Mark and Rebecca Saldivar had nearly a quarter-century of combined experience working for brewing companies, with the former managing and bartending at San Diego Brewing, and the latter starting out at its sister location, Callahan’s Pub then moving on to The Cork and Craft, Second Chance Beer Co., Urge Gastropub and Ballast Point Brewing in Miramar. But it wasn’t until 2017, when the couple attended their first Great American Beer Festival in Denver, that they were inspired to open their own beer-centric venture. Initially, they wanted to open a bar, but when a friend turned them on to a spot in Old Town Poway, they became so enamored with it that when the property owner required them to open a full-on restaurant, they decided to go for it. This is how The Hop Stop came to be.
The biggest draw for the Saldivars was the project site’s 4,500-sqaure-foot outdoor patio, which can seat 297. They have outfitted that space with 20 picnic tables and, while they come nowhere near that capacity due to COVID-19 social-distancing practices, they have been able to serve their community better than most during the pandemic. That goes beyond food and service to the beer selection. The Hop Stop keeps 20 different craft beers on tap, plus canned ales, lagers, ciders and hard seltzers, the vast majority of which are brewed in San Diego or Southern California. Among them is Hop Stop Blonde, which is contract-brewed for the restaurant by Latitude 33 Brewing, and Hop Stop IPA, which is produced by Oceanside-based Belching Beaver Brewery.
Such a whole-hearted liquid lean-in is significant given Poway’s long and lasting status as an underserved community where craft beer is concerned. The 39-square-mile municipality is home to just one beermaking operation, nano-sized Lightning Brewery. Brewing company entrepreneurs who have sought to set up shop in Poway have gone on to open elsewhere and numerous beer-focused restaurants that have opened in the city limits have closed within a matter of just a few years. Still, the Saldivars saw potential when they built their baby and the residents’ response has proven their optimism to be well founded.
“We strongly believed Poway residents would support us and, so far, they have not let us down. The support from the community has been overwhelming,” says Rebecca. Understanding the community’s “city in the country” nature and how many families call Poway home, the Saldivars went to great lengths to make The Hop Stop both family- and pet-friendly, including a menu of unpretentious American comfort food, plus on-site board games, corn hole and giant Jenga. This has allowed it to become a sit-and-stay-awhile community hub, even during the pandemic. “I have so many guests and friends of mine tell me they ran into a friend, sometimes people they haven’t seen since high school or college. It makes my heart happy to be able to provide the space for this to happen.”
Rebecca also revels in her role as the sole beer buyer for The Hop Stop. She says she enjoys supporting small and up-and-coming breweries with promise. One of those operations, Vista’s Five Suits Brewing, has fared particularly well, going from selling an initial keg to supplying beers for multiple taps on a regular basis.
“They are selling a lot of our beer. They ordered a keg for their grand opening, then planned to cycle through as many different breweries as they could,” says Five Suits co-owner and Brewmaster Nick Corona. “When they took our hefeweizen off, they got so many requests to bring it back that, now, it stays on all the time. They’ve been a good account for us.”
The Hop Stop couldn’t have had a much more ominous opening date—September 11, 2020—but patronage has exceeded their expectations from the start. The Saldivars believe the aforementioned outdoor amenities and their staff’s diligent adherence to cleaning and sanitizing, wearing masks at all times, providing proper social-distancing and taking other coronavirus-related precautions has a lot to do with that.
“I actually think opening during COVID was a good thing for us,” says Rebecca. “We are the only restaurant in Poway with the amount of patio space we have, so guests just keep coming. I believe they feel really safe in our location. And not just people who call Poway home. Customers from surrounding communities like Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, 4S Ranch, Rancho Bernardo and Ramona have been bringing the love.”
Though not yet beyond COVID-19, the Saldivars are already looking beyond it and hopeful about the prospect of opening a second beery venue. They aren’t sure where “The Hop Stop 2” will be located but say they would love for it to be a coastal community. For now, the existing Hop Stop is open Mondays from 4 to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m., Fridays from noon to 10 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Hop Stop is located at 14055 Midland Road in Poway’s Old Town area