Family-friendly beer garden in Atascadero has 24 brews on tap and juice boxes for the kids
Every other weekend, the owners of a new Atascadero beer garden pile into their car and search the coast for brews.
Their quest? To source beer customers can’t find in San Luis Obispo County.
They’ve discovered brews in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego and Monterey so far, and plan to keep exploring California’s beer selection.
Ancient Owl Beer Garden and Bottle Shoppe opened June 26. They sell handpicked California brews alongside local beers, hard kombucha and seltzer.
“The beer that’s made here is really great, and we want to put it on a platform with other breweries,” co-owner Alanna Andruszkiewicz said.
Andruszkiewicz, her husband Marcin and their friend Larry Duterte teamed up to open Ancient Owl on El Camino Real across from The Carlton Hotel.
They’re located in a 1,900-square-foot development made out of seven shipping containers, built by Z Villages and shared with Negranti Creamery and Stellar + S.U.N. Hat Company.
The Andruszkiewiczs have two daughters, 5 and 7 years old, and wanted to create a family-friendly space. So, they offer free juice boxes for kids, installed lots of shaded tables and invited Negranti Creamery to set up an ice cream shop next door.
“We have two little kids,” she said. “You just want to go grab one drink before you go somewhere, you know, let them move around outside the house.”
Even though it’s an outdoor beer garden that could be affected by weather, the owners plan to operate all year round.
During the summer, shade sails protect patrons from the sun. In the winter, they’ll replace the sails with a retractable awning to keep out rain, and set up space heaters and a fire pit with seating.
They decided on their tagline “Choose your beer wisely” about five years ago when they first started planning the business.
Marcin has always been interested in owls, and they wanted to name the place Wise Owl at first. When they learned the name was copyrighted, they decided on Ancient Owl instead — still incorporating Marcin’s affinity for owls.
“He really loves ‘Clash of the Titans,’ Archimedes from ‘The Sword and Stone’ — all that stuff,” Andruszkiewicz said.
What’s on Ancient Owl’s beer menu
When it comes to beer, they’ve got pretty much everything.
“If you think about the spectrum of beer colors, you’ve got your seltzers, you got your lagers, you got your IPAs — and everything in between,” Andruszkiewicz said.
Among their offerings are beers from Barrelhouse, Firestone, Colony Mash, There Does Not Exist and other local breweries.
They have 24 beers on tap and five refrigerators that hold hundreds of canned and bottled beers, she said.
Andruszkiewicz’s favorite among their offerings is a beer called “It’s Owl a Dream” — a West Coast IPA crafted by Marcin and Duterte with Wild Fields Brewhouse.
“That one is a super solid IPA. Really clean, easy to drink,” she said, and they hope to continue partnering with local breweries to craft new beers.
Along with beer, they also sell snacks and have QR codes on tables with menus for Colony Market and Deli next door. Customers can order take-out from the market and bring it back to the beer garden. They also can bring food from other restaurants in the area, like Sylvester’s Burgers and Nautical Cowboy.
On Taco Tuesdays, they cater Mexican food from La Parrilla, and local Traffic Records DJ Emauel spins vinyl for customers on Fridays.
“The community’s perception of us has been great,” Andruszkiewicz said. “Everyone coming in is super grateful that we’ve created a spot for people to gather and, you know, share ideas and hang out and trade beer secrets.”
Ancient Owl opens at 11 a.m. every day, and closes at 8 p.m. Sunday, 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Find them at 6090 El Camino Real Suite C or at their website www.ancientowlbeergarden.com.
