Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.

Yes, this is the Santa Cruz Food Blog, but I've been traveling a bit lately. You wouldn't want me to not tell you about these places away from home, would you?

The latest excursion was up Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay and their brewing company. The gang was in tow - Ryan, Spencer, Jason and Alex - all fine beer-drinking men.

HMB Brewery Co. web site

When we arrived around 8:30pm Saturday night, the bar was too crowded to find a seat. But the restaurant had a table for us. Had it been daytime, the view of the water would have been great. But at night, the ambiance was good too, with a large aquarium and all dark wood interior.

We started with a pitcher of the Bootleger's Brown Ale ($16.50), which was malty, nutty and a bit sweet. Now, we needed food to go with the drink, so we ordered the nachos with extra guacamole ($15). This is a bit on the pricey side for nachos, but it was piled high with good stuff.

It's hard to ask everyone who's starving to wait for me to take a picture... and then you sneak a bite when you think nobody's looking. Busted! The nachos had homemade chips that were extra crunchy. This is important with nachos since no one likes soggy chips. There were black beans, cheddar cheese and jalapenos. Our waiter, Ryan, was nice enough to bring us more chips when we ran out.

Three of the crew ordered the broccoli and potato soup. It came with some sliced bread and oyster crackers. Jason said it was good, but was better with some pepper on it. A cup was $5.50 and a bowl was $7.25.

I ordered the Duo of Cochinita Pibil Sliders with fries ($10), which translates into "roasted little pig". They had a crunchy coleslaw and pickled onions on them and they were fantastic. The fries were crunchy and not greasy with good potato flavor. The pork was sweet and smoky, just the way I like it. I would order this again. Our second pitcher was a special Saison brew ($16.50) and it had a hint of a lemony aftertaste.

This place looks like a cool place to enjoy some beer and enjoy the views. They have happy hour (hours?) Monday through Friday from 11:30 to 6 in the bar. You can get brewery shirts and mugs too. It makes for a nice pit stop if you are headed up the coast. A little on the pricey side though.

Scores out of 10:

Food: 7

Service: 7

Atmosphere: 8

Value for price: 6

Overall: 7