Unless you were selling the new iPhone, it’s not often you’d get people literally lined up around the block anticipating the opening of doors, but that’s just what happened in 2016 on opening day for the Danville Brewing Company.
Marcus and Sara Maita, whose family have been involved in the beer industry since the Prohibition days, partnered with Randy Negi, a very experienced restaurateur and owner of several other hip and successful eateries in San Francisco. Together, they spent a lot of time researching and eventually targeted just the right location.
With a population of just 43,000, the quaint town of Danville, California was ideal for a brew pub. Nowhere else offered a high-quality dining experience with beer brewed on-site. The Maita family saw the newly renovated Danville Hotel Town Center as a perfect spot and they were quite right.
A wealthy suburb of Oakland and San Francisco, Danville is a lovely little town which was voted the safest place to live in the US for 5 years in a row. The 3800 square foot brewery/restaurant was an overwhelming success from day one with a menu focused on gourmet burgers, one of which features Million dollar bacon (cooked with seasonings, brown sugar and maple syrup – so good it tastes like a million bucks).
The star of the show is the Specific 10-barrel system that is showcased through a glass wall in the brewery. The head brewer, Matt Sager, is a UC Davis Master Brewers program graduate and has won several awards, including the top spot for his European Lager, a Czech pale ale and a national first place for his Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ale.
Sager’s training and skill is evident with a unique variety of offerings. There’s Danville IPA, a double IPA called CHUX, coconut/coffee stout, blond ale, various lagers, and Iron Horse Pale Ale among many others.
Sager credits his “dessert beer” to his wife, who challenged him to create a beer that tasted like the much-loved baked treat.
Continued success and popularity has given the partners the confidence and enthusiasm to expand. This time, a larger facility in the neighbouring town of Pleasanton. The new 10,000-square-foot location will be built from scratch and continue Danville Brewing’s tradition of serving fresh, local food and beer, but there will be some key differences, including a giant biergarten, an event space, and room for a big production brewery.
Pleasanton was a natural location for the expansion of the brewery, as it shares many similar characteristics to Danville, including a well-trafficked downtown area valued and patronized by locals and visitors from throughout the region.
The entire Tri-Valley region pays homage to its rich history and heritage as it was once a Gold Rush settlement, but today, both Danville and Pleasanton are bustling boroughs with a variety of things to do and places to eat, shop and enjoy your day.
The Maita family, with a long history of beer in their bloodline, coupled with the restaurant acumen of Randy Negi has proven to be nothing more than a solid recipe for success. The future is very bright for Danville Brewing and with the planned expansion in Pleasanton, it’s fair to say that many more hearts will be left in San Francisco.
