San Diego's own Modern Times Beer continues its West Coast expansion with today's opening of The Far West Lounge in Encinitas - offering a throwback design with a central bar, a retail component, and a 100% plant-based food menu. The company is also launching a bar & restaurant in the Bay Area.
The team at San Diego's Modern Times Beer has been a busy bunch since founder Jacob McKean started the company in Point Loma in 2013. In addition to announcing their goal of becoming California's first employee-owned brewery, the craft brewery currently has numerous projects in operation and under development, including operating a brewpub & coffeehouse in Los Angeles dubbed 'The Dankness Dojo', launching a full brewery operation in Portland, Oregon called 'The Belmont Fermentorium', and currently constructing a gigantic beer playground in downtown Anaheim called 'Leisuretown'. There is also a 5,000 square foot restaurant and tap room named the Modern Times Academy of Recreational Science being built in Santa Barbara, CA. Modern Times will also build a brewpub and restaurant at 2410 Valdez Street in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood. All of this is in addition to expanding the operations and footprint at the company's original brewery and coffee shop in Point Loma (The Lomaland Fermentorium), including adding a restaurant component, and continuing to manage North Park's Flavordome tasting room.
"Our Encinitas outpost of culinary and libational magic is officially a thing, and we could not be more thrilled to invite you to come in and hang out," announced Modern Times on its website today. "Featuring a full menu of staggeringly delicious plant-based cuisine and over 30 taps of mind-bendingly tasty beer (plus guest beers & wines), the Far West Lounge is an elegant den of leisure and merriment that makes downtown Encinitas radder than it already is--which is no small feat. This new vortex of excellent vibes also features a full mini-mart where you can buy coffee, beer to go, and a host of sundry merchandise, each item sexier than the last. Once we've been open for a month or two, this spot will also serve as a beer pick-up spot for our highly-coveted membership club, the League of Partygoers & Elegant People."
The brand new Far West Lounge in downtown Encinitas is the first San Diego location to offer a restaurant component. The design of the new craft beer bar, coffee house and restaurant gives off a serious '70s vibe, tapping into nostalgia and embracing Modern Times' eco-conscious style that is based heavily on repurposing old things. In addition to a 40-seat central bar that has 34-taps of Modern Times Beer, there is an all-day menu that is entirely vegan. Highlights include potato croquettes, kimchi elote, chilaquiles, a vegan breakfast plate called Griddle Times, and a Beyond Meat bratwurst sandwich. There is also a retail area where guests can purchase swag, coffee, canned and bottled brews and get growler and crowler fills.
Modern Times Far West Lounge is located at 470 S Coast Hwy 101 in Encinitas and is open daily from 11am - 10pm. For more information on Modern Times Beer, visit moderntimesbeer.com, and check out the Far West Lounge menu below.
