Stone's Escondido Bistro Has a Few Weeks Left Under Its Old Name. Then It Becomes Quarry.

In April, the Stone brand sold to two out-of-town brewers. In August, the Escondido brewery and bistro began a phased wind-down. By early fall the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens on Citracado Parkway looked headed for permanent closure. Now it is set to serve its last dinner under the Stone name on Friday, November 13, close briefly, and reopen as Quarry Escondido. The same two people who opened it in 2006 will run it.

The gargoyle is staying, and so are the garden, the stone walls and the Stone beer. What leaves is the name on the door, and the reason goes back to who owns the ground under it.

The property never left the founders' hands

Stone's ownership story can be hard to follow. Japanese brewer Sapporo bought Stone in 2022, a deal Axios San Diego puts at $165 million. This spring Sapporo sold the Stone brand, along with some of its hospitality locations, to Firestone Walker Brewing Company and Duvel Moortgat USA, as the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on April 21. The Escondido bistro and brewery were left out of that sale.

Co-founder Greg Koch explained why to Axios. He and co-founder Steve Wagner kept ownership of the Stone Escondido real estate through both sales, first to Sapporo and then to Firestone Walker. When the spring deal was announced without Escondido in it, the two began making plans.

That single detail explains how the property got here. Under the new arrangement, Firestone Walker moved Stone's West Coast production to its brewery in Paso Robles, and Sapporo announced it would wind down brewing on Citracado Parkway. NBC 7 San Diego reported in August that Sapporo had not found a viable long-term solution for the site. The brand had a new home somewhere else, and the operator was leaving. The landlords happened to be the people who built the place.

Koch and Wagner announced on October 14 that they were taking the bistro back. The Coast News describes the whole property at 57,000 square feet, and Axios puts the bistro itself at 12,500 square feet with acres of gardens.

A name picked by Instagram poll

Koch ran the naming as an Instagram poll and announced the winner on October 20. "Quarry Escondido" beat entries like Beery McBeerface and Stoney McStoneface. It also beat Koch's own favorite, The Escondidian.

The name fits the place. In his interview with 10News, Koch said he "personally built stone walls that are still there today." The building has never relied on a sign. Axios notes there is still no name out front, only the gargoyle face. Koch told the outlet that when the bistro opened in 2006, "MapQuest wouldn't even get you there correctly."

What carries over, by the founders' own account

Koch has been consistent across interviews: the first version of Quarry will look a lot like the last version of Stone.

• The building. Koch told the Escondido Times-Advocate that the plan is to "Refurbish, Repair and Remodel (somewhat)" and that "[we] will keep the bones."
• The holiday season. He told the same paper the goal is to get state ABC licensing "as soon as possible," reopen for the holidays, and make "No major changes right away."
• The menu. According to Axios, Quarry will add new dishes and go back to the entrée-focused menu of its early days. Koch said "people shouldn't expect anything very dramatic."
• The beer. Axios reports Quarry will serve Stone beer. The Coast News adds that the founders plan to go beyond Stone's lineup to "celebrate the breadth and quality of the craft brewing community." Today the bistro pours 36 Stone beers.

That makes the tap list the clearest change regulars will see. It will no longer come only from Stone, now that the founders' restaurant no longer belongs to the brand.

Koch put his reason for keeping the place open in personal terms. Speaking to 10News, he said:

"My very favorite thing, hands down, is to be off at the edge and just listening to the people laughing and talking, and enjoying the clinking of plates and glassware and all of that activity and energy. There's no better sound in the world."

What has not been settled

Some important details are still open, and the founders have said so.

Koch called the transition "extraordinarily complex" in an interview with San Diego Beer News, as The Coast News reported. He told 10News that staffing details "are unknown at this moment," and that licensing is still pending.

Later work is tentative too. Koch told the Times-Advocate he is aiming for "perhaps a February shutdown" for front-of-house changes, with ideas such as reworking the bar, but "we don't even have firm plans yet!"

The brewhouse is the biggest open question. The Coast News says the brewing facility, like the restaurant and gardens, "will not be shuttered for good." Even so, no specific plan for the brewery has been announced. The Stone Company Store next door keeps the bistro's hours for now. A Coast News report in May said the bistro and store would operate as usual for six months after a May 14 post. What happens to the store under Quarry has not been announced.

The reopening date is also a target, not a promise. "Before the holidays" depends on the licensing Koch keeps mentioning.

Stone itself is not leaving North County. Under the Firestone Walker and Duvel deal, the Stone Brewing Tap Room in Oceanside stays open. So do the Liberty Station bistro and the taprooms in Little Italy and Pasadena.

The last stretch under the Stone name

The bistro is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday. Stone's site strongly recommends reservations. The final week on Stone's Escondido event calendar is mostly live music, plus a ticketed farewell dinner the night before the last day.

The Grand Finale Beer & Cigar Dinner on Eventbrite was listed as sold out in late October. Regular service continues through November 13, which Axios reports as the last Stone dinner. Stone's page sends visitors to its Escondido Instagram for the latest on events and closures, which is the place to check before driving over in the final week.

Something else is happening across town before then. The California Center for the Arts, Escondido holds its free 31st Annual Día de Muertos Festival on Sunday, November 1, from 4 to 9 p.m. It includes community altars, live performances, more than 15 food trucks and pop-ups, artisan vendors and free museum admission.

When the photobooth packs up on November 13, running the venue passes to the founders, who have owned its real estate the whole time. The name on the receipts changes, and the gargoyle stays out front.

If you are thinking about the future of a property that matters to you, Nova Luxe Real Estate is happy to talk it through with you, calmly and in detail. Let's Connect.