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

Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery

Place

Monkey Paw

805 16th Street, San Diego

Unless you outright loathe good beer, you probably know the name Scot Blair. In fact, you’ve probably been to his University Heights, South Park, and City Heights bars, which specialize in select local and craft brews.

Monkey Paw is Blair’s most recent endeavor, a hybrid of Small Bar’s and Hamilton’s vibe with the added perk of cheesesteaks and, within the next few months, its own nanobrewery — a five-barrel system feeding a steady three or four taps that will be run under the guidance of CHUG club homebrewer Derek Freese.

Stained-glass windows, dark wood everything, and an open-air front yield a view of the downtown skyline. Its deliberately casual (if not somewhat old Irish) ambiance fits for lunching downtown businessmen, students, post-game Padres fans, and music/art kids from Golden Hill alike.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Monkey Paw’s 30 taps and two cask pumps of craft beer include local favorites such as Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Mission, and Coronado, but the daring can opt for beer cocktails ($7.50) such as the Please, Chimay I Have Another (gin, Cointreau, lemon, Chimay white) and the San Diego Vodka Soda (hop vodka, lime, Anchor Steam), while mixsters can choose from 16 signature cocktails.

At $9–$11, the cheese-

steaks run a little spendy but come with a choice of beef, chicken, or veggies piled on an Amaroso roll with a side of waffle fries and are large enough to share. The Naughty Monkey Cheesesteak is very spicy and goes great with a pint of Stone Green Tea IPA, which packs flavor and punch without a hoppy bite.

Hot wings come in one- ($9) or two-pound ($16) portions glazed in Guinness BBQ, hot buffalo, or “beer candy naked sauce.” Couple the menu with regular cask and food specials, and you’ve got one kick-ass gastropub.

Though the bar won’t be incorporating live music (unlike Blair’s Eleven club), the juke holds an assortment of classic, folk, glam, punk, and psych-rock alongside choice ’80s jams and rads such as Nick Drake and Willie Nelson.

The Monkey Paw’s cartoonish fez-capped simian logo lends the impression of a Chuck E. Cheese for big kids, and in a way, it is.

Hours: Sunday–Thursday, noon to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 2 a.m. Open 10 a.m. Sundays during football season.

Happy: 5 to 9 p.m., $1 off drinks

Capacity: 89

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

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Place

Monkey Paw

805 16th Street, San Diego

Unless you outright loathe good beer, you probably know the name Scot Blair. In fact, you’ve probably been to his University Heights, South Park, and City Heights bars, which specialize in select local and craft brews.

Monkey Paw is Blair’s most recent endeavor, a hybrid of Small Bar’s and Hamilton’s vibe with the added perk of cheesesteaks and, within the next few months, its own nanobrewery — a five-barrel system feeding a steady three or four taps that will be run under the guidance of CHUG club homebrewer Derek Freese.

Stained-glass windows, dark wood everything, and an open-air front yield a view of the downtown skyline. Its deliberately casual (if not somewhat old Irish) ambiance fits for lunching downtown businessmen, students, post-game Padres fans, and music/art kids from Golden Hill alike.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Monkey Paw’s 30 taps and two cask pumps of craft beer include local favorites such as Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Mission, and Coronado, but the daring can opt for beer cocktails ($7.50) such as the Please, Chimay I Have Another (gin, Cointreau, lemon, Chimay white) and the San Diego Vodka Soda (hop vodka, lime, Anchor Steam), while mixsters can choose from 16 signature cocktails.

At $9–$11, the cheese-

steaks run a little spendy but come with a choice of beef, chicken, or veggies piled on an Amaroso roll with a side of waffle fries and are large enough to share. The Naughty Monkey Cheesesteak is very spicy and goes great with a pint of Stone Green Tea IPA, which packs flavor and punch without a hoppy bite.

Hot wings come in one- ($9) or two-pound ($16) portions glazed in Guinness BBQ, hot buffalo, or “beer candy naked sauce.” Couple the menu with regular cask and food specials, and you’ve got one kick-ass gastropub.

Though the bar won’t be incorporating live music (unlike Blair’s Eleven club), the juke holds an assortment of classic, folk, glam, punk, and psych-rock alongside choice ’80s jams and rads such as Nick Drake and Willie Nelson.

The Monkey Paw’s cartoonish fez-capped simian logo lends the impression of a Chuck E. Cheese for big kids, and in a way, it is.

Hours: Sunday–Thursday, noon to 1 a.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon to 2 a.m. Open 10 a.m. Sundays during football season.

Happy: 5 to 9 p.m., $1 off drinks

Capacity: 89

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

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
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.