Found Treasure: ‘Teacher Beers’ at Fruition Brewing

April 18, 2025—Go ahead. Name the best single block for food in the tri-county Monterey Bay area.

Acceptable answers include—and are far from limited to—a stretch of Dolores Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea (La Bicyclette! Little Napoli and Vino Napoli! Mulligan! Seventh & Dolores! Cantinetta Luca!)…

Or part of Lighthouse Avenue in New Monterey (Oystertown! Crystal Fish Sushi! Taqueria Del Mar! Malinka European! Paprika! Namaste Indian! International Market & Deli! Pelican Pizza!)…

Or one of several synergizing sections of Main Street in Salinas, San Benito Street in Hollister, and Pacific Avenue or adjoining Walnut Avenue in Santa Cruz…

Or…hit me with your nominees via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.

Follow-up question: In such a discussion, can a strip mall be considered eligible?

The best examples of the genre enjoy similar proximity/walkability as does a city block, perhaps more, even if they sacrifice a little street-side ambiance.

Exhibit A: a certain complex in Watsonville which makes a compelling case.

And is why I’m treasuring East Lake Village Shopping Center in general, and neighbor spots Fruition Brewing and Staff of Life in particular.

Staff of Life’s reservoirs of produce, pantry fundamentals and all-around natural grocery elements make it a life-affirming hub for the surrounding neighborhoods.

Fruition Brewing, meanwhile, makes for an incredible complement.

If you could only pick two places to have within your home zone, these would be mighty fine selections, which fourth generation Watsonvilleña, professional photographer and around-the-corner resident Erica Manfre understands on a tastebud level.

As a kid, Manfre and her brother would walk here to find VHS movies and fruit at the long-gone independent video store and Fairway grocery store, respectively.

Now her kids are so comfortable at a third East Lake neighbor, on the opposite side of Fruition from Staff of Life—Coffeeville—that she adds a supreme and mom-conscious compliment.

“I have to tell them, ‘You don’t own this coffee shop,'” she says. “But they think they do.”

At a different moment in the afternoon, Coffeeville owner-operator Kendra McQueen layers an unprompted thought on the lovefest.

“If I could create an ideal restaurant, it would be Fruition,” she says. “I feel like it was made for me.”

I can identify. Give me all the foodie-friendly options done without so much as a full kitchen, from rotating raw oysters to fattoush salads to double-cheese “hammer melts” on garlic-rosemary sourdough.

The Monterey Bay area is lucky to have a lot of strong craft breweries for its modest populace.

Fruition ranks high among them for the inventiveness and execution of their “yuzu hazes,” “Watsonville wildflower honey blondes” and “organic hibiscus snack session sours,” all of them chef-kiss quality.

So it wasn’t a surprise to encounter that in full frontal format in their brewery-taproom at the center of East Lake Village.

What was a surprise was the slate of food specials, events and other inviting elements.

Those include “lunch beer” price breaks noon-3pm midweek, events like “farm-fresh” pop ups with Willow and Wildflower and Thistle Valley Farm Apothecary (happening after Easter Brunch April 20) and the Edible Monterey Bay Spring Issue Release Party, pictured here.

Then my favorite, a humble discount that feels meaningful.

Acknowledging the bias born by my educator parents, and my time in LAUSD public schools, I just love that the working “Afterschool Special” here takes care of all school campus workers with $1 off beer 3-5pm Wednesday-Friday.

Little things can mean big loyalty—like Manfre taking her burger-connoisseur family to Staff of Life every Tuesday for the weekly smash special—which appeared as a theme across the afternoon.

If enough local businesses can form a larger constellation, the tide rises and now these boats can buoy other collaborators.

Meanwhile, the East Lake Village “block” party of flavor has other notable contributors.

The newest among them is also already among the most trafficked.

Such was the reputation of longtime Soquel institution Silver Spur, which added spot #2 in ELV two months back, and is packing in people who love a stacked plate of banana walnut pancakes, Spur burger with onion rings or chilaquiles scramble.

Then there’s another cult hit in Ozzy’s Pizzeria, from a Pizza My Heart co-founder who followed his own corazon to give Watsonville and East Lake a go-to hangout.

Chef/owner/pizzaiolo Tim Silva prioritizes neo-Neapolitan style pizzas, as in wood-fired and thin-crusted, with adventurous combos like the popular Zoe, with local mushrooms, slices of steak and Alfredo sauce. 

Ozzy’s hosted an after-party for those assembled at Fruition.

Given the fact they both live on the same “block,” it wasn’t a long walk.

More at fruitionbrewing.com, staffoflifemarket.com/locations/watsonville, ozzyspizzeria.com, Coffeeville’s Instagram and eastlakevillageshopping.com.