shopping, so you can’t sit down & eat.“

JohnC 6220 days ago

“Great place for your out of the ordinary beer and food.“

KANE22 6656 days ago

“This market sells all kinds of imported food, crafts, etc. They have an unusual mix of beers from Rouge to Anchor; plus lots of singles.“

icarus 7358 days ago