Highway 1 Brewery

Yippee!  Was so excited to see someone moving into this location - halfway between my house, and my sister's in Davenport.  

Good home brew (some not great, some very good), food's decent, service is nice, decor's very well done - FANtastic view of the ocean.

Place was hopping when we were there last Sunday around noon - fingers crossed this place does really well - 'cause this is exactly what we need at this location!

Good luck guys - we'll be back (with friends) soon!

My friends raved about Highway 1's amber ales and told me I should check them out. So, I did. This is a new, small brewery, right near the ocean.

The Food:
So, I go to breweries for the beer and usually nothing else. I had the grill cheese, however, and it was a grill cheese--a good one.

The beer:
They had their own stuff on tap (when I was there they were out of 3 of 6 of their own taps), and a good selection of other California crafts on tap. E.g., Drakes, Green Flash, Ballast Point), and at least one from New York, Ommegang, and Angry Orchard from Ohio. Overall they had a decent selection.  As far as I recall, all the beers and ciders were American.

Highway 1 brews:
I had the $5 house tasting flight, which is 3 5oz pours. This included Rock Queen pale ale, Amberdextrous, and a peppercorn rye (don't remember the name of it). My favorite was Rock Queen. It was crisp, citrusy, and not too bitter--an excellent beer. Amberdextrous was very flavorful, a toasty, malty beer that is probably the best out of the 3 I had. The peppercorn rye was my least favorite. It was light, smooth, more thirst-quenching than anything else, maybe just bland compared to the other two. I could, however, taste a hint of the peppercorn, which is a testament to the brewer's abilities. Overall a good beer experience.

The customer service:
Excellent! Sincerely friendly people, focused, and helpful.

The building:
So, the building itself sort of looks like a restaurant from the outside. Inside there are three main chambers. A dining area with around 12-14 4-seater square tables.The room has lots of large glass windows letting in the light and a view of the highway, the gas station, and only partially of the beautiful coastal sea. From most of the tables in the dining area you can't really see the ocean unless you are tall. There is a bar in the next room where there is at least one tv behind the counter. From a barstool, since the bar is a little higher up than the dining room, you can see more of the ocean. In this room is a sitdown arcade machine that has 60 arcade games on it that were popular in the 1970's and 1980's--fantastic! It's also free--Fantastic twice!! (Gyruss, Galaxian, and Galaga, man!) The bar opens into an ante-chamber (which was roped-off when I was there) consisting of various brewing equipment and components, such has bags of ingredients and so forth. This area has a small fire-place, above which is written "The Beach House." A remnant of the building's past? Maybe one day H1 will have more space for the actual brewing process and this room can be opened for customer use. Maybe this stuff is just all for show, I don't know.
I have to mention that the entire place was clean and spacious.

The Vibe:
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when I was there and it was quiet, with a mix of families with kids, and couples in the dining area, and there was no problem getting seated. In the bar every stool was taken but it was neither packed nor rowdy, nor loud. The place has a sort of sanitized feel to it. It's not bad, it just doesn't feel like a brewery. Don't ask what a brewery is supposed to feel like, but I know it's not quite this.

Overall: I like this place. The beer is good, and they have a nice selection. The fact that the place is clean, with excellent customer service, and classic arcade games, means I'm coming back for sure--and I'm bringing my friends.

This place is great! Just opened a week ago. Exallent beer selection, they even brew their own beers. Must try the sampler for $5 and get a tast of all three. The food was really good too, I had a burger and fries. Wish they had a few more options for food but I will definitely come back next time I take a drive to the coast.