Bonaventure Brewing Company
Even though I work in downtown Los Angeles, it's rare when I visit any of its drinking destinations. The happy hour crowds downtown usually get too yuppie for my likes and to be honest, none of the establishments are good enough for me to weather that. Since I had to drop off a rental car right next door, I decided to stop in to the Bonaventure Brewing Co and see what they had brewing.
First off, this place is EXTREMELY difficult to locate. I remembered that from my previous visit, even still – I had trouble finding it. Getting to the Bonaventure is easy enough, but inside is like a labyrinth and brewery is snuggled amongst it somewhere on the 4th level. The inside was almost empty, a few hotel guests were eating on the outside terrace. I hopped to the bar and took a look at the draft pulls: 5 of their own and 2 guests: Bitburger Pils and Hacker-Pschorr Hefe Weisse. The 5 house beers were Stout, Pale Ale, Blonde, Strawberry Blonde and their Seasonal which was an IPA.
An IPA lover, I quickly order a pint. It comes out looking very light for an IPA, I’d say it visually resembled a definition pilsner. The aroma is pleasant, again on the light end of things, same held truth upon tasting it. It was a below average beer, it really lacked character. But still it was an IPA, so I drank it without complaints. I decided to get the sampler next. The stout was decent, a full flavored offering. The Blonde was a bit bland and I could have easily down without the Strawberry Blonde. The Pale Ale was the clear favorite, it was the only one I tried on my previous visit and likely the one I’ll stick to with subsequent trips.
The staff was very friendly, perhaps not terribly knowledgeable of the beer – but it’s probably rare when they need to be. The food was very good, I just scarfed down some boneless buffalo tenders. They were really good. I’d say it’s worth the visit if you are downtown and need a decent beer, there aren’t a lot of great options and Bonaventure Brewing Co is probably your best bet.
