Ballast Point Adds Massive Brewpub to Mission Bay

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your bite-sized roundup of Bay Area food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• San Francisco will be the next home to the newest Ballast Point brewpub. The San Diego-based craft brewery, best known for its hoppy Sculpin IPA, will build the 12,000-square-foot establishment in the Mission Bay neighborhood. This announcement slid into inboxes with some bad news, however — Kings & Convicts, the owners of Ballast Point, closed its Chicago brewpub. A little background on Ballast Point: It was once owned by mega corporation Constellation Brands Inc., but was then purchased by a small, mostly unknown Chicago-area brewery Kings & Convicts in 2019. For scale, Kings & Convicts produced 660 barrels of beer in 2019, while Ballast Point produced 200,000. It seems that the company now has sights set firmly on growing in California.

• Prior to the pandemic, Momo food truck was very popular with the crowds at the Salesforce Transit Center. Momo took the truck off the road for a year, but now it’s back with its beloved noodle bowls. With Salesforce employees working from home, Momo is testing out new locations around town, like 351 California Street, 1 Bush Street, and 555 Mission Street.

• With an increase of anti-Asian attacks across the country, Thai restaurant Rooster & Rice wants to members of the Asian-American community to know that its restaurants are a safe space for those seeking refuge. Rooster & Rice will also donate $2 from every meal sold to the Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative. There are currently six Rooster & Rice locations in San Francisco. [Hoodline]

• Home of the Mochi Muffin, Third Culture, celebrates its fourth anniversary of operating in West Berkeley. Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu started the bakery in 2016 to offer pastries indicative of their childhoods in Indonesia and Taiwan. Third Culture has several specials to celebrate April 3 and April 4. [Berkeleyside]

• Oakland residents will spot a familiar face on the latest season of Top Chef. Nelson German, the chef/owner of alaMar Kitchen and Sobre Mesa, competed in the current episodes filmed in Portland, Oregon. German tells The Mercury News that he was eager to embrace the show and wanted to represent Oakland well. [The Mercury News]