It was January 2021 when the owners of Vista-based brewing company WestBrew announced they had secured a spot for a kitchen-equipped bar in downtown San Diego. Located on the ground floor of a brick building on the 700 block of Island Avenue, its proximity to Petco Park had the company aiming to debut the spot by the second month of baseball season. A full year and numerous roadblocks and delays later, WestBrew Gaslamp remains a work in progress, but if all goes as planned the venue will open to the on Saturday, February 5.
“Most of the challenges we faced with this project involved permitting delays, and many of those were due to COVID quarantine rules and outbreaks among the City of San Diego’s planners,” says WestBrew co-owner Heather Lynn Schreer. “Supply-chain issues, material-cost inflation and lack of inventory also added cost and delay.”
Further complicating things was the fact that WestBrew was not able to receive assistance via federal COVID relief programs due to being a new business that started up during the pandemic. It hasn’t been easy, but Schreer and company have stuck with it and are excited to share their project with local beer fans.
The downtown venue originally consisted of a 2,000-square-foot spot space outfitted with a 20-tap bar and seating both inside and outdoors. Now, WestBrew will be utilizing an additional space that’s adjacent to the original project site. This will come in particularly handy for special events, including programming geared toward Padres fans during baseball season. (Typically, that would begin in April, but Major League Baseball is currently in the midst of a lockout that could delay the start of the 2022 season.)
Another change since the project was announced is the individual heading kitchen operations, Executive Chef Doug Fyall, who came to WestBrew following stints at The Dana on Mission Bay resort and Animae steakhouse. Fyall has conceived a menu of starters, soups, salads and sandwiches (including burgers and gourmet hot-dogs if you prescribe to the belief that a hot-dog is, in fact, a sandwich). Pretzels with beer cheese, grilled Caesar salad, loaded potato soup, achiote fish tacos, bacon mac-and-cheese, a skirt-steak sandwich and vegan banh-mi dog are representative of the menu’s eclectically casual fare. A duo of desserts and a kid’s menu will also be available along with game-day specials.
We’re so excited about the location. The energy downtown is real, and we absolutely love the Padres and Petco Park, so being a tiny part of that crowd and playing to the locals and the fans will be incredible.”
Heather Lynn Schreer, Co-owner, WestBrew
When asked about the pressures of trying to move forward with the downtown project while simultaneously keeping a flagship brewery and tasting room in Vista as well as a bar and restaurant in Del Mar afloat in the midst of a pandemic, she points to her staff. “Our teams in Del Mar in Vista have weathered so many difficult environments. We know how incredibly important they are on the front lines, and we see the progress we’ve been able to make dialing in our teams at both locations.”
In March, WestBrew will jump right back into construction mode, breaking ground on a renovation of the patio at its Del Mar location, which is situated on the high-profile corner of Camino Del Mar and 15th Street. The revamp will see a structure with bi-folding glass windows and an “atrium feel” added to the outdoor space along with more comfortable furniture. The estimated completion date for that project will be May.
WestBrew produced 600 barrels of beer in 2021, it’s first full year in business, and hopes to break 1,000 barrels this year. When asked what she’d like to see for the company, Schreer says that, more than anything, she and her team want to experience—and enjoy—a normal year in the beer business. As with the downtown venue, some waiting will be required, but after so much uncertainty it will be well worth it.
WestBrew Gaslamp will initially be open daily from 4 to 10 p.m., but once staff settles in and finds its rhythm, the plan is to extend the venue’s hours to noon to 10 p.m.
WestBrew Gaslamp is located at 701 Island Avenue in Downtown San Diego