Alvarado St. Brewery Building Restaurant and Bar in Oldtown Salinas

May 4, 2021 – For its seventh birthday, Alvarado Street Brewery is going big. Big as in big-flavored beer releases launching for its 7th Anniversary Weekend on May 7 with six all told, including a (gulp) massive 15.3 Anniversary Ale VII 15.3% Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels; Contains No Juice Anniversary Edition that’s 8.5% double dry hopped hazy double IPA with bio-engineered expressive yeast; and a “7A” 7th Anniversary IPA with 7% double-dry-hopped West Coast IPA with Centennial, CTZ, Simcoe, Mosaic and Citra hops among the draft debuts. 

There will be also the gargantuan Motor Oil X, a 12% Imperial stout blended with barrel aged stout, conditioned on vanilla beans and cacao nibs. I feel full just typing that, and on top of that there will be a range of specials on the food menus in both the Monterey and Carmel locations. 

And, if I may, I’d add the recent addition, the notably clean and tasty ASB pilsner, as a seventh b-day beer and stay on-brand.

But it gets way bigger from there—historically, architecturally and ambitiously so.

The team behind the original location in Downtown Monterey, Carmel Brewery & Bistro, and tasting room-beer garden-production space on Dayton Street has just signed a lease for an expansive space in Oldtown Salinas that was once Rabobank, at 301 S. Main. 

Its working name is Alvarado on Main, tentatively scheduled to begin construction in a few months for a conservative opening date in spring 2022.

The soaring building, one of Oldtown’s tallest, shares similar DNA with ASB’s first spot, thanks to historic heritage (the Main Street building dates back to the early 1900s), high ceilings, expansive square footage and tons of character.

“It instantly reminded us of downtown Monterey location,” head brewer/co-owner J.C. Hill says. “It had the same threads to spark our interest: a historic renovation. It was too good to pass up working it through.”

The plan is to reinvent the ground floor of the building with the vision of a turn-of-century hotel bar front of mind, to harken back to Salinas’ heyday, while simultaneously providing a major building block for Oldtown’s ongoing—and expanding—redevelopment. 

Edible Monterey Bay went deep with Hill about the project last week. More on birthday celebrations via asb.beer and their @AlvaradoStreetBrewery Instagram feed.

What are your favorite things about the Rabobank building? I’d love to know what the most observant outsider might not see.

Undoubtedly the architecture and character. I’m not super familiar with the history—but am excited to learn more about it—and what I like most is how grand it is. All of the 1930s art deco detail has largely been preserved, both outside and in. 

The ceilings are huge. It gives a palatial impression when you walk in the door. 

Our goal is to restore the space to how it might have looked when it was first built. The development above—the 50 or so studio apartments—is a tremendous draw as well. 

We’re treating this as almost a classic “hotel bar” with great food and beer, essentially serving as a gathering place. It fits with the urban appeal that downtown Salinas is quickly achieving, especially when you consider all the beautification projects the city has recently completed. 

So the location is also a major reason why we love the Rabobank building. Have you seen pictures of Old Town in the 1940s and 1950s? It’s incredible! 

The potential is huge, and we see it, as do many others who are investing in Salinas’ downtown core. 

What have you learned from the original downtown Monterey operation that informs what you’re doing now? The Salinas expansion? The Carmel chapter?

We’ve learned a lot over the past seven years, between opening and operating two brewpubs and a production brewery. The biggest thing we’ve learned is that we’re going to make mistakes. 

No matter how much experience anyone has in this business, it constantly keeps you on your toes. So flexibility is everything; our customers will ultimately determine what works best for our business. 

We’ve learned that the hard way when we opened both restaurants with ambitious plans (especially with regard to food), and ultimately we adapted to what folks wanted from us so we could best serve their needs. So with that in mind, we’re going into this project with what we know we can bring: great beer, warm and friendly service, and a beautiful space. 

Props to my dad (John Hill) and my wife Melanie, who make an insane design/build duo—I know for a fact that the buildout is going to be gorgeous and the space will be a draw in and of itself. 

Our menu will start out relatively limited with a few proven essentials, and involve running a lot of specials: See what folks like, get feedback and run with it. Let it evolve and serve the community the way they see fit.

How might things be different for ASB if it were not for the pandemic? How have they changed? What do you understand more about what you do?

Our business changed overnight. We’re selling a lot of our beer statewide now through our own e-commerce efforts, and I think this plays a big part of representing Monterey County as we transition out of the pandemic. 

Alvarado Street Brewery is now synonymous with Monterey (in the craft beer scene) and if we can attract people to our region, while also serving as stewards of our community and bringing up other local businesses, everyone wins. 

We’re also just grateful to have people coming through our doors at this point, like any hospitality business, so it’s more important now than ever to be providing great service and value, especially as people are still struggling within grips of the pandemic. 

We’re incredibly grateful for the locals that supported us through tough times with takeout orders, to-go beers and just sending positive vibes and being patient with us along the way, with every hurdle. 

So the pandemic has definitely put into view the importance of maintaining a draw to out of area folks, but also really making sure our locals are happy. And it really comes down to being open [and] listening and adapting. Our passion for food and beer is a given, as is the work ethic of our team, so channeling it with an open mind will be key in a post-pandemic world.

What’s it mean to, as you told me a little while back, “to double down in our own backyard”? 

I may have to redact the phrase “double down” because that implies an all or nothing gamble, which isn’t the case for this project. I think what I meant to say was that Salinas is such a no-brainer when we look at avenues for expansion. 

We’ve been in business in Spreckels Junction since 2016, and it’s been the absolute perfect home for our production brewery. Closing the taproom in March of last year was [difficult], to say the least. Because it served the community and was a gathering place for the hard-working folks in our area to hang out after work or on the weekend. We also held a lot of events, and the community support for what we were doing was undeniable. 

So, knowing that we have such a supportive community base out here, coupled with this renaissance-in-progress that Oldtown is experiencing, and the fact that we’ve got the Peninsula covered—where else would we open a new location but Salinas? Our customers out here deserve an awesome Alvarado location, period. 

Turns out they’ll have two locations because we’re planning on reopening the taproom at the production brewery later this summer. We love Salinas!

How can the right location and space interact with what guests experience in the beer and food? 

Regarding the right location: What you’re seeing on Main Street right now is the emergence of a rad beer scene. You have great beer establishments on every block: pioneers like XL Public House and Monterey Coast, newer places like Farmers Union and Beerded Bean, and then an actual brewery [under construction] with the folks at Brew-n-Krew Ale House. 

Our goal is to complement and contribute to the synergy that makes Oldtown Salinas a draw from a beer lover’s perspective, and inherently part of the food culture of Salinas. There’s also the annual Steinbeck Homebrew Fest every year, along with the Salinas Valley Food & Wine, etc. Hope we get back to festivals soon!

How will your food play into that?

As I mentioned, the food will evolve based on what our patrons like, based on approachable, comforting and unique specials and featuring ingredients sourced in the Salinas Valley. We know that our focus on IPAs, lagers and fruited sour ales (and seltzers now) will complement the food program. 

The space will be very communal. The bar we’re envisioning is oval in shape and could potentially accommodate 50-60 guests, taking up a good chunk of the space in an informal manner. 

We like this casual layout, so someone can just come in and grab a beer if they’d like, but if you’re looking for a meal, we’ve got you covered. The design also lends itself to groups and impromptu gatherings. It’s all about flexibility and accommodating the needs of our customers. 

We’re really excited to share more details as we begin the renovation process of this incredible space and vibrant part of town.