Ever sit and dream of the days that you could dress yourself head to toe in fancy clothes, enjoy fine dining and take in a night of timeless entertainment in the classiest lounge in town? Well it is time to wake up and smell the ahi tuna flat bread, because that dream has become a reality right here in San Diego. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you 98 Bottles.

 

Think of the days of the classy joints filled with people all dressed to their best clinking glasses and sharing an incredible time together. Dancing, eating delicious food, drinking the finest wines and beers (Yes beer!) all the while enjoying the time together. This magical feeling has been refined and born again right here in San Diego. 98 Bottles takes all of the best elements of the good old days, brought them back in a much more relaxed fashion and we are lucky enough to be a part of it. Much like the places of yesterday, the fancy feeling is present. But without the pretentious vibe. There is no dress code and everyone is encouraged feel at home and as comfortable as possible. Trust us, you will. Serving up some of the greatest beer, sake and fun wines there will always something for everyone to enjoy. The food being served is nothing short of magnificent, dishes include ahi tuna poke stacks, gourmet cheese platters, rustic flat bread pizzas as well as artisan bread with home made dips all made in house. Dont forget the entertainment in the Back Room area. Whether you catch Tango Tuesday, where you will be taught how to tango dance by true professionals. Or one of their movie nights where 98 Bottles is transformed into a movie house for screenings of classic favorites. Or maybe you can catch one of their many jazz, acoustic or blues music events. No matter what day you choose, any time you decide to strut your way into 98 Bottles we are positive you will leave wined dined and entertained.

 
We were lucky enough to sit with Jill Mesaros and speak about all things San Diego beer and all things 98 Bottles. Below is also a bonus interview with Chris Hjerling talking about what else… BEER!

 

What was the idea behind 98 bottles, and what were some of the goals you were aiming for during your planning?

We used to run the theater in old town for about 15 years and we were doing open ended runs of commercial hit shows. It was a for profit theater company. We left there in 2006 and we wanted to open
something similar in North County. Steve and I (thats my Husband) The partners are Steve, Myself and then our friend Chris. So we live up in Encinitas so we sort of wanted to do something up there. Then we really got away from the whole theater idea. My husband Steve is a former Broadway performer and he was one of the original 22 dancers that the Chorus Line was written about. So he always remembered these
really cool places in New York, in Manhattan where the performers would go after shows and they would perform there usually was a back room. So he had this idea where he wanted to open a venue for local
talent. But not just local. We will probably eventually bring people in too, but to perform. To have intimate entertainment. So then we went on to another concept and that eventually evolved into the 98
bottles concept over a period of about three years. The concept of 98 bottles is just a great gathering place where people can get together. We have the comfortable couch seating so people can curl up, put their feet up, relax. There are no televisions theres no sports. We really wanted to harken back to the good old days where people got together to enjoy good food, good drink. The reason its called 98 bottles – the song is actually 99 bottles. We call it 98 bottles because that is our call to action for our customers to take one down and pass it around. And whether thats with the people at their own table or the people at the next table. We really want people to have a shared experience. The food menu is geared towards sharing, the portion sizes are large. The drink menus are priced so that a bottle is more economical than a glass. So that if you’re gonna get a couple glasses you might as well get a bottle to share with the table because it pencils out financially. So, you know the concept is just a shared great gathering place. For great food, great drink and great entertainment.

If you were to categorize 98 bottles would you say lounge, wine bar, beer bar…

It is a craft beer and wine bar and eatery with an entertainment venue. Thats the answer. It is not a wine bar. We really have a lot of great crafts both local and imported. We have cocktails that are made
with sochu which is a kind of sake or agave wine. So we margaritas and we have cocktails as well. We are not a restaurant we are 21 and up. We have a tavern license.

How did you get into the food and beer business?

Like I said Steve and my background are more in entertainment, but all three of us have worked in the food and beverage industry over the years. When I was a kid my dad always had a lounge or a liquor store,
that kind of thing. So that was part of my growing up experience and same with Chris and Steve’s. We have all worked in that type of industry. I think the food and the drink go hand in hand with the
entertainment. Its much more fun when you’re watching live music if you can have a glass of wine or a beer.

For people who are not aware, what is the back room?

The back room is our event and entertainment venue. It is a great space with hardwood floors, its got great sound. So thats where we are doing most of our events and all the live entertainment. And it is
also available for private rental. So, were booking a lot of holiday parties, anniversary parties. Small and large gatherings.

What are some of the fun activities that will be happening throughout the week that people can take part in?

We show movies in the front room on the wall and its really fun. We have gourmet popcorn on our menu so its kind of goes hand in hand. In the future there will be all kinds of fun! We are doing beer tasting events, beer and food. Beer, wine and sake pairing events. Those are some of the fun things we are doing right now. I know that we have plans for a lot of other things we havent announced yet.

So check the website?

Exactly.

When creating food dishes were there any beer or wine pairings in mind?

Well when we do actual pairings, (like we did in October) our chef came up with a six course menu that was nothing like whats on our regular menu. It was everything from a spinach and strawberry salad
paired with a strawberry ale, to the main course was rack of lamb with a blue cheese dressing and an apple chutney. Then for dessert there was a sort of lava cake, and he was using beer in some of the recipes. Like the salad dressing had beer in it and some of the other dishes had some of the beer in them.

There has been quite a bit of growth in this industry in San Diego, what is it that sets 98 bottles apart from similar establishments?

I think the entertainment venue is one of the key things. Also that there are no tv screens, no sports. Really are just a good old fashioned place to gather to do fun things. I think a lot of people sell craft beer. Some people focus more on the local crafts we really have local and imported craft beers. We have more fun wine than fine wine with affordable price points. Another thing is the sake. Were
really featuring some delicious sakes. Were trying to get people to know that sakes not only for drinking hot with sushi. So id say those are the things. I would say the biggest thing would be the
entertainment aspect.

In your opinion what makes San Diego such a great beer city?

You know I just think that some guys started it off who were home brewers and wanted to really expose the community to their craft and it grew like wildfire. I think there is an appreciatve audience for
craft beer. People that like to drink it, along with the people who like to make it. Probably San Diego’s laid back lifestyle leads to that too. Whats better than the beach and a beer?

What are some of your and your partners favorite local beers that you have tried recently?

I know my husband really likes one called Dark and Stormy by Airdale Brewing Co. He loves that its really delicious. I would probably need to bring Chris and Steve out to talk to you more about that.

What are some other future plans we can look forward to?

I just think more fun events, off the wall crazy things. Like this movie screenings. But now were talking about some vintage classic films and maybe a little John Waters. We were talking about maybe putting some brown paper on the windows and putting “R-Rated” on the outside and doing a John Waters night. Just goofy, fun things. We definitely eventually want to have Saturday and Sunday brunch. We want to have a Sunday game day. Whatever we can think of that people want to do when they get together and want to have fun. The night that we had the black out was our second night of being open. It happened right before we were opening. We were opening for happy hour at 4pm and it happened at around 3 or 330. We have a beauty shop right next door and all the salon people came over because they had to close down and they were asking “So, do you have beer and wine?” and we said “Yeah, you got cash?” So we stayed open an they played charades, we lit candles. People got hungry and we had a bit of tuna and chicken that was probably going to go bad so somebody went home and grabbed a bbq. Our chef went outside and barbequed for everybody. So its that kind of experience that we want to engender. This whole shared thing, one night a gentleman was riding his bike by in the afternoon and he walked in and some other people happened to walk in behind him and they all ended up sitting over here on our couches. They stayed for about three hours and didnt even know each other. They just made friends and thats the kind of thing were trying to engender in the community. Someplace fun where you can just come and hang. As you can see its spacious so you dont feel like you’re on top of each other. Some places you go and you just feel crammed you know? So you can have a private area if you want it, but you can also have a communal table if you want it.

Bonus Material – Conversation with Chris Hjerling about local beers

Do you have a favorite local beer, beers or breweries?

My category would be more in the stouts. For breweries, I mean I have the Victory if you havent tried before, the Velvet Glove which is really good. Any of the seasonal, the bourbon cask stuff thats coming
out. But I think I have got a favorite brewery thats got each one of the beers.

So nothing too specific?

Yeah. I have to lean Alesmith Speedway, if I had to pick just one off the top.

You dont have to pick just one I just wanted to get a feel for every ones favorites. What in your opinion makes San Diego such a great beer city?

The fact that all the breweries are here make its a good beer city but I dont know what about it made this the craft area. I mean, except that it is a huge college town and people love beer. But its also a
very intellectual town. So I think theres an intellectual movement.

The love of craft beer has taken a life much like people who love wine.

Thats what I am more excited about.

Part of being intellectual might play in to that a bit.

Yeah I think its that everyone being more of a transplant, everyone being from somewhere else. So I think we have a lot of open minded people who are always interested in trying something new. Thats why
neighborhoods are so different. I think that would translate the same with beer. People are interested in trying new styles. I am really glad San Diego has become more creative than just your IPA, hop heavy
city. Beers are really starting to take hold across the whole spectrum.

It did seem like alot of people got into IPA’s, loved them and that love is now branching off into so much more.

Oh yeah. Even the things they are adding in it. Its just getting more worldly.

How did you get into beer?

Its honestly more just an appreciation factor. Just being open minded and trying something new. Taking beer more as something to appreciate versus something you just chug through as much as you can. I think we have all grown up in that area where there was as much bud or something you can put in your system, or coronas. After awhile you just want to taste something good.

What was the first beer you can remember that you tried that made you think, “wow now thats something different! There is something magical about this!”

The first wow was when I first tried a bourbon ale. I think Ballast Point was my first theoretical craft. Their Calico or their Pale Ale. Kind of an easy classic but that was the first non mass produced beer. I mean, I grew up in Hawaii so its Bud Light, Heineken. Heineken is craft there, haha.

So was Kona Brewing not around when you lived there?

They were theyre just on such a small scale. Its very tourist based back there. Now that Annhieser has taken over Longboard is everywhere. But it really wasnt… you didnt find much of that in stores or bars
even in Hawaii. It was a true Brewpub. Theyre local and they make small batch stuff thats is really good.

So when you see Longboard in stores or restaurants its the Anhueser owned?

I think redhook bought it but its still under the Annhieser umbrella. So its not even brewed in Kona from what I hear. (Kona Brewing now operates under the Craft Beer Alliance. Some of their beers are brewed at Redhook and Widmer breweries.)

I know I have heard of some of their special small batch stuff.

Yeah like I had their, they just brought the coconut brown out here and it was good. But I happened to be in Hawaii and had some of the first batch at the brewery. So good. Unreal. Hawaii is a couple years
behind in the craft beer movement. Theres a couple of local brews now, but its nowhere near what San Diego is in terms of availability.
 

 

 
HUGE THANK YOU to everyone at 98 Bottles! We conducted this interview quite awhile back and we are now sharing it with the world. Thank you a billion times over for everything. Please visit the 98 Bottles website and check out everything they have going on. There you can follow their facebook and subscribe for their updates on events. Make sure to stop by soon and often.