Stone Brewing Founders Launch New Venture After Brand's SoCal Exit
Greg Koch and Steve Wagner are rebranding the Stone World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido as Quarry Escondido.
The founders of the iconic Stone Brewing brand, Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, are launching a new venture in the San Diego area. They are rechristening the Stone World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido as Quarry Escondido, following the company's announcement that its production facilities would be leaving Southern California.
The pair plans to open the new, independent restaurant on November 14, featuring a beer program that celebrates the craft brewing community. This new venture will occupy the 57,000-square-foot space that was not part of the May sale of Stone Brewing locations from Japanese beer giant Sapporo, which had acquired the brand in 2022. The buyers, Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Duvel Moortgat USA, acquired the Stone brand and some hospitality locations, but the Escondido sites were not included in that announcement.
In August, Stone Brewing announced its exit from three Escondido locations as the new parent company moved production to Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County and Kansas City. The CEO of Sapporo USA, Zach Keeling, stated at the time that the remaining Escondido locations would close, leading to hundreds of layoffs. Sapporo had planned to shutter the Stone World Bistro & Gardens in November, but Koch and Wagner stepped in to take over the location.
Koch told Axios that the site has been a significant landmark for San Diego locals and a very big part of him. The bistro, which opened in 2006, was once the third-largest tourist attraction in the area, drawing approximately 500,000 visitors annually around 2016. It is credited with changing the landscape of craft brewing tasting rooms with its expansive patio, garden, and unique landscape features.
When Stone Brewing first launched in 1996 in San Marcos, it was part of the West Coast craft brewing boom. By 2015, it had become the ninth largest craft brewery in the U.S. However, the craft beer industry has faced challenges in recent years due to declining alcohol consumption and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new restaurant, Quarry Escondido, aims to recapture the essence of what made Stone Brewing successful. Koch indicated that while the menu will evolve with new experiences and dishes, it will maintain an entree-focused approach reminiscent of the brand's earlier days, without dramatic changes. The announcement of the location's re-opening has been met with enthusiasm from fans who feared the closure of the landmark establishment.