Smog City Brewing Co.

You might pass right by the Smog City taproom if you don't pay attention. From the outside, the humble brewery looks just like all the other warehouses on Del Amo Boulevard: white, boxy, industrial. Pull into their parking lot, though, and you'll immediately spot beer-wielding Torrance folk spilling out the door. Laurie and Jonathan Porter started making beer in 2011, and built up enough of a presence to open a brewery in 2013, and four years later, launched a second outpost in Long Beach's SteelCraft food hall. After scanning the blackboard for beers on tap, order a couple tastes or a pint at the counter, fill up a bag with some free popcorn, then find a spot at one of the handful of tables and get ready to shoot the shit with complete strangers. Locals can pick up growlers of Smog City staples (the Coffee Porter and the West Coast IPA are serious crowd-pleasers) or put their stamp of approval on variations by the glass.