There was a sense of elation for employees of Bay City Brewing through much of the first quarter of last year. The Point Loma-based company was riding the annual high of hockey season as a pre- and post-game fueling station next door to Pechanga Arena. The company was also readying for the long-anticipated grand opening of its new two-story restaurant in downtown San Diego’s East Village, mere blocks from Petco Park and just a half-month ahead of baseball season. But alas, the latter affair was scheduled for March 16, one day after state government imposed a COVID-inspired shutdown and halted Bay City’s progress in its tracks.
“It was devastating. We worked really hard on the new downtown tasting room and rooftop location and were so excited to show our customers. We had our soft-opening with friends and family only to have the world shut down a week later,” says Marketing and Events Coordinator Clare Bublitz. Bay City shut down both of its locations on the same day, March 13. “A lot of other restaurants and bars were making similar decisions, so we knew we had to do what was best for our staff and customers.”
The East Village restaurant (pictured above) remained closed for well over a year, with the latter finally reopening the last weekend of April, after pandemic-related regulations had relaxed following increased vaccination rates. Bay City would have liked to have been able to reopen its Point Loma tasting room, as well, but faced a challenge many businesses have come up against of late.
“Staffing. The tricky part was, not only did we need staff, but every single business needed staff, too,” says Bublitz. And while hiring employees to work at both locations was difficult, the allure of larger tip-earning potential in downtown during baseball season made staffing the East Village venue much easier than Point Loma. “We knew we needed to be open for concerts and San Diego Gulls hockey games. That was our goal and we were eventually able to accomplish it.”
Though Bay City’s locations are quite different from one another, the influx of clientele brought on by sporting teams is a shared asset. As mentioned, Gulls fans flock to the Point Loma tasting room (pictured above) in great numbers during hockey season, which will kick off on October 16. The company even brews an IPA called Power Play, which has been a tremendous hit and is also sold at the sports arena.
Similarly, Bay City debuted a beer to appeal to San Diego Padres fans in 2019, a hazy IPA dubbed Murky Machado after the Friars’ all-star third baseman, Manny Machado, which has broadened the company’s overall notoriety among baseball fans.
“We have a great pre-game crowd that comes over for some pizza, wings and a few Murky Machados before heading to the ballpark,” says Bublitz. “We also have two huge projector screens for fans to stay and watch the game.”
Going beyond its public venues, Bay City has put a new management team in place and is revamping its sales department as it prepares to relaunch both Power Play IPA and 72 & Hoppy, a session IPA that debuted in 2017 with great fanfare behind the enthusiastic support of the San Diego Tourism Authority. When that beer resurfaces, it will be reborn as a low-calorie IPA with new can art.
Bay City’s East Village location is open Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., while the Point Loma tasting room is open Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 to 8 p.m. Nightly and other special events at both locations can be viewed on Bay City’s website.
Bay City Brewing’s brewery and tasting room is located at 3760 Hancock Street in Point Loma, and its bar and restaurant is located at 627 Eighth Avenue in downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood