NOVO Brazil Brewing Company opens an 11,500-square-foot restaurant and sports bar in the Mission Valley mall, which was previously named Westfield Mission Valley. The location is NOVO’s first outside of the South Bay, and it resides in the space formerly occupied by Tilted Kilt. NOVO Founder Tiago Carneiro made the announcement.
The main dining room is 8,000 square feet with a capacity of 352, while the outdoor patio is 3,500 square feet with a capacity of 237. There are 40 seats at the rectangular bar that divides the indoor and outdoor spaces. Both the main dining room and outdoor patio have standard table seating and high tops, while the patio also has fire pit lounges. All furniture was handcrafted in Brazil.
There are more than 100 feet of 1.5-millimeter pixel pitch LED video walls throughout the restaurant for watching sporting events, along with 25 JBL speakers for surround sound and nearly four miles of wiring connecting it all. The interior includes a 20-foot screen and two 10-foot screens. A rectangular video wall 18 feet by four feet hangs above the indoor/outdoor bar area. There also is a 20-foot video wall for guests on the patio.
The 1.5 millimeters is the distance between each pixel on the video wall, creating a higher resolution in a far smaller physical space and providing an optimal viewing experience when only a few feet away. The restaurant also has moving lights and CO2 blasts for when goals and touchdowns are scored, baskets are made, and home runs are hit.
“Just like our locations in the South Bay, we want Mission Valley to be a family-friendly community gathering point for San Diego State fans, Padres fans, Wave fans, and fans of any team,” Carneiro said in a statement. “A few friends of mine have mentioned that NOVO could be the new Seau’s, which I’ve been told was a Mission Valley staple and the best place to watch our hometown teams. Many kids of the 1990s and early 2000s may have children of their own now, so we hope we can provide a similar experience – along with nostalgia – to both old and new generations.”
Seau’s, the namesake restaurant of former San Diego Chargers star linebacker Junior Seau, operated from 1996 – 2012.
NOVO Mission Valley features the same food-and-beverage menu as its locations in Imperial Beach and Otay Ranch Town Center. There are 64 taps, serving all NOVO beers and its other lines of beverages: NOVA kombuchas (hard and non-alcoholic), California Spritz beer cocktails, and hard seltzers. Wine is also available.
The food menu includes Brazilian-inspired dishes such as empanadas, yucca fries, Coxinha (chicken croquette), picanha (prime sirloin), and El Charro Ribeye. Traditional sports bar fare is offered as well, including chicken wings, carne asada nachos and fries, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, hamburgers, burritos, and salads.
The drink menu includes the recently-released NOVA Azteks Raspberry Kombucha, which was created in partnership with a group of SDSU men’s basketball players and via MESA Foundation, an official Name Image Likeness (NIL) partner of the University.
NOVA is the Official Hard Kombucha of Snapdragon Stadium, which is two miles east of the Mission Valley mall and home to SDSU Football. NOVA also is the Official Hard Kombucha of San Diego Wave FC, which plays its home games at Snapdragon. NOVO was founded in Chula Vista in 2015.
“We are proud to be establishing such strong roots throughout San Diego,” Carneiro said. “We love supporting our local sports teams and we relish the opportunity to provide a next-level fan experience for watching their games on TV. Even if you’re attending an event at Snapdragon down the road or at one of San Diego’s other great venues, we invite you to come by for pre- and post-game celebrations.”
NOVO Mission Valley can be accessed directly from the parking lot at the southeast corner of the mall or through the CAVA/Nordstrom Rack courtyard from the north. The San Diego FC Store is adjacent to the restaurant’s outdoor patio.
Hours of operation are 12:00 noon – 10:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and from 12:00 noon to 11:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant will open early on days with morning NFL games and other notable contests, including this Saturday for SDSU men’s basketball game at 11:00 a.m.
NOVO Mission Valley also houses a microbrewery, and packages are available for guests to learn about the brewing process, brew their own beer, and return to drink the beer on tap when it’s ready to consume.
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