O’Brien’s Pub – San Diego

Don’t let the fancy website fool you. O’Brien’s is no frills and a bit blue collar.  They rotate their beer out regularly and bring in a different cask beer every Thursday.  The staff is nice…but not too nice, and I find that refreshing.  It’s located in the Clairemont Mesa area of San Diego in an Asian strip mall.  Very convenient if you want to grab some fro-yo or tofu after you are done drinking.  Also very convenient if your wife loves fro-yo but hates you drinking at O’Brien’s.  Handing over her favorite frozen treat when getting home from work 2 hours late helps.

If you live in San Diego, you have to check this place out.  Many local brew masters and beer aficionados go here regularly and it’s a great place to strike up a conversation with someone.  I’ve been going to O’Brien’s for years,  but my most recent visit was special because I went with a friend, for the sake of this blog let’s call him Tony…because that is his name.  On Friday afternoon, Tony asked me if I wanted to grab a beer. “Sure!” I said, “What kinda beer do you like?”   “Oh, the Bud Light Platinum isn’t too bad…”

This is the point in the movie when the record screeches to a halt and an all out brawl starts, but I took a deep breath and told him “First, we are going to O’Brien’s, they don’t have Bud Light. Second, I’m ordering your beers, and third, Bud Light is not beer.”

It’s not.

We arrived at O’Brien’s just after five and it was standing room only, all the booths inside filled up and all the tables outside were taken as well.  I ordered Tony a Kilkenny Irish Red to ease him into the world of flavored beers.  From the makers of Guiness, it’s a little weak in flavor for my taste but Tony loved it.  I started with a PortMongo IPA from Port Brewing, not my first time with this strong hoppy ale, and I put it at the top of my IPA list.

Next, with the bar line almost outside the door, I moved on to The Widow Belgian Strong Dark from the new Societe Brewing Co. in San Diego,  and Tony ordered a Roenbach Grand Cru (Red Ale) from Palm Breweries.  I was surprised to find that the Roenbach was actually a barley wine. Tasty but I was worried Tony would protest. He didn’t.

“This is tasty, I could down this in one gulp.”

“Glad you like it,” I said.

I could have stayed all day but we called it a night after two and went home. Before I forget, a warning, the parking lot at O’Brien’s is a nightmare, tight, and normally full.  Luckily there is plenty of street parking nearby.   O’Brien’s also has a few televisions usually showing soccer or rugby, and a dart board if athletics is your thing.