Inside Highland Park Brewery: a Visual Tour from La’s Chinatown to the San Juan Pop-Up
By Alexander Ross
The Chinatown tasting room menu stands out because it deliberately avoids the typical brewery tropes. You will not find frozen institutional appetizers dropped into a deep fryer. The culinary staff designs shareable dishes matched specifically to high-carbonation, bitter-leaning lagers.
The standard order starts with house-made chips paired with guacamole and charred salsa, transitioning to dynamic smash burgers on toasted brioche buns. Pickled elements run across the seasonal vegetable plates, matching the acidity found in their mixed-culture sour ales. During spring and summer, the kitchen leans heavily into citrus marinades and raw shellfish preparations that complement cold glasses of Czech and German-style craft lagers and pilsners.
Visiting requires zero reservations, creating an easygoing public vibe rare for dining destinations close to Downtown LA. Because the facility sits directly across the street from the Chinatown Metro station, public transit access draws patrons from Pasadena, Hollywood, and Long Beach without vehicle congestion. For sports fans, the venue functions as an unofficial shuttle station for Dodger Stadium, filling with blue caps two hours before first pitch.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
