San Roque Market & Liquors

San Roque Market & LiquorsSan Roque Market & Liquors
San Roque Market & LiquorsSan Roque Market & Liquors
Store

3014 State St.
Santa Barbara, California, 93105
United States

(805) 687-4717 | map
sanroqueliquor.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.15
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
20
pDev:
8.19%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by mickeymac:
Photo of mickeymac
Reviewed by mickeymac from California

4/5  rDev -3.6%
This is a smallish liquor store that doesn't look like it would have much of a beer selection. Fortunately, its looks are deceptive. Ample cooler space is devoted to quality beer in six-packs, bombers, and 750s. The selection emphasizes California and Belgian beers, with a good choice of beers from Moylan's, Marin, Stone, and Stone. On the Belgian side, I was delighted to see De Ranke XX Bitter, Carolus Grand Cru, Le Binchoise, and loads of other Belgians. The pricing seems a bit hit and miss. Some were at or near what I was used to paying in LA, while a few 750 ml Belgians were $2-$3 more than typical. After loading up a box full of stuff, I headed for the checkout line and was met with a slightly annoying experience. I don't know if the place doubles as a check-cashing facility, but there were a line of guys who seemed to be cashing payrolll checks for fairly substantial sums. It didn't create a big hold-up, but it was a bit unsettling. Anyhow, the people working the shop were friendly enough and I'll head back next time I'm in Santa Barbara and in need of the beer I can't find up here in beer hell.
Dec 24, 2005
More User Ratings:
Photo of extremer
Reviewed by extremer

5/5  rDev +20.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Just bought a place here and was blown away how poor the selection was compared to my go-to in salt lake city. I have a ravenous appetite for pilsners. Took me 5 days of visiting at least 10 stores and have hit San Roque twice and it's the easy winner. I gave 5 stars for vibe because there are 15 doors of coolers w/ product. 5 stars quality because the variety was vast. Service? They checked me out the door right away. Selection obviously a 5 because nothing else in SB comes close. Extra 5 stars 1.6 miles from house.
May 01, 2020
Photo of DesMoinesMike
Reviewed by DesMoinesMike from Iowa

3.63/5  rDev -12.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.25 | selection: 4.25
Had plenty of options but about 30% of the beers I can get back home in Iowa. No build-a-sixer section. They had high-end stuff like DFH 120 minute IPA and SA Utopia. The card reader took over 10 minutes to get fixed I almost left without buying. Bought some Fig Mntn IPA and a random bomber that turned out to be crap.
Jun 26, 2017
Photo of Specules
Reviewed by Specules from California

5/5  rDev +20.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Grew up round these parts so this place was great even before I started drinking craft. Sam and Leo are great and their store has probably one of the best selections for beer in Santa barbara (the other is Mesa Liquor)
Sep 15, 2016
Photo of Nominoe
Reviewed by Nominoe from California

4.03/5  rDev -2.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.25
They have great CA selection and decent non-CA selection. Right near my home, and I can always get Rasputin, Narwhal, etc (agreeing with the other posters that most beers run above normal price, but not 20%, usually 5-10%, but they keep things on shelves you wouldn't find anywhere else). Plus they receive almost everything that Lagunitas, Stone, and FW release and many other good breweries.

Walked in the other evening and found 5x 2013 Stone Espresso IRS. WTF! Bought all of them for 8$ each.

Service and vibe are that of a typical liquor store, but the beer quality and relatively large selection is fantastic. I stop in all the time just to see if they've put something weird on the shelves.
Feb 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.78 by loganburgh from Michigan

Dec 17, 2014
Photo of UCLABrewN84
Reviewed by UCLABrewN84 from California

3.85/5  rDev -7.2%
Visited on Friday 2/4/11.

Smallish liquor/general store pretty far down on State Street (from the freeway at least). Walked in and you are greeted with a small area of general goods (chips, candy, etc.), an area of wines, an area of liquors, and multiple beer coolers. I didn't count but I would guess there were at least 15 doors of beer all along the side walls.

There were a lot of good beers available. A lot of beers from CA, European beers (Belgium, England, Scotland, France), and some from other parts of the US. There was a decent selection of local beers too, such as Telegraph from Santa Barbara and Island from Carpenteria.

I would say prices are pretty fair. I found some beers that I have been looking for at what I think was a decent price: The Bruery Black Orchard for $8.99 and BrewDog Rip Tide for $5.99. However, there are some bottles that are well above prices I have seen elsewhere.

Overall, a good place to stop in if you are in the area. There is some harder to find stuff, some local goodies, and some interesting big format bottles (a jeroboam of Van Steenberge Augustign Ale for example).
Feb 06, 2011
Photo of brokensail
Reviewed by brokensail from California

4.05/5  rDev -2.4%
I took the girlfriend up to Santa Barbara for the weekend for her birthday. I tried to keep beer out of it as much as possible as she gets a bit annoyed by my obsession. But, on the way back down to the LA area, I convinced her a stop here would be okay.

Walking in you see that almost all of the beer is in coolers--very nice. Some good offerings from CA and a few gems from out of the country--Lou Pepe Kriek 2007 anyone?

They still had some FW13 left as well, but at $25 a bottle. I picked up one and left the other two for someone else.

The service was friendly, but nothing out of the ordinary. I sort of like to not be bugged in these situations, but appreciate a hello and a smile.

The only downer is that the beers are a bit on the expensive side, probably about 10%-20% higher than usual (on average). Still, you don't have all that much choice when it comes to beer in SB.
Mar 15, 2010
Photo of augustgarage
Reviewed by augustgarage from California

4.05/5  rDev -2.4%
Probably the best selection in Santa Barbara - almost everything in the fridge, but there are some real gems hiding among the wine and liquor (FW 13, '07 Lou Pepe Kriek, etc). Lots of Belgian ale, including a few sours; some decent German beers; a good cross section of Telegraph, Eel River, Island, Rogue, Moylan's, Marin, Firestone, Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Alesmith, and a few other Central and NorCal beers (but as others have noted, no Russian River). Other domestics include lots of 4 packs from Dogfish Head, 1L bottles from Grand Teton, and so on...

Prices are a little high, $7 for most Rogue bombers, $11+ for Hopsickle, all in all there is about a 13% mark-up compared to most other stores I've been in for beer across the board (the same is true for much of their whisky and bourbon - though a few bottles are inexplicably cheap).

Service was friendly but not especially knowledgeable, and somewhat disinterested (e.g. continuing a cell phone conversation while helping customers).
Feb 28, 2010
Photo of JBogan
Reviewed by JBogan from California

4.05/5  rDev -2.4%
I'd been in this store a number of times over the years, but that was long before I knew what good beer was. So yesterday on my first trip to Santa Barbara in a long time I decided to stop by and give this place a shot.

Upon entering and finding the beer coolers which took up the entire left hand wall and part of the adjacent wall all I could say was "WOW!". I was quite surprised at the size and selection this place carried. Plenty of both American and Import brews, and at reasonable prices.

Can't really say much about the service, just the usual liquor store clerks when I was there. However I sort of appreciated that as it allowed me to take a good look at the beer without interruption.

If you plan on visiting Santa Barbara then it's certainly worth stopping by this little (but well stocked) store located towards the northern end of State Street.
Jan 27, 2010
Photo of tjensen3618
Reviewed by tjensen3618 from California

4.15/5  rDev 0%
From the outside it's a normal looking Liquor store on State St. Once you walk in you can tell that their selection is fairly expansive.

All of the beer is in coolers against and around the back wall. They had some beers there that i had been unable to find or were long sold out at my regular stores back in Ventura County.

They had the regular craft lineups from Rogue, Stone, Deschutes, but also from local Santa Barbara brewers, Telegraph and Island, also a nice Belgian section including Cantillon.

The guy working there was super nice and gave a few suggestions, I however already had my heart set on what i wanted. I will definitely swing by this place every time i'm in SB.
Jan 18, 2010
Photo of nomomentwasted
Reviewed by nomomentwasted from Oregon

3.85/5  rDev -7.2%
Stopped in here yesterday on the great Santa Barbara beer-run day 2009. We never planned on hitting these many beer establishments, but we did and got a feel for Santa Barbara as a whole's beer supply.

Quality is solid. Everything is refridgerated and kept out of sunlight almost entirely. A little tightly pakced store, but not anything too bad.

Service was avoided a bit, but seemed friendly enough. Didn't really need any suggestions and they didn't supply any.

Selection was a winning point. Lots of Belgians and Euro-beers in general. Not quite as good as Keg & Bottle in some ways, but still plenty good and much better than I could've hoped for. Weihenstephaner, Allagash, lots of locals, Stone, but no Lost Abbey, Russian River or anything really outside the state of California as far as American brews go it felt like (Ok, I know I said Allagash, but Sam Adams and that felt a bit like it).

Still a great little store, would head back again for sure before the week is out. Really nice little selection.
Sep 11, 2009
Photo of GJ40
Reviewed by GJ40 from North Carolina

4.05/5  rDev -2.4%
I stopped in while on vacation in Santa Barbara. San Roque has a good selection with each and every beer refrigerated. They have quite a few bottles but the majority of the stock is six packs. They seem to have a bigger selection of Californian and European beers then anything else. They didn't seem to have many of the more uncommon beers. For example, they had no Russian River. But San Roque is well worth a visit and given their commitment to refrigeration, I'd bet on the quality to everything they sell.
Aug 21, 2009
Photo of photomike
Reviewed by photomike from California

4.2/5  rDev +1.2%
Not a bad place. They have an excellent selection of Belgians, I'll give them that. But their domestic stock needs a lot of work. They've got great stuff from the Bruery, Ommegang and Allagash, but their 12oz selection is hurting bad.

They have soooo much fridge space here and a lot of it is taken up by truly mediocre micro stuff from the us. Somehow they have room for literally about 9 types of Anderson Valley brews, but only THREE varieties of Sierra Nevada? Sometimes, a man needs more than Bigfoot, PA, and Porter.

The prices are a little wonky too. Racer 5 six packs should not cost 13 dollars, I'm sorry. The notoriously expensive Whole Foods charges 9 bucks.

On the bright side, they really do have the best stock in Santa Barbara. With Keg N Bottle you get beer that is either too old, too expensive, or (usually) both. San Roke is my go to spot.

And yep, the young guy is really nice. He will make an effort to know you.
Mar 22, 2009
Photo of AAvgerinos
Reviewed by AAvgerinos from California

4.5/5  rDev +8.4%
Probably the best selection of beer in town. Off the top of my head these are some of the the brands I recall seeing the past two times I visited this past week:

Anchor
Alaskan Brewery
Allagash
Bear Republic
Brasserie d'Achouffe
Brouwerij Bavik
Brouwerij De Ranke
Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
Brouwerij Lindemans
Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.
Cantillon
Marin
Meantime
New Belgium
Ommegang
Sierra Nevada
Unibroue
Youngs

This probably accounts for 1/3 of their offerings and they also have various brews like Piraat and Gulden Draak in magnum and double magnum sizes.
Apr 19, 2007
Photo of rallison
Reviewed by rallison from California

4/5  rDev -3.6%
The other reviews sum this place up pretty well. Good selection (especially for Santa Barbara) is only outdone by Keg N Bottle, but I shop here much more often. Why? As pointed out before, KNB is known for old stock, plus they are way too expensive ($8 for Stone 10th?!?). San Roque is generally reasonable, with a few Belgians bordering a bit too high. Most prices will be $1-$2 more than the better LA stores, but that's not bad. It's about as cheap as you'll find most of these brews for in SB County.

The guys working there are cool - the old guy is very friendly (but doesn't interact too much), and the young guy sincerely seems to try getting new good things in. Anyway, they've always been good to me, and I'll be sad to only get to come up here on occasional visits since I'll be moving out of the area.

Recommended - if you are visiting Santa Barbara, this is the place to go.
Feb 26, 2007
Photo of RidiculedDisplay
Reviewed by RidiculedDisplay from California

4.05/5  rDev -2.4%
Overall, this is the best beer store in the Santa Barbara area. Keg N' Bottle in Isla Vista had the potential to out-do it by a hair, if not for the awful treatment Keg N' Bottle bestows upon their beer stock (many skunked or plain ol' old - just recently I saw a six-pack of Victory Prima Pils in there that had a taste by date of October 2005).

Anyway, enough about Keg N' Bottle. San Roque has been for some time and remains the SB beer king. I recently stopped by to see how and if their stock had changed since the last time I was in there, and to refresh my memory for a review. Stuff on the top of my head: Domestic Craft included Bear Republic (Red Rocket, Racer 5, occasionally Big Bear Black and Hop Rod), Sierra Nevada (most offerings based on season), North Coast (Pranqster, Old Rasputin, Red Seal, and Old Stock), Stone (Ruination, Pale Ale, Levitation and IPA six-packs, Smoked Porter), Rogue (Chocolate Stout, Santa's Private Reserve, Hazelnut Brown etc.), and a variety of others I'm forgetting. Their Belgians (and Belgian Styles) has always been impressive, and includes Brasserie des Rocs, Gulden Draak, Trappistes Rochefort, Ommegang, DeuS, Westmalle, Orval, Chimay, etc. Finally, they have a very good selection of German brews, including Aecht Schlenkera Rauchbier and Celebrator Doppelbock. They now have some magnums (huge 3+ liter bottles) of Gulden Draak and some other things I didn't check out sitting unrefridgerated next to the other beer, which is all refridgerated.

The guys in here, when I started going to San Roque sometime in 2005, always sort of bugged me. It seems like the older guy is ALWAYS stocking beer, without fail, every time I'm in there and sometimes he is in your way as others reported. Additionally, if there are no other customers one clerk who was there often would come over and ask me what I'm looking for, which I would be fine with if he knew anything about beer (he doesn't - not to be a snob or anything). However, when I went in there last there was simply a friendly hello and no interference from the clerk, which was nice, so maybe they've switched guard, who knows.

Prices are a little steep sometimes, but overall pretty good/average for craft beer and Belgians. It just seems sometimes they arbitrarily assign some beers higher prices, i.e. a beer by La Chouffe they charged 11 dollars for and a beer by Brasserie des Rocs was a whopping 16.
Jan 24, 2007
Photo of DogFood11
Reviewed by DogFood11 from California

4.35/5  rDev +4.8%
Thanks to those that reviewed this before me or I would have never found it. A tiny wine/liquor/beer store that has skinny aisles and stuff everywhere. The beer is stocked in the coolers with some scattered stacks of beer waiting for room littered about the back hallway. They have a few coolers full of macro lagers but the vast majority are stacked with micro's and belgians. I was on my way to solvang and stopped in here along with a lunch at santa barbara brewing and was pleasantly surprised. The only thing I can knock this place about is there was a couple distributors wheeling in cases of beer and wine making it difficult to shop in such a small store. Not their fault...just watch your toes. They had some Rogue, Butte Creek, Sierra Nevada, Firestone and many more. Belgians were in the corner coolers and they had some hard to find Geuze's and a couple German offerings. Its very impressive and worth a stop.
Nov 12, 2006
Photo of JayTheFinn
Reviewed by JayTheFinn from California

4.2/5  rDev +1.2%
Mickeymac has a really solid review of what San Roque Market carries, so I won't bother going over that again. I will however reiterate that they have a great beer selection here with very good prices on most things. This is probably the biggest, most varied selection of beer you'll find in Santa Barbara and if you like wine they have plenty of that as well. This is well-worth the stop if you're in town or just passing through.

Heading North or South on the 101, take the Las Positas exit and head North (towards the mountains). Take a right at State Street. The store is not too far after you pass De La Vina Street and it will be on your left (north/mountain side).
Apr 22, 2006
Photo of SBPCGuru
Reviewed by SBPCGuru from Colorado

4.15/5  rDev 0%
Very wide selection for this area. They used to get Stone special releases, but they are few and far between. If you need these head to M&R Liquors in Carpinteria. Employees are knowledgable of beer on what's new in the coolers. This store is the town's largest selection of brews. They have about 10-12 cooler doors full of different brews. Lots of Belgians, Germans and American beer.

A Few Breweries representin' in this store:

Rogue, Stone, Moylan's, Bear Republic, Red Tail, Anderson Valley, North Coast, New Belgium, Flying Dog, Grant's, Sierra Nevada, Lost Coast, etc..

Big wine selection as well. Beer selection is constantly being upgraded.

This store is my store. They have the best prices and are very friendly.
Feb 11, 2005
San Roque Market & Liquors in Santa Barbara, CA
Place rating: 4.15 out of 5 with 20 ratings