USA, CA: Bike Dog Brewing’s second location opened in Sacramento

The slow-motion renovation of Sacramento’s Broadway corridor took another step forward on September 19 with the opening of popular Bike Dog Brewing’s second location next to Selland’s Market-Cafe, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Sage Smith, one of Bike Dog’s four co-founders, said the brewery decided to expand from its original West Sacramento brewery and tap room, in an industrial area near the Port of West Sacramento, because it saw an opportunity to do business in the central city.

“It’s part of the core,” Smith said. “We were looking for a true neighborhood feel.”

With Bike Dog’s opening, there are now three breweries on the historical stretch of Broadway between Oak Park and the Sacramento River, including Oak Park Brewing and New Helvetia.

On September 19, the new tap room officially opened at 3 p.m. Doug Finley was among the first in line. A regular at Bike Dog’s West Sacramento brewery, Finley said he’s now more likely to visit the Broadway location because it’s closer to his home in Tahoe Park, about four miles east on Broadway.

“This is a little closer to my house, and I’m a big Selland’s fan,” Finley said.

Selland’s, known for its busy market-cafe in East Sacramento, opened recently across the street from the city’s historic cemetery, bringing a casual upscale dining spot to the avenue’s somewhat rundown west end.

Other changes are planned or underway.

Homes have sold by the dozens at the The Mill at Broadway, a trendy development aimed at millennials and downsizing baby boomers.

The city has plans to eventually streetscape much of Broadway, narrowing it to one lane in each direction and making it friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians. A streetcar is another proposed possibility, as is a new bridge linking Sacramento to West Sacramento via Broadway.

The thoroughfare was once home to the Sacramento Solons baseball stadium, where a Target store now stands, and featured the Central Valley’s biggest cruising scene, ala “American Graffitti.” Jazz clubs and the original Tower Records location were part of the mix.

In more recent decades, the former Y Street, the last street on the downtown grid, fell on harder times, and plans emerged to rejuvenate it piecemeal over the years.

At Bike Dog, Smith, who grew up in the Land Park area, said he’s looking forward to Broadway becoming easier and safer for bike riding. The founders named the brewery after their passion for cycling and canines.

He said, however, that he thinks it’s important to appreciate Broadway as it now stands, with the iconic art Tower Theatre and an eclectic array of restaurants with Ethiopian, Thai and Japanese cuisine.

“You can go all the way around the world in a day,” he said.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .