By Brooklynn Wong
Where can you watch Marvel movies, do yoga, and play board games, all while drinking a good brew? Unsung Brewing Co. at the Packing District.
It’s been there for just over three years now, outside and across the street from the actual Packing House, at the corner of Santa Ana Street and Anaheim Boulevard.
It’s a quality place that adds a little something different to Anaheim’s saturated craft brewing scene.
Founder Mike Crea is an Orange County transplant who’s been a lifelong comic book and superhero fan and has set up a very fun space that’s decorated on-theme and serves up a slew of appropriately conceptual beers.
I went there on a recent weekday in the late afternoon, not sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised.
If you’re up on your Packing District lingo, Unsung is in the MAKE Bldg., a space it shares with Pali Wine Co. and Jav’s BBQ. Each establishment gets roughly a third of the large building, and there’s some communal space inside as well as a lovely courtyard outside with various kinds of seating. They’re liberal in their food policy; Unsung itself is a beer-only place. They don’t serve any food, but they welcome people to bring any kind of outside food in.
This Anaheim location is Unsung’s original one. It opened in 2016, calling this their “tasting room and pilot brewhouse.” They do have another site in Tustin, but it appears to be a place where brewing is done only and it’s not open to the public at this point. Its website calls it a “super-secret location in Tustin (although we hope to someday open a tasting room there that isn’t so secret).”
When you enter the MAKE Bldg, hang right, and you’ll find Unsung’s interior, which has a long bar, stool seating around the wall, and some long communal tables in the center. You can get either flights or beers in various sizes.
Look around and you’ll see little on-theme figurines and one surprising life-sized one. There are a couple of TVs inside, and one of them was set on Netflix when I was there, playing different Marvel movies in succession.
Unsung has a terrific selection of beers with a great pop-art/old comic book aesthetic that ties everything together.
They have everything from sours (see the Psionic Plum Kettle Sour) to “Propeller Head,” an amber ale with Hidden House Coffee, a local favorite that has a location in Santa Ana, to their holiday beers that were still available in late January. See “St. Nick R Doodle” and “Chocolate Snowball.” I had the latter, which was very good. It’s not for the purists, but it was a surprising blonde with strong chocolatey and creamy notes that packed a punch.
Their catch-phrase is “the pursuit of heroic beer.” And I can attest to the fact that the place and the vibe are enjoyable even if you’re not into the superhero thing.
They have a selection of board games and cards there, or you can bring your own to play at their long, communal tables.
It’s an environment that anyone can feel welcome in too. There were couples on dates, groups of friends, people with dogs, and young professionals working on laptops. It’s not too loud and it’s sprawling, so you can either be in the bar with a crowd or just as easily seek your own refuge in your own space. But one thing to note if you do go there to work—you’ll need your own hotspot for internet access. The MAKE Bldg apparently did have wifi at a time, but it was down the day I was there, and may be down indefinitely.
Unsung hosts events like “Drink & Draw,” the third Saturday of the month, and “Yoga & Beer,” the first Sunday of the month.
The staff was friendly and helpful. And Unsung opens earlier in the day than a lot of the other Packing District drinking establishments. On Mondays and Tuesdays it doesn’t open until four, but the rest of the days of the week it opens at either 11 a.m., noon or 1, then stays open until 11 or midnight. Don’t use the hours on their website as a reference; those appear to be incorrect. Instead see their Yelp or Instagram page for accurate ones.
People love it on Yelp; Unsung scores a 4.5/5 stars, with people leaving comments like it evoked “childhood nostalgia” and has “beautifully nerdy/marvel/star wars/comic book decor.”
It’s not expensive, but you can expect to pay an average of around $10 for a drink.
Unsung Brewing Co. is located at 500 Anaheim Blvd., Unit B.
It’s a kitschy little experience, but aside from that it’s just a great taproom on its own. Give it a try today!
