Who Will Brew the Beer at Stone's Escondido Gardens After November 13?
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens at 1999 Citracado Parkway serves its last day under Sapporo USA on Friday, November 13. Co-founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner have announced they will take over the restaurant and gardens and reopen them under a new name. The boulders, koi ponds and walking paths look set to return. Stone beer brewed on site does not. Since 2006 the building's whole premise was that you drank beer made on the other side of the glass. When the doors reopen, the founders plan to pour beer from across the craft brewing world instead.
That change says more about what Escondido is keeping than the headline about a rescue does. The property is splitting into two parts with two different futures, and only one of them has a plan.
The Citracado Parkway campus has always been more than a bistro. In 2006, San Diego Beer News reported, Stone moved out of a small San Marcos industrial suite into a 57,000-square-foot production headquarters, the largest in the county at the time. The two-story restaurant and its one-acre beer garden were built as part of that brewery. A 65,000-square-foot packaging hall sits next door.
Koch and Wagner are taking the hospitality side. Brewbound reported that Sapporo had held a lease at the site and was looking for a successor. In the founders' announcement, as CalMatters quoted it, Koch wrote that they are "taking over the restaurant and gardens at 1999 Citracado Parkway in Escondido and carrying them forward as an independent restaurant under a new name." CalMatters added that the two are "exploring possibilities for the adjacent brewery." They have announced nothing more about it.
The brewery and packaging hall face a different ending. In an April 21, 2026 disclosure, Sapporo Holdings said it would stop making Sapporo and Stone beer in Escondido, aiming for the end of 2026. It would consolidate U.S. production at its Richmond facility and reassess the Escondido plant's equipment and building systems. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Escondido facilities were left out of the Stone brand sale and remain owned by Sapporo USA.
The Stone name now has a new home. Firestone Walker and its Belgian parent, Duvel Moortgat, bought the brand. Stone USA CEO Zach Keeling told CalMatters, in a story republished by The Business Journal, that the beer will be brewed in Paso Robles and Kansas City, Missouri. The new owners are keeping the Stone restaurant at Liberty Station and other Southern California taprooms. Stone beer will keep showing up around San Diego. It just won't come from Escondido.
Headcount shows how much of the site's activity sat in the half that is not coming back. The Union-Tribune put the Escondido brewery at about 160 employees and the bistro at about 140. The WARN notice dated August 19 listed three Escondido job sites: 1999 Citracado Parkway, 2865 Executive Place and 2005 Harmony Grove Road. It expected 220 terminations, starting with 58 separations effective October 19. That first round included warehouse, quality assurance, packaging, logistics and 10 brewers. In September, Sapporo raised the expected total from 220 to 272.
The founders' plan touches the 140-person side of that ledger, and even there the details are open. Koch told 10News that staffing and rehiring were still unknown while licensing and other work were underway. Francisco Vargas, an economic development management analyst for the City of Escondido, told CalMatters, "It's really sad that consolidation of the brewing industry has led to the closure of Stone in Escondido."
With production leaving, the reopened restaurant becomes a showcase for other brewers' beer. Koch and Wagner plan to use the 36 taps to "celebrate the breadth and quality of the craft brewing community," San Diego Beer News reported, rather than lead with Stone's hop-forward lineup.
The kitchen is moving a little more formal, too. Koch described the plan to the same outlet:
"We're envisioning menu updates that will be slight-versus-dramatic and move toward a somewhat more formal, entrée-focused direction."
He added that his near-term focus is getting the restaurant running again as quickly as possible, and that the pair intend to keep much of what already works about the venue.
That is a real shift in what this address means. For twenty years, San Diego Beer News wrote, the bistro drew millions of visitors, including industry professionals who saw in it how far craft beer could go. The new version keeps the setting and changes the purpose. Escondido is getting back a garden restaurant with a long beer list. The brewery's own showroom is not part of the return.
The founders are not keeping the doors open through the handoff. Koch told CalMatters the site will close as planned on November 13 and reopen later, once the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control approves the required license change. No reopening date or new name has been announced. No coverage so far says whether the gardens will be open to walk through during the closure, or how existing Stone gift cards and booked events will be handled. If either one affects you, ask the venue directly before November 13.
Here is how the year has unfolded, as of this Thursday, October 22:
| Date in 2026 | What happened or happens |
|---|---|
| April 21 | Sapporo Holdings discloses that Escondido production will end, aiming for year-end |
| August 19 | WARN notice lists 220 expected terminations across three Escondido sites |
| September | Expected layoff total revised to 272 |
| October 14 | Koch and Wagner announce they will take over the restaurant and gardens |
| October 19 | First phase of 58 separations takes effect |
| November 7 to 12 | Nightly live music on the Escondido bistro calendar |
| November 13 | Final day under Sapporo |
| To be announced | Reopening under a new name, after ABC approves the license change |
San Diego Beer News reported in August that the non-hospitality operations were scheduled to shut down in mid-November. That puts the last brewing at the site at roughly the same time as the last pints under the Stone name.
If you want one more visit while the beer behind the glass is still brewed there, the Stone Brewing Escondido event calendar lists live music each night from November 7 through 12, with a photobooth pop-up on the final day:
The Grand Finale Beer & Cigar Dinner on Thursday, November 12, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., offered four courses and three cigars for $125. The Eventbrite listing shows it as sold out. The calendar is live and can change, so check it before you go.
Koch's memories of the site start before it opened. He told San Diego Beer News about working with small groups of volunteers to build the stone entry wall and the garden walls, and about quiet Sundays in the hot sun getting ready for opening day. Those walls are the part of the property that stays.
The bistro's closing comes in the middle of a full fall calendar elsewhere in town, which gives people somewhere to go during the gap.
This Sunday, October 25, the Escondido Downtown Business Association hosts its first Gather on Grand. It runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Grand Avenue between Escondido Boulevard and Ivy Street, with music stages on Broadway and Art in the Garden at Heritage Garden Park. The Times-Advocate lists performers including Virginia James, Jonny Tarr, Mohavisoul, The Gravities and Zavala Soul.
On Sunday, November 1, from 4 to 9 p.m., the California Center for the Arts, Escondido holds its 31st Annual Día de Muertos Festival. Admission is free, and the festival includes community altars, a Catrina contest, DJ Zuni, Mariachis Las Catrinas, Ballet Folklórico, more than 15 food trucks and pop-ups, and free museum admission.
In December, the Center's holiday calendar lists the free Winter Wonderland Festival on December 5 and 6 from 1 to 5 p.m., and Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland on December 9, with tickets from $54 to $175.
When the restaurant on Citracado Parkway reopens under its new name, the stone walls and gardens Koch helped build will greet guests again. The beer in the glasses will come from other breweries.
Many Escondido families have marked birthdays, anniversaries and visits from out-of-town relatives in those gardens, and I'll be following the reopening as closely as you are. If you have questions about Escondido or want to talk about what's changing near Citracado Parkway, in English or Spanish, Conchita Lopez is always glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
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