San Diego’s Mike Hess Brewing has created a special beer for City Tacos to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the popular taco restaurant.
Named the Blessed City Hazy IPA, it is a 7.0% alcohol-by-volume (ABV) and has flavors of fresh citruses. It is available on draft only at San Diego’s seven City Taco locations. Pints sell for $7, 10% of which is donated to local charities.
“For the name we wanted to show how we feel about where we live,” said City Tacos founder Gerry Torres. “We are certainly blessed to call America’s Finest City our home. It’s heavenly, really. We can’t thank our longtime friends at Mike Hess enough for collaborating on this special project. We believe the beer will pair well with any of our nearly 20 tacos on the menu.”
Torres is originally from Mexico City,and he moved to San Diego in 1992. In June of 2022, he became a US citizen. He started City Tacos in 2014 in North Park. There are now additional locations in East Village (adjacent to Petco Park), Encinitas, La Mesa, Ocean Beach (OB Playground), Pacific Beach, and Sorrento Valley.
The City Tacos menu features traditional tacos (pollo asado, carnitas, carne asada), caseros “homestyle” tacos (pulled pork with mayan achiote sauce, beef shank, mahi mahi), and several other meat, seafood, vegetarian, and vegan options.
City Tacos has won Best Taco accolades from Ranch & Coast’s survey of its readers for five years in a row beginning in 2020.
Mike Hess Brewing was founded in 2010 by former U.S. Navy officer and veteran Mike Hess with his wife, Lynda. It was the 33rd brewery in San Diego area (there are now more than 150). Its original location is in North Park and has since expanded across the region and even into Walunt Creek in Northern California, home of the Hess family.