Despite having many years of international experience managing bars and public houses, when Trevor Whitehead signed on to open a brewing company at a lease-to-brew facility in Oceanside, he solely had beer on his brain. An in-house culinary program wasn’t a consideration, nor was opening a satellite venue with food at the forefront. But last year’s arrival of new business partner Jack Everett, a hospitality veteran with 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry, broadened his view of how to expand their business, South O Brewing, within the community it’s named for.
Meanwhile, a mile north on South Coast Highway, Nicholas Hammond, the owner of Pacific Coast Spirits, had an opposite set of circumstances. When launching his Coast Highway distillery in 2019, he had included a food component, allotting roughly a fourth of his facility’s 12,000 total square feet for a craft kitchen. While it has performed well, it is not where his passions lie and takes his focus and energies from distilling. Enough that he began contemplating a way to offload the restaurant to another entity with the experience necessary to not just run it, but also maintain standards in keeping with his overall business.
“We have known Nicholas for a few years now, and during a conversation about Pacific Coast Spirits’ production, our talk expanded to the potential of taking over the restaurant,” says Whitehead. “Jack has opened multiple restaurants in the North County area, including The Lab Collaborative and Señor Grubby’s in Oceanside, and was looking into opportunities to grow our portfolio into either a new taproom or restaurants. With a lot of potential for a crossover of the brewery, distillery and restaurant, this seemed like a fortuitous endeavor.”
Whitehead and Everett signed on the dotted line and got to work overhauling the eatery – repainting and repanelling while adding new kitchen equipment, lighting, furniture, televisions and outdoor heaters – converting it into a gastropub called The Mill Room, which opened to the public on May 1.
“We’ve done a ton of work updating the interior, though we decided to go with something completely new and apart from the South O Brewing brand,” says Whitehead. “Now it’s a much more intimate, moody space; great for an evening cocktail.”
On that note, the cocktail menu has been updated and expanded with the goal of having a little something for everyone. This includes craft cocktails, classics and tiki drinks. In order to facilitate such a broad assortment, other brands of alcohol have been added to augment Pacific Coast’ existing lineup, which includes vodka, gin, brandy, agave spirit and assorted whiskies. A full wine list is also available.
The Mill Room’s ten taps almost exclusively pour South O beer at present, including a trio of house beers that includes Mill Room Mexican Lager, Mill Room Blonde Ale and Mill Room West Coast IPA. Moving forward, Whitehead says he would also like to rotate in beers from breweries that South O collaborates with.
Transitioning from the bar to the kitchen, Chef Kate Weintre’s menu offers inventive spins on popular dishes of the day. The starter section is highlighted by birria croquettes with Oaxaca cheese, Brussels sprouts dressed in a pomegranate vinaigrette, and Philly-style pretzels served with sauerkraut, andouille sausage, cheese sauce and house IPA mustard. An ahi chop salad and sirloin steak wedge segue to handhelds that include a house-made pastrami sandwich, Mill Room burger with habanero mayo, and tacos stuffed with either mahi-mahi, birria or pulled chicken.
Main dishes include fish and chips, Cajun pasta, chicken schnitzel and a 16-ounce ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes, and the dessert section features a creative French toast sundae as well as a “gimme S’more” brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, toasted marshmallow and caramel made using Pacific Coast’s bourbon-style whiskey.
“Kate has been working in multiple restaurants throughout San Diego, from hotels where she was a pastry chef to smaller specialty restaurants. When we first took over the location, we identified her as an eager chef wanting to move the kitchen forward with modern dishes that come from her grandmother’s cookbook,” says Whitehead. “Her dishes are fantastic and offer a nice, refreshing spin on some classics.”
The Mill Room’s hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
The Mill Room is located at 404 South Coast Highway in Oceanside