8bit Brewing Company UPDATE - Murrieta

Lesson learned. Driving anywhere in Temecula after 5 PM is the equivalent of sitting with the car in park and pretending to move. Except the car you're in doesn't have an engine. The Flintstones' family vehicle would have gotten us there faster.

Doesn't matter. We do NOT miss a trip to 8bit on the rare occasion we're in town. We come here for the Tator Tot Poutine, and we pound it with a damn good beer. They had quite the double IPA this time, freshly tapped and freshly poured.

A beer like that gives the Chicharrones some extra crackle right before they melt in a sassy sequence of savor and seasoned salt. A side of chipotle sour cream is creative; a fun dipper that the perfect pork rinds really don't need.

Duck, duck...PORK! Pork Belly Mac and Cheese! So much shredded pork, soft and slow-cooked, and macaroni elbows with beefy biceps on a cheese sauce that balances subtle with creamy greatness. I expected the BBQ sauce to be overkill, but it adds just the right amount of attitude to lighten up a combo that threatens to be too rich.

I don't know how they do it, but everything they do here is right. Their beers are a creative peek into some beautiful minds, and either the food or the beer is worth coming for. We got the glasses, and we have the shirts, but I have a hard time telling people about it because I want to keep a place this special for myself.

8 Bit Brewing Company - Murrieta

8 Bit is run by some of the coolest, fun-est, most interesting people I've ever met. These guys brew a strong beer and cook up one heck of a bar plate, and their energy is infectious. 8 Bit is the culmination of their brilliance and passion, combined with longtime friendships and family ties.

Everything I love about this place can be summed up by the Tater Tot Poutine. Every single tot is perfectly golden-brown. The duck confit and cheese are evenly distributed throughout, and the gravy sinks all the way through, coating every last one of those tots. They take real pride in their work here, even taking care to fry the egg not a second too long nor a second too short; the golden yolk erupts and spills warm when broken.

The Chipotle Hot Wings were my least favorite, but that's not saying much. The sauce stings delightfully, and the underlying flavor is more home-brewed-hot-sauce than buffalo or chipotle.

8 Bit is so much more than a brewery, and their food is much more gastropub than bar. The Boy, for example, sounds like a simple sandwich, but the fried shrimp with slaw and jalapeno aioli are clearly planned. The ingredients are impossibly well-paired and proportioned.

I don't care for IPAs, but their Brewmance beer converted me. A mosaic IPA with a huge hit of citrus smoothing out the hops. And check out the logo! A throwback to simpler, pixelated times, I'd stamp it on just about anything.

I loved this corner-pub the from the moment I walked in, but great isn't good enough for these guys. They're already converting the space next door into an arcade, and I'll be back to play. 8 Bit is every bit as awesome as I had hoped, and I can't wait to watch them grow!