There's a new brand-name beer garden in town: Golden Road Brewing, an outdoor, dog- and family-friendly bar located at 1830 L St. in Midtown.
Although it serves craft beer and Mexican-inflected small plates like tacos, the Sacramento Bee reports that the new taphouse has come under fire from other local craft brewers for its parent company: Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Budweiser.
The drinks menu is divided into "Beer" and "Not Beer": expect the 10 beers on tap to include the Right Said Red (an Irish-style red ale) and the Get Up Offa That Brown (an English brown ale). A few California wines and a hard cider round out the drink options. (You can check out the full menu here.)
In a similar vein, the food menu makes a distinction between "Tacos" and "Not Tacos." Of the former, look for the duck confit or the carne asada served bánh mì style with pickled carrots and daikon. Of the latter, avocado fries and carne asada fries provide classic bar bites with a modern twist.
Diners can finish the meal with a sweet bite of churro, scoop of ice cream or Get Up Offa That Brownie — a house-made beer brownie served with berries, chocolate and caramel sauce.
Golden Road Brewing has made a fair impression thus far, with a 3.5-star rating out of 62 reviews on Yelp.
"We tried out various beers and ordered mango, pineapple, guava berry wheat and melon beers. All super tasty and refreshing on a warm afternoon. They also taste just like they're named!" said Cimma S., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on June 3. "My main concern is how this place will fare in extreme or unfavorable weather (cold, heat, rain)."
And Yelper Amanda H. agreed, "I do see some potential in this place. Looks like it will need some type of covering and misters for when the weather gets warmer. The beers are fine — I'm not going to pretend I'm better than a craft brewery owned by Budweiser."
Intrigued? Stop in to sip for yourself. Golden Road Brewing is open from 11 a.m.–midnight Saturday-Wednesday and 11 a.m.–2 a.m. on Thursday and Friday.
