Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Depot Springs due this summer in La Mesa

Brewery, restaurant, music venue back on track

Depot Springs craft brewery, restaurant, and outdoor stage resumed construction in March following a community-relations break.
Depot Springs craft brewery, restaurant, and outdoor stage resumed construction in March following a community-relations break.

Following several months of delays, construction has resumed on La Mesa's next brewery, Depot Springs Beer Co. Originally projected to open in December 2015, Depot Springs founder Aaron Dean pressed pause on the project last year to address concerns within the local community stemming from a planned live-music component.

Plans to develop the more than 20,000-square-foot property include a 15-barrel brewhouse and tasting room, a full-service restaurant, a supervised activities area for children, and a professional-grade outdoor stage for live performances. Community issues arose in part from a Reader music news story last May, listing the entertainment center's capacity at 900, including 600 for the outdoor music venue.

Sponsored
Sponsored

News of a large concert venue at the northeast border of La Mesa prompted nearby residents — including some in neighboring El Cajon — to voice objections to the city. In March, Dean hosted a community forum to address their concerns and walk back that perception. "We're not a concert venue," he stresses, "When I originally started this concept a year and a half ago I was very gung ho and said we're going to hold 900 people. We're not. What fire gives us as far as occupancy is not what we plan on doing."

He says the venue is intended for unticketed performances by local musicians, for patrons of the brewery and restaurant. "It can hold two or three hundred people very comfortably," Dean says, "Sitting on the grass enjoying their food or their drinks." With a full time sound engineer on staff, Dean does expect the complex to host music daily, both on its outdoor stage and a smaller "cabaret stage" located inside. Dean says plans also include stand up comedy, outdoor movie screenings and art events.

The root of the idea, Dean says, is to create a family friendly space for young parents living in the area who need a place they can bring their kids. "This is not a pitcher of beer or shot glass place," he insists, "This is not a sports bar. This is a really nice, higher-end brewery, restaurant and events space." He adds, "We're really not appealing to the 21 year olds who are looking just to get drunk, that's not us."

He describes a "Kids Zone" free of TV and video games, where camp counselor types supervise children's play on climbing equipment or arts and crafts projects while parents enjoy music, food, and drink. For the restaurant he's enlisted chef Matt Richmond, formerly of North Pacific Beach restaurant Table 926. "We really want to create a menu that is something you wouldn't normally find in a brewery, that you would normally find at a much nicer restaurant, but with prices you'd expect in La Mesa."

Brewing beer will be previous Lost Abbey brewer Stuart Long, returning to San Diego after winning GABF medals brewing for Silver Moon in Bend Oregon. Now that construction on the ambitious project has resumed, Dean anticipates a summer launch of four initial core beer offerings.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Depot Springs craft brewery, restaurant, and outdoor stage resumed construction in March following a community-relations break.
Depot Springs craft brewery, restaurant, and outdoor stage resumed construction in March following a community-relations break.

Following several months of delays, construction has resumed on La Mesa's next brewery, Depot Springs Beer Co. Originally projected to open in December 2015, Depot Springs founder Aaron Dean pressed pause on the project last year to address concerns within the local community stemming from a planned live-music component.

Plans to develop the more than 20,000-square-foot property include a 15-barrel brewhouse and tasting room, a full-service restaurant, a supervised activities area for children, and a professional-grade outdoor stage for live performances. Community issues arose in part from a Reader music news story last May, listing the entertainment center's capacity at 900, including 600 for the outdoor music venue.

Sponsored
Sponsored

News of a large concert venue at the northeast border of La Mesa prompted nearby residents — including some in neighboring El Cajon — to voice objections to the city. In March, Dean hosted a community forum to address their concerns and walk back that perception. "We're not a concert venue," he stresses, "When I originally started this concept a year and a half ago I was very gung ho and said we're going to hold 900 people. We're not. What fire gives us as far as occupancy is not what we plan on doing."

He says the venue is intended for unticketed performances by local musicians, for patrons of the brewery and restaurant. "It can hold two or three hundred people very comfortably," Dean says, "Sitting on the grass enjoying their food or their drinks." With a full time sound engineer on staff, Dean does expect the complex to host music daily, both on its outdoor stage and a smaller "cabaret stage" located inside. Dean says plans also include stand up comedy, outdoor movie screenings and art events.

The root of the idea, Dean says, is to create a family friendly space for young parents living in the area who need a place they can bring their kids. "This is not a pitcher of beer or shot glass place," he insists, "This is not a sports bar. This is a really nice, higher-end brewery, restaurant and events space." He adds, "We're really not appealing to the 21 year olds who are looking just to get drunk, that's not us."

He describes a "Kids Zone" free of TV and video games, where camp counselor types supervise children's play on climbing equipment or arts and crafts projects while parents enjoy music, food, and drink. For the restaurant he's enlisted chef Matt Richmond, formerly of North Pacific Beach restaurant Table 926. "We really want to create a menu that is something you wouldn't normally find in a brewery, that you would normally find at a much nicer restaurant, but with prices you'd expect in La Mesa."

Brewing beer will be previous Lost Abbey brewer Stuart Long, returning to San Diego after winning GABF medals brewing for Silver Moon in Bend Oregon. Now that construction on the ambitious project has resumed, Dean anticipates a summer launch of four initial core beer offerings.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader