The quintessential Southern California brewery experience involves a long drive to a nondescript industrial park, followed by an extended hunt to figure out precisely which roll-up warehouse door will reveal the cavernous taproom you’re looking for. This is how you visit Monkish, Green Cheek, Alesmith, and so many others. But to find the best beer in Los Angeles, you only need to go to Chinatown — Highland Park Brewery’s taproom restaurant is a sunny corner building with an endearingly haphazard patio of barrels and picnic tables near the State Historic Park, downtown, Dodger Stadium, and public transit. Access to the brewery’s stellar IPAs and compelling pub food lineup remains an enduring delight — and convenience — in an era of severe retrenchment in the local beer landscape.
When the taproom opened in 2018, this part of northeast Chinatown was retail-sparse. Now the immediate vicinity booms with events and a farmers market at the park, Homage Brewing down the street, and Cafe Tondo in the shadow of the nearby metro. Firstborn, Steep, Endorffeine, and more remain an easy stroll away; during baseball season, HPB remains the best pregame destination east of Dodger Stadium.
The brewery has a membership club for IPA lovers called Fresh Friends, which includes access to some of their rarest IPAs and a taproom discount. If you don’t want to take the subscription plunge, drop by the brewery on or around release day to get a pint and a four-pack.
