Golden Road Brewing Plans Gigantic Orange County Restaurant Expansion

Backed by big new money from the Anheuser Busch conglomerate that snatched them up last year, Golden Road Brewing is planning to push even deeper into the Orange County market. with an expansion of their currently operational taproom facility in Anaheim. Up until now the space has only been a smallish spot for drinkers to congregate over beers made elsewhere, but soon enough the team on site will be brewing in the back — and working on plans for a massive expansion.

The Orange County warehouse site sits within walking distance to Angel Stadium, and offers near-endless amounts of room to expand brewing operations. But rather than make the facility a second outlet to rival the massive brewery in Atwater Village, Golden Road plans to turn much of the square footage into an indoor-outdoor restaurant with room for just about everyone.

Among the large-scale changes will be an uncovering of nearly half the property, to allow for loads of patio and play space, plus greenery options like a small garden or other charming details.

Inside, a lengthy bar will offer plenty of taps for those stepping up to grab a pint, while sit-down dinner service will be available up towards the front. In all, the plans call for tens of thousands of square feet of warehouse space to be repurposed over the next year or so, culminating in a facility that seamlessly marries a taproom, working brewery, bar, and restaurant aesthetic. Think of it as similar to what Firestone Walker has been trying to pursue in Venice, but on a grander scale (and hopefully with less pushback from the city).

As for the brewing, Victor Novak has been collaborating with the company for more than a year now. He’s a longtime OC operator with near-endless high-end brewing experience, which should come in handy on the original Golden Road brew system that’s been transported down from Los Angeles.

Novak and his team won’t be scaling things up too much from where they are now (the river-adjacent site in LA can handle the increased demand), instead using the system to innovate in ways a massive brewhouse simply doesn’t allow. In short, expect Golden Road Anaheim to become the kind of incubator that some folks might assume the company had lost after selling to the big guys. All in, guests should expect to be able to drink, dine, and enjoy an evening outdoors at the facility by sometime next year, ideally.