On the house

If you’re thinking about buying a house in La Jolla in the next little while, DataQuick Information Systems suggests you break out another checkbook at the very least. The longtime real-estate data outfit (which, ironically, is also based in La Jolla) says that as of December 2007, a median-priced single-family home there will set you back a cool $1,307,000. Perhaps surprisingly, you’re even worse off in Coronado, where a similar place runs close to $1.6 million, and in Rancho Santa Fe, where you yourself have no business even riding the bus.

You’re lucky, then, that the La Jolla Brew House isn’t in Coronado or Rancho Santa Fe—with the latter housing prices, it’s conceivable you’d be paying more for the overhead. This way, you get to enjoy spiffy, desirable La Jolla and dig into some very decent fare at a reasonable cost. Simple stuff like potato skins and onion rings starts at around $6, and the portions are easily big enough for two. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried the Penne Pasta, with its chicken, artichoke hearts and bacon—it’s enormous and absolutely scrumptious, and at $12.50, it’s the eatery’s biggest steal. You’ll find the beers moderately priced as well (something called Milk Stout, which I think tastes like maple syrup, might just pique your sweet tooth).

La Jolla Brew House, at 7536 Fay Ave., is open Mondays at 3 p.m. and Tuesdays through Sundays at 10:30 a.m.; it closes when business thins out, which most nights is around midnight. The number is 858-456-6279. Tough to fathom that a La Jolla restaurant stays afloat amid costs we can all absorb—stop in often enough, and you may have saved a month’s interest over the life of your La Jolla-size mortgage. Better than nothing.  
—Martin Jones Westlin