Tarantula Hill Brewing Co.

Small lot, hand-crafted specialty beers have taken off over the last several years across the country, and East County Conejo Valley is no exception. It has an assortment of brew pubs offering excellent craft beers as well as casual (and delicious) eats.

Tarantula Hill Brewing Co. is unusual in the universe of brew pubs, and one you won’t want to miss. Forget your preconceived notions; at Tarantula Hill, you will have a fun time, a great assortment of beers, tasty pub food consisting of burgers, sandwiches, wings, salads, tacos, pizza out of their pizza oven, and some of the best ice cream ever, from the owner’s family recipes. You may also find entertainment and special events (check their website for the schedule).

Tarantula Hill is both kid and pet-friendly! They offer a select kid’s menu and four-legged friend treats, as well! However, it’s the adult menu that will make you salivate.

But let’s get to the main event: the beers! Sporting about two dozen brews on tap, you will be hard-pressed to choose just one, so you’ll be coming back, probably a lot. No matter your taste in beer, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. There is a great selection of IPAs, in addition to pilsner, ale, porter, lager, hard seltzer, hard kombucha, and more. And while you are studying the menu, you’ll chuckle at some of the creative names, such as Jakalope Hoppy Pilsner, RxPils, What the Fruit, and Knott Your Berry Farm.

Of course, beer is made to go with food, and there is no shortage of that at Tarantula Hill! Pizzas come fresh from their wood-fired pizza oven and are Neapolitan-style. They use house-made dough, and fresh, mostly locallysourced ingredients. Their Cubano sandwich was to die for, and I can’t wait to go back to try one of their many burgers, tacos, salads, or a charcuterie board. At Tarantula Hill, it’s easy to become a regular.

Once done, you’ll want to sample some (eventually all) of the many ice cream flavors made from the freshest ingredients. The flavors are from the owner’s father, who had a creamery in Hawaii! This is the place to go for beer-food-ice cream fun and gathering.

Tarantula Hill Brewing Co. is located at 244 E Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. For the menu, schedule of events and more, visit tarantulahillbrewingco.com