Today Saturday January 22nd: OPEN AT NOON!

Ritual Tavern will open at Noon to celebrate Anderson Valley Brewing Company. We are huge fans of the AVBC Boont Amber Ale, which has been available here on draft, in bottle and in can on our menus over time. This weekend we will tap new offerings from AVBC, four kegs to be exact.

AVBC deserves attention for several reasons, including the fact that
the combined competition roster of medals for these taps is no less
than 32, including World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, as
well as Statewide competition awards. Anderson Valley also lends us
a sense of history, in that it is one of the first of our states
microbreweries, and has maintained close ties to the original San
Francisco and the new San Diego Toronado. Former AVBC brewer Sean
Jackson has taken on the task of traveling and educating beer lovers
about the rich AVBC tradition. Sean will join us on Saturday, he is
a really fun and entertaining beer lover.

Our four pairings will be available a-la Carte, and the atmosphere
will be casual. Come on by anytime after noon on Saturday to
partake. We have tapped the Brother David's Double early so that
folks can get a preview. "Brewed at the Anderson Valley Brewing
Company by David Keene, the owner of the legendary San Francisco
beer-bar, Toronado, this double-style ale features the huge fruit
flavors combined with yeastiness and spiciness that Belgian ales are
known for. ** Silver Medal: Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale -
2010 Great America Beer Festival and 4 other medals **" (courtesy
avbc.com)

Tonight Wednesday January 12th: Yappy Hour!

Happy Hour fun for the whole family!
30th Street's own Natural Pet and Ritual Tavern have joined forces to present 'Yappy Hour' on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. Hang out on our patios with your pooches! The Ritual will have food and drink specials for the humans, Natural Pet will provide samples and treats for the pups and Trio Gadjo will provide the musical accompaniment :-)

Linkery New Year's Day Brunch

On Saturday, New Year's Day, at The Linkery we're having a special brunch to kick the year off right. We open at 10am, we've got Intelligentsia coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice from Schaner Farms oranges. And lots of good food.

We'll transition seamlessly into Saturday nite, of course, when we'll be open late. And Sunday we'll be open from 10am (brunch again) to 10pm.

30th on 30th + New Year's Eve Ritual Celebration

Let's count down to the end of 2010: 3 AleSmith Drafts, Two 30th Street Tacos, 1 Magnum of Duvel. Tonight, 30th on 30th means Cask Conditioned AleSmith YuleSmith will flow from the Ritual Tavern beer engine and Niman Ranch Steak Ranchero Tacos are two for $5. On New Years Eve come on in for 3 AleSmith drafts as we finish off the YuleSmith Cask and get into AleSmith X and AleSmith IPA on tap! Surf and Turf Beef Tenderloin Tip and Local Harvest Shrimp will be available without a reservation. We're saving 1 Magnum of Duvel for our New Years toast. Ring out the old, ring in the new.

"The chorus of the San Diego area's dynamic food and beer scene sings most sweetly along the city's 30th Street Corridor..."

A nice write up in the Oregonian this week. Nods to the Linkery, Alchemy, Ritual Tavern and Toronado.

Linkery: Christmas Eve & New Years Eve + 3 Special Brunches

The all-new Linkery will be open every day over the holidays except for Christmas Day. New Year's Eve we'll be open past midnite (as we often are on the weekends anyway). We'll have our new brunch on Dec. 26 (Boxing Day), New Years Day and Jan. 2, starting at 10am all those days.

Brunch is pretty off-the-hook: pastured chicken eggs, house made links, Intelligentsia coffee, fresh squeezed juice from Schaner Farms oranges, house made cafe de olla. There's nothing like this anywhere.

El Take It Easy on the holidays: New Years Eve with DJ Astronauta Jackon

We at El Take It Easy are open every day over the holidays except Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve we'll be kickin' it through midnite to the sweet tunes of DJ Astronauta Jackson (San Diego/Tijuana). $4 bubbly, big cazuelas, and good times for all.

And don't forget 30th on 30th the nite before!

Ritual Holiday Gifting

It's raining, it's pouring; a bowl of Shepherd's Pie or Gumbo sure would taste great about now.

The Ritual Tavern is the perfect place to get out of the rain. Have a warm tasty meal in a cozy, candle lit tavern, drink craft beer & complete your holiday shopping at the same time! In addition to Ritual Tavern gift certificates, all of our house made condiments are available for purchase. Ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, pickles, pickled farmer's market vegetable medleys: all made in house, free from artificial flavors, colors or chemicals. Ritual holiday shopping, as easy as ordering dinner ;-)

New Year's Eve at Urban Solace

An Urban Solace New Year's Eve Celebration!

What an amazing night we have planned for you!

We will feature three seatings, the first two seatings will be $50.00 per guest with the final seating at $55.00 per guest. The final seating will of course feature live music and a Midnight countdown with a complimentary champagne toast!

To view the menu and any other info, click here!

December: Ritual Events at the Tavern

Drink About Wednesday December 15th!
(and the 3rd Wednesday of each month :-)

As we gear up for the end of the Holiday season, 'Yule' be drinking Holiday Ales at Happy Hour prices all night and riding a free shuttle bus up and down 30th Street and Adams Ave. The super nice people of Brewery Tours of San Diego drive the bus, so after you eat dinner at Ritual Tavern, you can try out Blind Lady Ale House, Small Bar, Live Wire, Toronado, Sea Rocket and Station Tavern & Hamilton's without moving your car.

Ritual Tavern makes your Holiday Shopping as easy as ordering a beer. We've got gift certificates, house made condiments (ketchup, mustard & 3 kinds of hot sauce), as well as pickled cucumbers, beets and other farmers market vegetables too!

Friday December 24th we'll be open for a Warm & Fuzzy Christmas Eve. Happy Hour prices all night to people wearing sweaters. (If you happen to have been gifted an ugly holiday sweater, this is your night to wear it proudly :-)

30th on 30th falls on Thursday this month. AleSmith Winter YuleSmith on cask at Ritual Tavern!

Hassle Free New Year's Eve. No cover charges, no reservations, no preset menu, no problem. Here at the Ritual Tavern, we think New Year's Eve is a time to be with people you like, doing something you love, in a place you enjoy. That's why we're happy to be spending the night at the Tavern with you! We will have a "Surf and Turf" special in addition to our regular delicious food and drink menu.

Cheers!

Marine Toys for Tots drop off@Gorgeous Salon

Please bring any new toys (unwrapped) to Gorgeous Salon at 3605 30th St. San Diego, CA 92104 Tues-Sat 10am-5pm through end of December.

For info on how Toys for Tots works or to donate online, please visit: www.toysfortots.org.

Thank you!

Craft Beer WalkAbout at Urban Solace

On Tuesday November 9th we are hosting some of our favorite brewers and their wares (including Anchor Brewing, Green Flash, Airdale, New Belgian along with our friends from Palm). Each brewery is paired with a dish from Chef Matt. This will be a fantastic event, don't miss it! For more info and how to reserve follow this link. Cheers!

Beer Week at the Linkery and El Take It Easy: This Ain't Your Grandpa's Beer Week

Mostly because this is only the second Beer Week, so how could it be, but still.

At The Linkery and El Take It Easy, we've got a lineup of Beer Week events that will make you feel jealous and terrible for missing any single event...unless you don't miss one. Then you'll be mostly satisfied, and full of amazing beer and food.

Click here to go directly to any of our events:
Thursday, Nov 4: Cask v. Draft
Friday, Nov 5: Cask v. Draft
Saturday, Nov 6: Cucapá Nite
Sunday, Nov 7: Green Flash Smokeout (10am to 11:30pm)
Monday, Nov 8: Cellar Nite
Wednesday, Nov 10: Craftsman Brewing Nite
Thursday, Nov 11: Green Flash Progressive Dinner
Friday, Nov 12: LagerFest with Ballast Point and friends
Saturday, Nov 13: Serious Madness 3.0 with Mad River Brewing
Sunday, Nov 14: Courtyard Cookout at Counterpoint

Thursday 4 Nov and
Friday 5 Nov at the Linkery
Cask v. Draft Night(s). Ever wonder how different a certain beer is when it cask-conditioned, as opposed to served on draft? You can find out Thursday and Friday, as we present the following beers in both formats:

-Black Market Brewing Co. Temecula CA. Rye IPA gold medal Winner at GABF '10
-Ballast point Sculpin IPA Gold Medal at WBC '10
-Airdale Afterburner Amber ale cask conditioned with chamomile
-Sudwerks pilsner, Sudwerks Brewery, Davis CA. The cask is unfiltered. This is the first lager we have done on cask, we think it is the second lager on cask in San Diego.

We'll offer special pricing when you buy a half pour of the same beer, cask & draft. This event officially starts on Friday, but most of the beers will also be available Thursday, for those who want to get a head start.

Saturday 6 Nov at El Take It Easy
Cucapá Night at El Take It Easy, featuring a full lineup of Cucapá beers and paired dishes from the El Take It Easy kitchen. DJ Astronauta Jackson (Tijuana/San Diego) spins.

Sunday 7 Nov at the Linkery
2nd annual Green Flash Smoke-Out from 10am to 11:30pm. A complete array of Green Flash beers on cask and draft, a plethora of pastured meats smoked over local Red Oak, and football (including the Chargers) on TV in the bar. GF head brewer Chuck Silva will be on hand celebrating with us again. This event was a huge success last year, and this year we're going to build on it.

Beers include:
On Cask
-8th anniversary IPA
-Le Freak
-Citra Session ale
-Green Flash ESB
-GF Porter

On Draft
-Super Freak
-Summer Saison
-Citra Session ale
-Fire Roasted Pumpkin Ale
-Fizzy Yellow Beer

Casks are being filled right now!

Monday 8 Nov at the Linkery
Cellar Day where we're going to bust out a few interesting things from our beer closet, including:
-Stone's Vertical Epic '06 '07 '09 '10 by bottle and small glass
-Green Flash, Grand Cru '09 by bottle and small glass
-Green Flash, Vintage Barleywine '08 on draft
-Select bottles from our cellar

Wednesday 10 Nov at the Linkery
Craftsman Brewing night with beers and pairings. Each pairing is $9 for the food and a half pour of beer, or get food and beer a la carte. Beers include:

- Craftsman 1903 Lager. Pre prohibition pale lager, 5.7 abv.
- Fireworks Saison. Red Spicy Dry American hops.
- Craftsman Smoked Black Lager. Brewed with Alderwood smoked malt; a delicate smooth dark beer.
- Triple White Sage. Aromatic Belgian style Strong ale
- Edgar's Ale (on cask). A tribute to Edgar Allen Poe. Black Strong Ale; a beer of mystery and imagination.

Thursday 11 Nov at the Linkery and El Take It Easy
Green Flash progressive dinner on 30th Street, with free shuttle. DJ Mr. Cotton Candy (aka Ethan) at EZ.

Friday 12 Nov at El Take It Easy
Lagerfest! Featuring craft lagers from Ballast Point and friends. DJ Claire pairs the smooth lagers with smooth yacht rock and vintage soul.

We'll be pouring the following Ballast Point lagers:

* Longfin helles-style lager
* Pescadero pils
* Abandon ship smoked lager
* Fathom IPL (2 gold medals this year WBC and GABF)
* Navigator Doppelbock

And we'll also have lagers from the local Gordon Biersch and from Green Flash (Fizzy Yellow Beer).

Saturday 13 Nov at the Linkery
Mad River Serious Madness 3.0. Last year we had 6 casks and 6 drafts from Mad River, and several food pairings, look for something similar this year. Mad River, by the way, just won Best Small Brewery at the Great American Beer Festival. So this is the best chance all year for San Diegans to check them out.

On Cask:
-Steelhead Scotch Porter (with oak)
-Extra Stout (with cocoa nibs)
-Extra Pale Ale
-Jamaica Red Ale

On Draft
-Bourbon barrel aged John Barleycorn
-Brandy barrel aged John Barleycorn
-Chili pepper ale
-Imperial Brown (Rorschach anniversary beer)
-Mad River Extra Pale Ale
-Mad River Sunset IPA
-Scotch Porter

Sunday 14 Nov at Counterpoint in Golden Hill
Wind Down Sunday: Courtyard Cookout at Counterpoint. We're going to set up an auxiliary kitchen in Counterpoint's beautiful courtyard at 25th near E St., hang out with Cam and the boys, drink a bunch of beer from their 15 craft taps, and reminisce about all the ridiculous things that happened during the week. We'd love for you to join us.

2nd Annual San Diego Beer Week Starts This Friday Nov. 5

Ritual Tavern is gearing up for 10 days of craft beer in America's Finest City!

We start SDBW2010 with an opening event featuring one of San Diego's newest breweries, Manzanita on Friday November 5th. We'll pair 3 full size beers with 3 food courses for $30. (tax & tip not included) Please RSVP 619.283.1618

Saturday 11/6 We'll be at the San Diego Brewers Guild Festival in the VIP lounge serving up food from noon to 2pm. Ritual Tavern opens regular hours 5:30 for your dining and craft beer pleasure.

Sunday 11/7 Featuring beers of Merchant Du Vin and Samuel Smith Brewery with importer representative Laird Butler. No reservations necessary.

Tuesday 11/9 AleSmith Dinner & Paring with brewer Bill Batten. Four courses paired with 4 beers. Likely to sell out, please RSVP soon.

Wednesday 11/10 Scottish, English and Belgian beers paired with food. Order one or all pairings, no reservations required. Live music from Trio Gadjo and it's DrinkAbout too! FREE Brewery Tours of San Diego bus transports you up and down 30th St.

Thursday 11/11 Green Flash Progressive Dinner/Pairings. 3 potential small plate pairings at each participating location. Join us here at Ritual Tavern, Linkery, El Take it Easy, also Sea Rocket and Blind Lady Alehouse too! No reservations necessary.

Friday 11/12 Avery Night! Colorado comes to North Park: 4 courses with beer pairings. Brewery representative Ted Whitney on hand to dine, drink & answer questions at the same time. RSVP

Saturday 11/13 Ommegang Night! 3 course dinner with beer pairings. Brewery representative Brian Hackler on hand to inform and educate on Brewery Ommegang. RSVP

We look forward to spending Beer Week with you!
Be Safe, have fun & stay classy, San Diego :-)

Cheers!

Haunted desserts for Halloween - 30th on 30th

Heaven Sent Desserts's kitchen witches have benn very busy: "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" and now we are filled with haunting, wicked desserts for this Halloween on 30th on 30th ...

Do not leave without at least one slice of the Pumpkin No-bake Cheesecake which normally sells for 5 Toads -sorry $5 and this evening only requires 4 dollars ...

Just 'cuz event - 10/16 8:00pm - 1:00am

We had such a grand time during our September "just 'cuz" event we decided to do it again! Last month we tried out a few tweaks that help make The Park-2-Park Shuttle even more user-friendly. First, we stopped going in one, counterclockwise circle. If what you really want to do is get from Jayne's or AC down to Ritual Tavern or Whistle, we've decided to just take you there directly. We still encourage people to explore new places, but we've made getting from place to place a bit easier. Second, we are using the power of these newfangled cellular devices to help you move when you are ready to move. Now, about 10 minutes before you are ready to move to your next destination you just text the host and voila, you'll get confirmation that the shuttle is on its way (or, quite often, right outside). As always, there's no eating or drinking on board and we are all about responsible fun for everyone!

Sign up for our special Craft Beer with the Expert, where we'll combine the expert guidance of Blind Lady's Lee Chase with drinks and pizza then hop on the shuttle for a brew lesson of your own at Home Brews & Gardens! It's on 10/23 and there are 15 seats left. They aren't technically on 30th Street, but I promise to tell you about the goodness that is 30th Street along the way!

30th on 30th note: we are running early (starting at 6:00pm) for 30th on 30th, but get your friends together and buy your passes ahead of time to ensure you get a seat!

Keep the Glass Night with Weihenstephan at The Ritual

celebrate oktoberfest at the ritual tonight, 10/14

keep the glass night

special

order a half liter of

weihenstephaner original draught

and keep the glass for $8

(while supplies last)

The Ritual Tavern, 4095 30th Street, open at 5:30 pm

North Park Farmers' Market Closer to 30th

The North Park Farmers' Market has moved into Herman Street between University and North Park Way on Thursday afternoons. If you haven't been to the market lately, you're in for a great surprise - produce, meat and eggs from more than a dozen local farms and ranches, locally baked breads and pastries, olives, hummus and much, much more.
This week we're teaming up with Sea Rocket Bistro for a special four course dinner featuring produce from Suzie's Farm and JR Organics; the first course will be served at the market, then stroll on down to Sea Rocket for the rest of dinner (and maybe a refreshing locally brewed beverage if you're in the over-21 set!)

Guide to everything Walkabout for tonight (Sat.)

South Park's Pumpkin-Time Walkabout tonight features creatively-carved pumpkins in storefront windows ... free walking tours and trolley ... anniversary celebrations at Grant's Marketplace and South Bark ... live music all over the neighborhood ... art show and fashion openings ... plus specials, tastings, demos and goodies at shops and cafes from Beech St. to Juniper.

For a complete guide, stop at the Info Table on Juniper St., or click here to download an advance copy. Enjoy!

30th on 30th Goes Yacht Rock

From the Linkery & El Take It Easy:

Steph and I took the morning off from our usual duties and went to appear on the CW6, along with Matt from Urban Solace and Jason and Jonathan from Cafe 21. We were promoting this Thursday's 30th on 30th event.

Max and Ana made samples of our 30th on 30th fare -- grass-fed roast beef sandwhiches for the Linkery, and pork belly tacos for El Take It Easy. Meanwhile Steph and I stood around and watched.

When we got there, we were in their outdoor studio, where one wall was made to look like we were in a marina, and the backdrop was like a tract home from 1983.

Matt looked really great there!