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Tacos and Beer A San Diego tradition.

It doesn’t get much more San Diego than tacos and craft beer. Now, local taco franchise City Tacos is celebrating its 10th anniversary by teaming with one of its neighbors for its own house beer.

“It’s funny,” says Gerry Torres, founder of City Tacos. Some 11 years ago, “I started checking out locations for our original City Tacos. I toured San Diego County by day, night, and even into the wee hours — and absolutely fell in love with North Park. North Park had the ‘it’ factor. It was vibrant, unpretentious, and so filled with that sort of magic that makes a neighborhood feel like home.” 

Setting up shop on North Park also meant becoming more intimately acquainted with San Diego’s craft beer scene. Torres continues, “My very first craft beer was at the Mike Hess tasting room in North Park, and it was love at first sip. I was intimidated by all the names, styles and craft lingo, having never had a formal education on craft beer. I had tried most of the major national and international brands, but this was new, different, and very special. Kelly was a fun and knowledgeable red-head Irish girl, and she was suddenly my beertender. She paired me with a pint of Grazias, a cream ale on nitrous. Again, love at first sip.”

That initial love has now blossomed into a full partnership with Hess, which is brewing Blessed City, a 7% ABV Hazy IPA. The beer’s incorporation of Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, and Cascade hops provides notes of mango, pineapple, and citrus, which combine with the creamy mouthfeel and juicy flavor you’d expect from a hazy. 

City Tacos taps Hess for its house brew.

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Hess brewer Jason Stockberger gives a bit of background on the brewery’s collaborations, “We have collaborated with various restaurants and organizations in the past to create custom brews tailored to their specific needs. Each partnership is unique, and we take pride in developing beers that enhance the experiences of our partners’ customers. Our goal is always to create something special that reflects the essence of each collaboration.”

Stockberger continues, “The City Tacos team was deeply involved in the brewing process from start to finish. We worked closely together, holding multiple tasting sessions to fine-tune the flavor profile and ensure it perfectly complemented their menu. Their input was invaluable in selecting the right ingredients and achieving the perfect balance of flavors.”

That involvement included selecting the name. “For the name, we wanted to show how we feel about where we live,” Torres explains. “We are certainly blessed to call America’s Finest City our home. It’s heavenly, really. We can’t thank our longtime friends at Mike Hess enough for collaborating on this special project. We believe the beer will pair well with any of our nearly 20 tacos on the menu.”

Blessed City is on tap at all seven City Tacos locations, with 10% of all proceeds going to local charities — an act Torres says is made “in hopes of blessing our city forward for the good of all those who call this blessed city home.”