Quick Take
Other Brother Beer Co. opened its first satellite taproom, in Aptos Village, at the end of December, with 22 taps of its Seaside-brewed beers and a compact, food-forward menu designed for the smaller space. Chef Josie Lewis focuses on fresh, hearty sandwiches and shareable plates as the team works to build community connections in Santa Cruz County.
Curious visitors to Other Brother Beer Co.’s new satellite taproom in Aptos Village might come to try its IPAs, lagers and award-winning sour beers, but they’ll stay – and return – for the chicken Parm with burrata, the broiled beer cheese, and the roast beef sandwich.
Co-owners Evan Loewy, brewer Kevin Brown, director of operations Justin DiMauro and Andy Pitts opened Other Brother in Seaside in 2019. All based in the Seaside area, the four partners were friends before they launched the brewery, which helped revitalize the neighborhood along Broadway Avenue.
In 2024, they announced that they would open Other Brother’s first satellite location in the former Doon to Earth wine tasting room in Aptos Village, a neighborhood development that includes Cat & Cloud coffee, New Leaf Community Market, The Penny Ice Creamery and Mentone restaurant, among others. Over the past year, the Other Brother partners transformed the compact 1,400 square feet and added as much space as they could for seating, with a mix of bistro tables and high-tops. The taproom began welcoming guests at the end of December, and is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. A red-tiled back bar offers 22 taps of Other Brother draft beer – all made in Seaside – as well as wine and nonalcoholic beverages, plus canned beer and a full menu that includes several kid-friendly options.
Chef Josie Lewis’ selection of stacked sandwiches and shareable snacks is a detour from the smash burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and loaded waffle fries at Other Brother’s original location. Creating those dishes isn’t possible in the small Aptos kitchen, which lacks a hood or fryer, so Lewis had to adapt a menu to the space’s smaller footprint and limited equipment.
As the kids say, she understood the assignment, and the result is a set of dishes that are hearty enough to pair with Other Brother’s American-style lagers and ales filled with vibrant Santa Cruz-inspired ingredients.
“It’s fun making burgers and it’s fun being here too, in a new neighborhood,” said Lewis. “We want to embrace what is here and become part of this community, too.”
Some of the items are Aptosian interpretations of dishes that are already popular at the Seaside location, such as the hummus plate ($14), which in Santa Cruz County comes with baguette from Manresa Bread, rather than Monterey-based Ad Astra Bread Co. It has the same crisp veggies and citrusy hummus – a fan favorite, said Lewis. The beets and Gorgonzola salad with spiced seed brittle ($16) and a Caesar salad ($16) made with white anchovies are also similar to what she serves in Seaside.
But in Aptos, Lewis leaned into fresh, lively flavors rather than fried foods. Her take on a classic chicken Parmesan sandwich ($20) is a standout. She smothers a golden-brown cutlet with tomato sauce and luscious stracciatella – the creamy inside of a burrata – and it oozes appetizingly out of a seeded Manresa Bread roll. For the roast beef sandwich ($18) served on a fluffy Manresa Bread brioche bun, thin, tender slices of beef are layered with peppery arugula, white cheddar and a kick of horseradish. Both come with a rainbow-colored side of house-made giardiniera and potato chips.
Several dishes are made to share, such as the broiled beer cheese ($16), a gooey sauce fromage blistered under an oven. Served with dunkable slices of baguette, blistered sweet peppers and tart little cornichon pickles, it must be eaten hot in order to enjoy the stretchy, silky melted cheese – but with enough friends around the table, that won’t be a problem.
The beer styles are approachable and well-executed, ranging from crisp, hopped lagers brimming with tropical fruit on the nose and piney West Coast-style IPAs to robust porters and stouts. The malty, crisp Turbo Bock is refreshing and slightly sweet, and paired well with the food. One of Other Brother’s most popular beers, the fruity-sweet yet appetizingly tangy Tropic Desert kettle sour, won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in 2025, said co-owner DiMauro.
Lewis plans to adjust the menu depending on the community’s desires, perhaps adding more small plates or sandwiches after getting feedback from customers. There is one dinner item – a roasted chicken leg quarter ($26) with sunchokes, labne and herb salad – available after 4 p.m. and she’s open to adding more, especially as they get to know more local purveyors.
In Seaside, Other Brother regularly hosts game and trivia nights, and fundraisers for charitable organizations. Although the Aptos taproom is much smaller than the Seaside spot – 30 seats in Aptos versus Seaside’s 150 – the partners hope to form similar relationships in Santa Cruz County to entertain guests, said DiMauro. They also applied to the county to construct a parklet for more outdoor seating.
With the doors open, the team is working to get to know the area. “Right now, we’re trying to introduce ourselves to the community and meet as many of our neighbors as we can,” said DiMauro. “Everyone we’ve met so far has been phenomenal and we’re optimistic we picked a really great little spot.”
10 Parade St., Suite B, Aptos; otherbrotherbeer.com.
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