Alvarado Street Brewery Taproom

Thank you for the attentive and very friendly service from Angelic A. while we visited for lunch earlier this month. She patiently explained the gluten-free options. The Art Deco interior (a former bank lobby), with its soaring ceilings, is beautiful. Well situated at the center of town with easy, on-street parking. We enjoyed our respective menu options.

8/1 Updated: Alas, in the blink of an eye it’s finally open! Alvarado Street Brewery: the radical fun loving and well championed brew producers in the world of beer today, is back, and now wearing a fur coat and a string of pearls. Entering Alvarado on Main you are greeted by a host station adorned with mesmerizing green tile facade. Your first thought is we are no longer at Kings Den, Todo. Three questions: Do you have a reservation? How many in your party? Bar or Booth? Across a chevron patterned wooden floor are green velvet lined booths and comfy chairs that flanks the circular bar area. You are handed two menus, one premium-grade textured thick stock Lunch menu or depending on time of day, a Dinner menu. The other is the double sided beer menu on basic office paper white because that menu changes nearly daily. A new menu, God bless! New vegetarian tacos, large wedges of artichokes. New sandwiches! The Moroccan chicken sandwich with flavors so correct I could feel the sand between my toes. I would use one of those modern day typing machines to send word home, that was the most interesting chicken sandwich I have had all year. Currently the menu does accommodate with vegan, vegetarian and gluten options, a modern necessity. The service is formal, warm and well versed. The servers are happy to talk beer and steer you towards the new and popular. Which is quite welcoming because every day folk need the guidance. There’s a brew for near every occasion, every palet, every craving and pairing, a hard days work reward, the weather, a sweet and sour tooth, an afternoon treat. Alvarado Street has got you covered. Sitting comfortably and taking in the ambiance you can’t help but to appreciate a few things that make Alvarado On Main magical. Acoustics are softer compared to their Monterey location. Art deco style is oozing with elegance. Local artist Lisa Haas was brought in to paint and texture walls and ceilings with period correct charm and design accents. On the way towards the restroom you will find the old bank vault door proudly mounted at the service pass. The tail end of the room, the most glamorous mother of pearl crane panel you could feast your eyes on, trés chic! You forget that you are sitting at a modern day brewhouse, instead it feels like you have been whisked away into a bustling hotel lobby bar in the roaring 20’s. I’m imagining this place is going to be an absolute riot during New Year’s parties. I will be booking my next few lunch dates here soon, highly recommend you make them on Open Table for smooth entries.