Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hop Sausage at Hamilton's in South Park

Place

Hamilton's Tavern

1521 30th Street, San Diego




"Are you seeing another woman?”

It’s Carla, on the cell.

“Sweetheart, corazón, what da heck makes you ask that? Seriously.”

“You never come straight home these days. You’re always calling from a different place.”

She’s right, there. These past few weeks, I’ve got all enmeshed in this thing that’s going on around us: the beer thing. Brew pubs appearing from nowhere like moles out of holes on a sunny morning. Blind Lady, O’Brien’s, Neighborhood, Station, Pizza Port. Tonight, can’t resist stopping by Hamilton’s Tavern. Heard they have more micro beers on tap than just about anybody in town. Like, 29, somebody said. But I mainly want to make sure they have decent food — not just make-you-drink-more salty teaser food — before I haul Ms. Carla along. I’m also interested in their talk of “pairing” certain chow with certain cervezas. Wine-pairing, yes. Beer-pairing? Convince me.

I open the little door. Wham-bam! What a crowd. What a noise. And it’s only Thursday night. It’s not like high-blast music, but, well, some lively folks here. The place has hundreds of what look like bats hanging from the rafters. Turns out they’re draft-beer pulls from all over. Posters and flags are everywhere, too, for beers like Delirium Tremens, Red Seal Ale, Kriek. Jeez, where to start?

I head up to the crowded bar to order. That’s where I spot a guy at a table, kinda hot-breathing. He’s holding a chicken wing in his hand. “Oh, man,” he says. “Hot, hot, hot. And I’m Mexican.” He has a plate of wings.

His name’s Omar.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“What kind of wings?” I ask.

“They’re called ‘Volcano,’” he says. “These are some hot chicks.”

Hmm…food. Maybe I’d better eat first, lay down something to blot up the ale.

“Where’d you get them?” I ask Omar.

“Out the door, first left,” he says.

So out I go and into the first door next door. “Hamilton’s Café,” the window sign says. Turns out it’s part of the pub. Another big sign reads, “Home of the Hop Sausage.”

Just as I come in — shwoom! — the cook dunks a big ol’ wire basket of fries into the deep-fry fat vat. The gal working with him hands me a menu.

“Pretty much everything we make here has beer in the recipe,” it says.

A stuffed jalapeño popper snack — peppers stuffed with deep-fried cream cheese, bleu cheese and salsa roja — is $7.50. For another dollar you can add a little bowl of beer cheese soup to use as a dipper. “Baja dogs” might be the best deal at $6, two bacon-wrapped dogs with pico de gallo and mustard (they have a vegetarian version for $6.25). Or, hey, this sounds interesting: a chili bowl with shredded cheddar — or nut yeast. Guess that’s “nutritional” yeast. Vegan, $4. Add sour cream for 50 cents.

I scan on down. Wings — “over a pound” — marinated in Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat beer and “glazed with our world-famous ‘beer candy’” for $9.25, Mole (“Davey’s own Chiapas-style recipe,” $9.50), and…ahh: there’s the Volcano (“made with habanero, Thai chili, and the fearsome bhut jolokia,” $9.50). Bhut jolokia is the world’s hottest chili, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. That’s what this customer next to me says, anyway. “I checked with Wikipedia,” he says. Uh, right. Whatever, I wouldn’t chew one of those down on its own. Not after watching Omar sweat.

Still, I’m starting to get the beer-food connection. I look further down the menu in search of burgers. Cheese sandwiches range from $4.25 for the basic to $9.50 for the Fancypants, with Brie, orange-blossom honey, chopped walnuts, and apple. “Hammyburgers” go from $8.25 to $11.00 for the Jamilton, a “stoner burger with a fried egg and ranch dressing.” The Stoner has stuff like serrano chilis, raspberry preserves, and “witchfyre” (peppers and onions) mixed in it. Maybe that’s the “stoner” part. They even have “potato hammys,” sandwiches made with potato patties for $8.50.

“Any ideas?” I ask Jennifer. She’s the ever-running gal serving this café.

Jennifer points. Oh, yeah. That sign. “Home of the Hop Sausage. Our signature handcrafted spicy Italian hop sausage on a roll with sweet peppers, onions, mushrooms, and stone-ground mustard.” It’s $8.50. Fifty cents more for a slice of provolone.

“Take the provolone,” says Jennifer. “It’s worth it.”

Actually, when I get to chomping this big dawg, I don’t notice the cheese. What I do notice is the sweet caramelized onion and the sweet peppers, which make a great juicy contrast to the really herby — I guess “hoppy” — sausage.

But what’s going on with the beer/food pairings? When I get back next door, Dennis the tavern manager says, “Some Fridays, I’ll personally make sausages — right here — that will pair well with the particular cask we open for that night’s happy hour. Last Friday, before we tapped a cask of Imperial Porter with chili and cocoa in it, I made a pork sausage with dark chocolate and dried apricot rehydrated with pinot grigio wine. They paired beautifully.”

Wow. But how much? “Ten dollars for the plate — two sausages and usually two to three sides that go with it. And $3.75 for a pint of the cask ale.”

Damn, this is interesting. A little later, as I head back to the #2 bus stop, the happy-hoppy-herby taste of my sausage stays with me. So does the thought of the Friday-night pairings, when the spirit moves Dennis. Honestly, if all these new brew pubs are as serious about their food as this one, we’re carving a new chew-brew landscape here in ’Diego.

The cell phone rings.

It’s Carla. “Sweetie pie? You know my thing with hotdogs — could you bring back two? Seven-Eleven would be okay.”

“Darling, tell you what. Let’s skip it tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to a couple of really hot dogs.” ■

The Place: Hamilton’s Café and Tavern, 1517 and 1521 30th Street, South Park, 619-238-5637
Type of Food: American
Prices: Stuffed jalapeño poppers, $7.50; Baja dogs (two bacon-wrapped dogs), $6; vegetarian version, $6.25; chili bowl (with cheddar or nut yeast), $4; nachos “drenched in jalapeño beer cheese soup,” $8.50; wings, “glazed with our world-famous ‘beer candy,’” $9.25; Volcano wings (with habanero, Thai chili, bhut jolokia), $9.50; cheese sandwich, $4.25; Fancypants sandwich, with Brie, orange-blossom honey, walnuts, apple, $9.50; Blue Boy hamburger, $9.25; Jamilton burger (with fried egg, ranch dressing), $11; spicy hop sausage sandwich, $8.50
Café Hours: 4:30–10:00 p.m., Monday–Wednesday; till midnight, Thursday–Friday; 1:00 p.m.–midnight, Saturday; 1:00–10:00 p.m., Sunday
Bus: 2
Nearest Bus Stop: 30th and Cedar

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Next Article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Place

Hamilton's Tavern

1521 30th Street, San Diego




"Are you seeing another woman?”

It’s Carla, on the cell.

“Sweetheart, corazón, what da heck makes you ask that? Seriously.”

“You never come straight home these days. You’re always calling from a different place.”

She’s right, there. These past few weeks, I’ve got all enmeshed in this thing that’s going on around us: the beer thing. Brew pubs appearing from nowhere like moles out of holes on a sunny morning. Blind Lady, O’Brien’s, Neighborhood, Station, Pizza Port. Tonight, can’t resist stopping by Hamilton’s Tavern. Heard they have more micro beers on tap than just about anybody in town. Like, 29, somebody said. But I mainly want to make sure they have decent food — not just make-you-drink-more salty teaser food — before I haul Ms. Carla along. I’m also interested in their talk of “pairing” certain chow with certain cervezas. Wine-pairing, yes. Beer-pairing? Convince me.

I open the little door. Wham-bam! What a crowd. What a noise. And it’s only Thursday night. It’s not like high-blast music, but, well, some lively folks here. The place has hundreds of what look like bats hanging from the rafters. Turns out they’re draft-beer pulls from all over. Posters and flags are everywhere, too, for beers like Delirium Tremens, Red Seal Ale, Kriek. Jeez, where to start?

I head up to the crowded bar to order. That’s where I spot a guy at a table, kinda hot-breathing. He’s holding a chicken wing in his hand. “Oh, man,” he says. “Hot, hot, hot. And I’m Mexican.” He has a plate of wings.

His name’s Omar.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“What kind of wings?” I ask.

“They’re called ‘Volcano,’” he says. “These are some hot chicks.”

Hmm…food. Maybe I’d better eat first, lay down something to blot up the ale.

“Where’d you get them?” I ask Omar.

“Out the door, first left,” he says.

So out I go and into the first door next door. “Hamilton’s Café,” the window sign says. Turns out it’s part of the pub. Another big sign reads, “Home of the Hop Sausage.”

Just as I come in — shwoom! — the cook dunks a big ol’ wire basket of fries into the deep-fry fat vat. The gal working with him hands me a menu.

“Pretty much everything we make here has beer in the recipe,” it says.

A stuffed jalapeño popper snack — peppers stuffed with deep-fried cream cheese, bleu cheese and salsa roja — is $7.50. For another dollar you can add a little bowl of beer cheese soup to use as a dipper. “Baja dogs” might be the best deal at $6, two bacon-wrapped dogs with pico de gallo and mustard (they have a vegetarian version for $6.25). Or, hey, this sounds interesting: a chili bowl with shredded cheddar — or nut yeast. Guess that’s “nutritional” yeast. Vegan, $4. Add sour cream for 50 cents.

I scan on down. Wings — “over a pound” — marinated in Ballast Point Wahoo Wheat beer and “glazed with our world-famous ‘beer candy’” for $9.25, Mole (“Davey’s own Chiapas-style recipe,” $9.50), and…ahh: there’s the Volcano (“made with habanero, Thai chili, and the fearsome bhut jolokia,” $9.50). Bhut jolokia is the world’s hottest chili, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. That’s what this customer next to me says, anyway. “I checked with Wikipedia,” he says. Uh, right. Whatever, I wouldn’t chew one of those down on its own. Not after watching Omar sweat.

Still, I’m starting to get the beer-food connection. I look further down the menu in search of burgers. Cheese sandwiches range from $4.25 for the basic to $9.50 for the Fancypants, with Brie, orange-blossom honey, chopped walnuts, and apple. “Hammyburgers” go from $8.25 to $11.00 for the Jamilton, a “stoner burger with a fried egg and ranch dressing.” The Stoner has stuff like serrano chilis, raspberry preserves, and “witchfyre” (peppers and onions) mixed in it. Maybe that’s the “stoner” part. They even have “potato hammys,” sandwiches made with potato patties for $8.50.

“Any ideas?” I ask Jennifer. She’s the ever-running gal serving this café.

Jennifer points. Oh, yeah. That sign. “Home of the Hop Sausage. Our signature handcrafted spicy Italian hop sausage on a roll with sweet peppers, onions, mushrooms, and stone-ground mustard.” It’s $8.50. Fifty cents more for a slice of provolone.

“Take the provolone,” says Jennifer. “It’s worth it.”

Actually, when I get to chomping this big dawg, I don’t notice the cheese. What I do notice is the sweet caramelized onion and the sweet peppers, which make a great juicy contrast to the really herby — I guess “hoppy” — sausage.

But what’s going on with the beer/food pairings? When I get back next door, Dennis the tavern manager says, “Some Fridays, I’ll personally make sausages — right here — that will pair well with the particular cask we open for that night’s happy hour. Last Friday, before we tapped a cask of Imperial Porter with chili and cocoa in it, I made a pork sausage with dark chocolate and dried apricot rehydrated with pinot grigio wine. They paired beautifully.”

Wow. But how much? “Ten dollars for the plate — two sausages and usually two to three sides that go with it. And $3.75 for a pint of the cask ale.”

Damn, this is interesting. A little later, as I head back to the #2 bus stop, the happy-hoppy-herby taste of my sausage stays with me. So does the thought of the Friday-night pairings, when the spirit moves Dennis. Honestly, if all these new brew pubs are as serious about their food as this one, we’re carving a new chew-brew landscape here in ’Diego.

The cell phone rings.

It’s Carla. “Sweetie pie? You know my thing with hotdogs — could you bring back two? Seven-Eleven would be okay.”

“Darling, tell you what. Let’s skip it tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to a couple of really hot dogs.” ■

The Place: Hamilton’s Café and Tavern, 1517 and 1521 30th Street, South Park, 619-238-5637
Type of Food: American
Prices: Stuffed jalapeño poppers, $7.50; Baja dogs (two bacon-wrapped dogs), $6; vegetarian version, $6.25; chili bowl (with cheddar or nut yeast), $4; nachos “drenched in jalapeño beer cheese soup,” $8.50; wings, “glazed with our world-famous ‘beer candy,’” $9.25; Volcano wings (with habanero, Thai chili, bhut jolokia), $9.50; cheese sandwich, $4.25; Fancypants sandwich, with Brie, orange-blossom honey, walnuts, apple, $9.50; Blue Boy hamburger, $9.25; Jamilton burger (with fried egg, ranch dressing), $11; spicy hop sausage sandwich, $8.50
Café Hours: 4:30–10:00 p.m., Monday–Wednesday; till midnight, Thursday–Friday; 1:00 p.m.–midnight, Saturday; 1:00–10:00 p.m., Sunday
Bus: 2
Nearest Bus Stop: 30th and Cedar

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach
Next Article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.