It has delicious chocolate croissants brought fresh in the morning, and you can sit outside on its cute patio in a historic building. Two blocks east of Alvarado St is a delicious bakery called Paris Bakery Cafe- try their pain au chocolat! Parker-Lusseau Pastries is another good one (closed mid-Jan for two weeks). There are restaurants and coffee shops: Starbucks has a great patio above the street, and Monterey Crepe Company has large windows looking out on the street. Golden State Theater is a delightful honeycomb-colored historical building. Alvarado Rd is the main strip and has some gorgeous historical buildings with 19th century details. I did wonder if they locals and the tourists knew how good the beer was or if they were just wondering in randomly.Downtown Monterey has a hip feel to it. Brewery as a normal customer and I absolutely loved it. It was a good choice and paired it with Best Part of Waking Up Nitro Milk Stout with Coffee and Vanilla. She ordered her pepperoni pizza just to only eat the pepperoni off and I ordered the Pork Belly Pizza. Brewery?” One more half block jaunt to Alvarado St. My youngest and I split off because she wanted pizza “from that place we went to yesterday.” “Oh sweetie, do you mean Alvarado St. If you haven’t heard of it, Google it and do it, it’s wonderful. We got up fairly early on Sunday, had brunch and then did the famous 17 Mile tour from Monterey to Pebble Beach. I needed to play it cool and be energized for the next day’s touristy activities. I called it a day before I was tempted into trying the stronger hoppy beers on the menu. He told me the inspiration is Moonlight’s Death and Taxes, a world class beer in its own right. At this point, I gave up my cover and sent a text to the owner JC and told him the Schwartz bier is amazing. It’s one of my favorite beer styles and it’s not as available as it should be. I finished out this trip with a Schwartz Bier, named Salute Your Schwartz. It was a great expression of one of my favorite hops. I bellied up to the bar and ordered a 5% Nelson Pale Ale, called Nelson F.C. Even many hours later, the place was still packed. When everyone wanted to wind down in the hotel room, I decided to take that half block walk back to the brewery to try a few more of those fresh beers. We scooted out and did some other family activities to maximize our long weekend in Monterey. I asked for the freshest clear hoppy beer under 7%, and was delivered Riwakan Dependent, a 6.5% single hopped West Coast IPA. Surprisingly, they got our food and beer order off quick and the food came out really quick. We have a very attentive server, but with the place being jammed packed, we had no expectations for prompt service. The menu was very focused with typical gastropub fare. Right away, we got the family joint vibe, this wasn’t anything like a tasting room or a craft beer bar, very inviting to non-beer geeks. They gave my little one the crayons and the kids menu immediately. We were seated at a high top and were directed to pull the menu up on our smart phones. There may have been a staff member in there, but there wasn’t a full-on brew happening. Immediately to the left and behind the main bar was a very small brewhouse. We walked up to a very bustling restaurant, while it was seemingly packed, there was no wait. The first thing we did after putting our luggage in our hotel room was to go to lunch at Alvarado Street. Monterey from my standpoint is a nice little “town” with shops, restaurants, a wharf, aquarium and coastal activities near and around Pebble Beach. I wanted to see Alvarado Street Brewery through the eyes of the locals and tourists. I have had countless amazing experiences over the years at breweries and brewpubs, and this is partially due to getting extra accommodations and hospitality. Taking a different approach when visiting a brewery to then write about it, I did not contact anyone from Alvarado Street Brewery in advanced. We lucked into staying at the local Marriot that is a mere half block away from Avarado St. An opportunity arose for my family and I to take a long weekend trip to Monterey California, with the main purpose of rest, relaxation and a bit of tourism. Until recently, we had yet to visit the brewery. We’ve even had owner/brewer JC Hill on our podcast twice. We’ve had the beers, we’ve partied with the owners and brewers at different festivals. For the past few years, we have had a very positive connection with Alvarado St.
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