Last October, Little Miss Brewing announced its acquisition of a bar in Lakeside and intentions to transform it into a satellite tasting room. Since debuting in 2016, Little Miss has grown to operate tasting rooms in Normal Heights, downtown’s East Village, La Mesa, Escondido and its headquarters in Miramar, but this particular spot will be the very first brewery-owned venue for Lakeside when it soft-opens on Monday, April 19.
Little Miss’ husband-and-wife owners, Greg and Jade Malkin, had originally hoped to open in late-October, but shifting governmental regulations and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic pushed the debut by half a year.
“The delays in opening were due to COVID. We could have opened a few months back but didn’t think it would be wise to open before we could operate without being forced to serve meals,” says Greg. “As soon as that illogical rule was changed, we started expediting opening, which is why we’ll be doing so shortly.”
Impressed with the bar already installed at the location, the Malkins kept it intact, but are having their way with most everything else. Roll-up doors will be installed in the next month or so for easy indoor-outdoor access and increased natural light, and they’re putting up artwork, including “a sweet mural of Crocodile Dundee” and World War II propaganda posters. The latter is in keeping with the company’s overall design motif. Each Little Miss tasting room is modeled to honor a U.S. WWII ally country. Lakeside’s allied nation is Australia, and that country’s influence will bleed into the beer program.
“Our brewers are excited about brewing Australian styles of beer using Australian hops in homage to the Lakeside tasting room,” says Greg. “We have a history of using them, but now they’ll be the focus of a good number of beers on the brew schedule.”
The Malkins prefer to start out slow and manageable when it comes to soft-open events. To do this, they hold first-day events that require an invitation so that their service staff can settle in and catch a rhythm before facing larger crowds. Individuals interested in attending next week’s soft-open affair are invited to contact Little Miss via email.
“Of all of our locations, the Lakeside opening is by far the most anticipated. We get questions almost daily about when we’re opening. We know Lakeside is excited about our presence and we’re excited about serving them,” says Greg. “We love knowing that we chose the right spot.”
The tasting room’s hours of operation will be 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays. Additionally, Little Miss will offer $5 happy-hour pints until 7 p.m. daily, and a grand-opening event is being planned for the Lakeside tasting room in late-May.
Little Miss Brewing’s new tasting room is located at 12245 Woodside Avenue in Lakeside