Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter is getting another new name on an old corner, and this time the change comes with a brewery attached. Timestead, the bar and restaurant at Fourth Avenue and C Street, is becoming Infinite Bar and Grille under new majority owner Rhett Terrebonne, and Terrebonne plans to bring a Hawaiian-themed brewing operation called Makali’i Brewing to the building’s long-dormant brewery space.

The corner has seen plenty of turnover. The venue operated for 22 years as The Local Eatery and Drinking Hole before international restaurateur Duncan Ward converted it into a pub carrying Modern Times Beer branding, beers and coffee in late 2025. Ward is no longer affiliated with the project, which cleared the way for Terrebonne, the founder of the now-defunct Niuhi Brewing, to take majority ownership in July and start reshaping the business.

The rebrand to Infinite Bar and Grille is only the first step. The bigger news for beer fans is what Terrebonne has planned for the 1,700-square-foot brewery connected to the business. That space previously served as the base of operations for Resident Brewing, which shuttered in January of last year, and it has sat dormant since. Terrebonne confirms he will move forward with his previously shared plans to install Makali’i Brewing there, bringing a Hawaiian-themed beer operation to a Gaslamp brewery space that has been quiet for nearly two years.

There is no firm timeframe yet for Makali’i’s debut, so Gaslamp drinkers will have to wait to see what the Hawaiian theme means in the glass. But the plan is notable in a year when San Diego has lost more breweries than it has gained: instead of another closure, a dormant downtown brewery could come back to life with a distinct identity, in a neighborhood that draws both locals and visitors.

One clarification worth noting for Modern Times fans: Wings and Arrow Brewing CEO Wes Van De Vort, who currently owns the Modern Times brand, has stated he has no affiliation with the downtown venue. Whatever Infinite Bar and Grille pours, it will not be a Modern Times pub in disguise.

Elsewhere in the same roundup, Bay Park’s Deft Brewing is quietly getting bigger. The brewery, part of The Garten food and beverage hub alongside Lost Cause Meadery, Oddish Wine and Pizzeria Cassette, has grown its brewhouse from two barrels to three and a half barrels and upgraded most of its fermentation tanks. The changes let Deft brew two to three times per week instead of four to five, keep its taps stocked with more lagers, and regain the option to distribute on a limited basis if it chooses. Co-founder and brewmaster Mo Nuspl credits the brewery’s small, lean system with helping it weather a turbulent market and a slower than expected summer in the tasting room.

We will keep an eye on Makali’i’s progress and Deft’s next moves, and we will report back when there is an opening date or a first pour to talk about.