Novo Brazil Unwraps Enormous 12,000-Square-Foot South Bay Brewpub

Identified as the eighth-fastest growing brewery in the U.S. by the Brewers Association, Novo Brazil Brewing has expanded in a major way in the South Bay. Founded in 2015 as Chula Vista’s first craft brewery, the company has now added a 12,000-square-foot brewery and restaurant to its portfolio; replacing Anthropologie in Eastlake’s Otay Ranch Town Center, the new venue has room for nearly 1,000 guests.

The $2.5 million dollar project includes a 300-seat restaurant, event space, an indoor-outdoor beer garden, shuffleboard tables, and a kid’s play area with ping-pong, video games, and other amusements. The space, designed by Brazilian architect Gustavo Penna, features Brazilian wood furniture and mural from Brazilian artists. A retail area will sell Brazilian products, including coffee.

The full bar holds 60 taps of mostly beer but also kombucha and hard seltzer; the company will also explore production of canned cocktails. Winner of the 2017 Brewbound Startup Brewery Challenge, Novo Brazil says it plans to brew over 100 different beers with the on-site five barrel brewing system, which will also permit for experimental brews and specialty beers like sours and barrel-aged varieties.

The brewery’s South Bay expansion will continue early next year with a tasting room and bar that will be part of National City’s new food hall project called Market on 8th.