Belching Beaver Tavern & Grill

Visited December 2016.

This place is massive and located right in downtown Vista across from Mother Earth. The big bar in the front has a ton of beers on tap, and there is also a big outside beer garden sort of area.

They do flights, which is nice since they have so much stuff on draft. I find Belching Beaver to be kind of hit or miss, which is another reason I appreciate the tasters. Huge variety of beer styles here.

The main bar inside is more of a restaurant setup, but I was not hungry so I didn't really even pay attention to the food menu.

The service was pretty good here and accommodated my indecisiveness and overall malaise from Strong Ale the day before and spending all day ticking with t0rin0.

Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area.

Visited August 27, 2016.

This is a really cool spot. It’s like a smaller Stone Liberty Station. There is a huge bar in the front room with something like 60 taps, about a third of which are house beers. There is a counter with some fake flames coming out of it. It’s just fog with some lighting underneath (yes I put my hand in it). This must have been an old bank since there is what looks like a vault at the end of the bar. Outside s a garden area that seems to be dog friendly and another bar with some different beers than you’ll find inside including some interesting variants of the house beers. The food is small plates mostly that are expensive but interesting and good tasting.

They of course had half a dozen versions of the peanut butter stout, a couple of saisons, and a bunch of IPAs. Lots of ticks to be had if you’re looking for new ratings. Prices are a bit high but the selection is worth it. I was pleasantly surprised by how quick the service was despite how many people were there. I don’t spend much time in Vista but this is definitely worth visiting more than once.

We spent a Saturday night with friends in Vista and had dinner at the newly opened Beav Tavern. This converted bank has a large outdoor patio area and a modern interior. There are about 50 or so beers on tap, some Belching Beaver, but the majority from local and regional brewers. The food is very good: Andouille sausage corndog appetizer, ahi poke, beef short rib sandwich with jicama slaw, etc. It was all very good. The beers are served either in 5, 10 or 16-ounce selections. This is a nice brewpub and one I plan to visit again.