The Escondido landmark is not going dark after all. Stone Brewing co-founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner are taking over Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido and will reopen it as an independent restaurant under a new name.

What happened

The bistro’s future went sideways earlier this year. Sapporo, which bought Stone in 2022, sold the Stone brand and most of its hospitality locations to Firestone Walker Brewing and Duvel Moortgat USA back in August. The Escondido brewery and restaurant were not part of that deal, and Sapporo then announced it would shut down its Escondido operations entirely, including laying off roughly 140 employees.

The restaurant’s last day under the Stone name is Friday, November 13.

The founders step back in

Koch and Wagner, who launched Stone in San Marcos back in 1996 with Wagner as the original brewmaster, are now working through the transfer of restaurant operations from Sapporo. Neither outlet reporting the story has a new name or a firm reopening date yet.

“Neither Steve nor I could bear the idea of this wonderful place closing permanently,” Koch told San Diego Beer News.

Speaking with the North County Chronicle, Koch said the plan is to get the state alcohol license transferred as fast as possible and reopen in time for the holiday season, with no major changes right away. Longer term, he mentioned a possible short shutdown around February to rework parts of the front of the house, including the bar, while keeping the bones of the place intact.

Why it matters

This building is hallowed ground for San Diego beer. Opened in November 2006 inside Stone’s 57,000-square-foot Escondido headquarters, the bistro paired a 13,500-square-foot dining space with a full acre of gardens: boulders, trees, winding paths, ponds. At the time, nothing in American craft beer looked like it.

The new restaurant will operate independently of the Stone brewing company the two men founded. According to San Diego Magazine, the plan includes “a beer program celebrating the breadth and quality of the craft brewing community,” which sounds like the tap list will range well beyond one brewery’s offerings.

What is next

The November 13 closing date stands, then the wait for the alcohol license transfer. Koch has said he and Wagner are also exploring possibilities for the adjacent brewery building, so this story may have a second chapter.

We will update this post as a reopening date and the new name are announced. If you have memories from the gardens, the clock is ticking to make one more before the 13th.