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Suds & Grub

The Independent's guide to bellying-up to North Bay brewpubs Edited by Gretchen Giles THIS SEEMED LIKE a sweet deal: We each got a few bucks to take friends and family out to lunch and dinner; we were forced to drink copious amounts of the best housemade beer in the North Bay; we were darn near threatened if we didn't have a good time--even Amnesty International was beginning to get just a little curious. So what's to complain about? It's over. Our drab, hey-what's-in-your-brown-paper-bag lunches are back. We are suspiciously sober all the time. There have even been a few renegades talking about eating fruit. Ah, well, all good things have to come to an end. But it's just the beginning for you, the reader, as you travel with writers Greg Cahill, Gretchen Giles, Paula Harris, David Templeton, and Marina Wolf to the back roads and the front roads of the booming microbrew pub scene in Sonoma and Marin counties and Calistoga, a scene that we've watched bubble up before our dazzled eyes. When we first reported on this fizzy phenomenon in February of '95, there were a modest two players on the local brewpub market. Today you're looking at the longest food feature we've ever run. And before you legion of beermakers begin to write nasty letters, just calm down: We visited only those pubs that serve food and brew their own beer, we didn't scour Napa and Mendocino counties, and we didn't intend to leave you out. So sit back, pop a cold one, and let your mouth water. Sonoma County Bear Republic Brewing Company Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery Korbel Delicatessen & Market Powerhouse Brewing Company Santa Rosa Brewing Company Sonoma Mountain Brewery & Hopyards The Southwest Corner Brewpub Third Street Aleworks Marin County Marin Brewing Company Moylan's Brewery & Restaurant Willow Street Mendocino County Mendocino Brewing Company Napa County Napa Valley Brewing Company [ Sonoma County Independent | MetroActive Central | Archives ]