After acquiring Alpine Beer Co. in 2014, Green Flash Brewing expanded distribution of the East County interest’s core beers across the country. On a local level, they converted Alpine Beer’s former bar and restaurant at its original location into a tasting room and opened a larger eatery roughly a mile away. That spot was dubbed the Alpine Beer Company Pub and debuted in the summer of 2015. Like many hospitality venues, it was shuttered as a result of the pandemic. Rumors swirled that it wouldn’t reopen, but Green Flash has revamped the space and its menu and has plans to reopen the business in the near future under a new name: Alpine Beer Company Outpost.
“The new concept focuses on pizza as the centerpiece. We installed a beautiful deck oven that makes delicious pizza at 600-plus degrees,” says Green Flash Director of Hospitality Dave Adams, who oversaw this project as well as installation of the original restaurant concept. “We’ll also be offering some salads and share plates that I’m really excited about, plus growlers, bottles, cans and merchandise.”
The kitchen is the charge of Executive Chef Paul Rinaudo, whose résumé includes upscale and contemporary spots The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Jsix and Water Grill. Specific pizzas from his work-in-progress menu will include a classic Margherita, a smoked-mushroom pie with creminis and maitakes, and a spicy meat pizza with pepperoni, soppressata and Calabrian chilies. Patrons will also be able to build their own pizzas. On the greenery front, there’ll be a kale salad with pomegranate seeds and pistachios in a citrus vinaigrette, and an arugula salad with raisins and smoked almonds. Desserts and a kid’s menu will also be available, and there will be gluten-free and vegan options.
Most of the updates to the venue were made for customer convenience. All of the restaurant’s seating has been updated and there is now a reach-in refrigerator for to-go beer. In redoing the interior of the space, Adams says his team also focused on brightening up the space and making it a friendlier environment for families with a goal of it being “fun for all ages.”
“We wanted to create a concept that could serve the community better and I think we’ve achieved that. As a company, we’re all really excited to have a destination in Alpine for people to come and visit,” says Adams. “It’s going to be fun to operate a place that is really a one-stop shop for everything Alpine Beer-related, whether you just want to come in and grab a six-pack, hang out on the patio with the family and enjoy a meal, or snag a pizza to-go for movie night.”
Green Flash is targeting a public-debut date of Saturday, November 7. After that, the Outpost will be open for dinner, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and all-day Thursday through Saturday. To maintain safety during the pandemic, the venue will operate at 25% capacity indoors and have socially distanced outdoor seating on the patio.
Alpine Beer Company Outpost is located at 1347 Tavern Road in Alpine