Ocean Beach Brewery

While Mike's earns your wait with made-to-order batter and Little Chef feeds the too-tired-to-cook crowd, OBB operates on a different axis entirely: this is the brewpub-as-destination play, built around that top-deck ocean view and house-brewed beer you can't get anywhere else. The rooftop does the heavy lifting during golden hour—people actually plan their evenings around catching sunset up there with a flight of whatever's rotating through the taps.

The food program runs deeper than typical brewery fare. The cilantro burger shows up in reviews with the kind of specificity that signals a signature dish, and those nachos have enough of a reputation that families order them by default. Fish and chips benefit from the coastal location—this is San Diego, people know when the batter's been done right. Happy hour turns the math favorable if you're local enough to hit the timing, especially for the appetizer-and-beer combination that justifies showing up before the dinner rush.

The kombucha play suggests they're reading the Ocean Beach room—this neighborhood wants the craft beer credibility but also serves a population that doesn't always drink alcohol. Three stories means options: rooftop for the view and the scene, lower floors when you've got kids or dogs in tow (it's explicitly pet-friendly, which matters on Newport). The beer selection runs tighter than you'd expect from a brewpub, but what's on tap is brewed in-house, which changes the equation—you're drinking what they decided to make, not what the distributor had on the truck.

Parking's Newport Avenue standard-issue terrible, but the rooftop access rewards the walk. Service gets called out by name in reviews, the kind of detail that indicates actual regulars, not just tourists cycling through.