Smashburgers and beer by the beach: New taproom to open near Sunset Dunes

There’s a new destination for pints and smashburgers coming to the Outer Sunset early next year. Oakland’s Two Pitchers Brewing Co. (opens in new tab), which has built its reputation as the premier local producer of radlers — those half-beer, half-juice-or-soda hybrids — is set to open a second location in San Francisco’s Sunset District.

The forthcoming taproom is set to open at 3821 Noriega St., formerly home to Noriega Produce until that longtime neighborhood grocer moved one block up and rebranded as Gus’s Community Market (opens in new tab). Perhaps more importantly, it’s going to be less than four blocks from Sunset Dunes, the city’s heavily visited (yet perennially polarizing) oceanfront park that routinely draws thousands of walkers, runners, and bikers each weekend. 

As it happens, “radler” is the German word for “cyclist,” and the beer-based beverage, similar to a shandy, holds a strong appeal as a grown-up recovery drink for the Bay Area’s massive bike community.

Two Pitchers co-owner Tommy Hester hopes to capitalize on the riders and runners flocking to the city’s western edge. It’s largely why he and cofounder Wilson Barr — who met as pitchers (opens in new tab) on a college baseball team, before deciding to create the world’s first craft radler — chose the location.

“We put our flag down in Oakland with our home base because of the community vibes,” Hester says, “and there’s a similar feel in the Sunset. We think it’s due for more.”

The space (currently a construction site) will be more beer garden than taproom, and smaller than the Oakland mothership. There will be 20 taps, with 10 allocated to Two Pitchers’ own products, including Weekender, a lager with passionfruit, guava, and citrus; and Bayou, a milk stout with New Orleans-style coffee. The other 10 taps will be dedicated to showcasing other local brews. Wines and nonalcoholic beers will also be available.

Oh, and there will be burgers. Whereas the Oakland location has long partnered with cult-favorite burger pop-up Lovely’s (opens in new tab), this upcoming spot will link up with neighborhood icon Maillard’s (opens in new tab), whose chef-owner Max Ponzurick has been a smashburger star at the nearby Outer Sunset Farmers Market on Saturdays. 

Hester says Two Pitchers is open to further expansion down the line. For now, though, he and Barr are focusing on creating the coziest spot they can. Above all, he believes that radlers deserve consideration as a legitimate craft-beer style in their own right. It’s not about how many hops a brewmaster can pack in, he adds: “You can enjoy some fun style and be into craft beer without everything having to taste like a pine tree.”