Where to find serious craft beer in Costa Mesa, mapped by district and what each one's good for.
The local list
Costa Mesa quietly has one of the densest and best craft-beer scenes in Orange County, and it clusters by district. The Westside, around 19th and Placentia and the SoBeCa area, is the heart of it, a run of converted-industrial breweries with big roll-up doors and patios. The taproom cluster near The LAB and The CAMP puts a few counters within an easy walk of each other. The brewpub spots along Newport Boulevard and near 17th Street pair the beer with a full kitchen. The South Coast Metro and Bristol side has the polished, roomier options, and the industrial zones hide tiny nanobreweries that only true locals know. Pick by district and the right pint follows.
I grew up a few miles up the road in Huntington Beach, and Costa Mesa is where HB locals go when we actually want to drink well. The quiet truth about this town is that it has one of the densest and best craft-beer scenes in all of Orange County, it just hides it in converted warehouses and plain industrial blocks instead of putting it on a boardwalk. Once you learn to read the buildings, the brewery scene here goes deep, and it holds up against anything on this stretch of coast.
I'm keeping brewery names out of this one on purpose. Taprooms open, close, expand, and change hands fast, and I'd rather point you at the right district of Costa Mesa and let you find the room you love than send you to a name that might be different by the time you read this. What holds steady is what each area is good for. I work with buyers and sellers across Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach, and the Ratowsky Group at Compass keeps a running set of local guides linked at the bottom if you want the bigger picture.
Updated 2026-07-06
The converted-industrial brewery blocks on the Westside
Westside, around 19th and Placentia and the SoBeCa area
If Costa Mesa craft beer has a heart, it's the Westside. The blocks around 19th, Placentia, and the edge of the SoBeCa area are a genuine brewery destination, a run of former warehouses turned taprooms with roll-up doors, long steel tanks in view, and patios built for a slow afternoon. This is where the range lives too, hazy IPAs, crisp lagers, big barrel-aged pours, and the sour and farmhouse experiments. Come here when you want the real thing and room to settle in.
The LAB and The CAMP anchor the most Costa Mesa corner of Costa Mesa, outdoor walkways, plants everywhere, and independent counters tucked into the corners, and a few good taprooms sit right in that orbit. The beer here comes with somewhere to wander, which is the point. Get a pint, drift between the two centers, and you've built a whole slow evening out of one parking spot.
The brewpubs along Newport Boulevard and near 17th Street
Eastside, along Newport Boulevard and 17th Street
Along Newport Boulevard and near 17th Street you get the brewpub version, house beer paired with a full kitchen, so you can make a real dinner of it. These are the spots for a proper meal with a flight, or a pint after work without needing a second stop for food. It's the Eastside, so it hums with the same brunch-and-dinner energy that runs 17th Street.
The roomier spots on the South Coast Metro and Bristol side
South Coast Metro, around South Coast Plaza and Bristol
The South Coast Metro and Bristol side leans polished and roomy, and the beer options follow. These are the larger, more composed rooms that fit a bigger group, a birthday, or a pint before a show at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Predictable in the best sense, easy to get a big table, and always close to whatever else brought you to this end of town.
Tucked into the plain industrial zones are the tiny nanobreweries, one or two barrels at a time, made by people who are in it for the craft, not the crowd. These are the hardest to find and the most rewarding, small rooms where the person who brewed the beer is often the one pouring it. The list changes constantly because the batches are small, which is exactly the appeal.
Less a place than a method. Costa Mesa hides its best rooms behind roll-up doors and plain industrial facades, so judge by the signals, not the signage: fresh dates on the tap list, a small-batch board that changes often, and a patio full of regulars who clearly know the staff. The warehouse block is never the tell here. What's pouring inside it is.
Locals only
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Frequently asked
Who stands behind this page
This guide reflects the direct experience of Craig Ratowsky and Justin Ratowsky, the father-son team behind Ratowsky Group at Compass. Craig has sold Huntington Beach real estate since 1977, 49 years and counting, and Justin is a third-generation California Realtor® who grew up here. Together they bring 58 years of combined experience and 900+ homes sold, and they read every page before it publishes.
New to the area?
Justin and Craig Ratowsky at Ratowsky Group at Compass work across this corner of Orange County every week. We're happy to match a Costa Mesa neighborhood to how you actually want to live.
