Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods MarketWhole Foods Market
Whole Foods MarketWhole Foods Market
Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

4944 Shelbyville Rd
Louisville, Kentucky, 40207-3306
United States

(502) 899-5545 | map
wholefoodsmarket.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.13
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
19
pDev:
7.51%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by TheSevenDuffs:
Photo of TheSevenDuffs
Rated by TheSevenDuffs from Canada (ON)

4/5  rDev -3.1%

Oct 04, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.69 by BeerOps from Illinois

Jul 16, 2017
 
Rated: 3.79 by MarshallBirdhouse from Kentucky

May 23, 2015
 
Rated: 4.28 by Ohiovania from Ohio

Feb 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.33 by unimatrix1 from Indiana

Jan 24, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by threedaggers from Kentucky

Dec 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by ADTaber from South Carolina

Nov 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by spycow from Illinois

Nov 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by jman005 from Kentucky

Nov 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by bigred89 from Maryland

Aug 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by gspeicher from Kentucky

Jun 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by cwd from Kentucky

Jun 10, 2014
Photo of auroracrisis
Reviewed by auroracrisis from Kentucky

4.15/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 5
A good place to grab a few bottles of beer if you're in the St. Matthews area.

The decor and vibe of this place is great. Clean, with lots of tasteful decorations and displays. The beer section is nicely set up with plenty of six packs and bottles to choose from for a grocery store. The cooler is open and well stocked, with a few warm selections as well at the front of the aisle.

Plenty of employees and cashiers to help customers. Lots of people with expertise for different departments, and people to help you with general things. They have a butcher, deli, cheese and even a wine department. I'm sure if you needed help making a selection, you could find someone with good knowledge of beer too.

Their selection is pretty good for a grocery store. A fair amount of imports and American micro and craft. Some bottles I hadn't seen at any other place in town, but they didn't have any lambic cold which is what I came to get. They also have a growler station, which is very nice.

A ridiculous amount of food options because well, it's Whole Foods. If you want cheese, fruit, meat, whatever to go with your beer I'm sure they'll have what you're looking for and plenty of options for each category.

Overall, a solid selection and nice place to pick up some beer while in St. Matthews. Definitely a little pricey, but the quality is there. Knowledgeable and helpful staff, and a nice location.
Aug 08, 2011
Photo of centennialman
Reviewed by centennialman from Kentucky

5/5  rDev +21.1%
Whole Foods comes in second place for me in the entire louisville area for selection after The Keg in nearby Clarksville IN. That says a lot because The Keg is the king around here.

Whole Foods recently went from great to exceptional when they opened up their draft selection. They now have a rotating tap list of about 6 varieties. You'll see Founders, Bells, Local (BBC/Brownings/NABC), New Holland, etc on tap and can get a glass or growler filled. Yes, you can now sample a pint of craft beer while shopping. As for bottles, they have a gigantic belgian and german variety. They just got Three Floyds Dreadnaught and imperial russian stout in stock (I'm patiently waiting for alpha king!). Whole Foods gets the whole line of available/seasonal Founders and Bells beers, which is great. For example, I've found Harvest Ale, Nemesis, and Backwoods Bastard here where other local Founders retailers just keep Reds, Centennial, and Porter.

As for prices, they're a little more expensive than Liquor Barn but thats negligible. Whole Foods probably has a much higher turnover for specialty beer than Liquor Barn so you can most likely expect a fresher beer here.

It's a beautiful thing when the best grocery store in town can offer a phenomenal beer selection and tap list. Also, check out the ValuMarket in the Highlands. They have started quite a beer cave and tap list too.
Feb 22, 2010
Photo of Buschyfor3
Reviewed by Buschyfor3 from Kentucky

4.15/5  rDev +0.5%
Whole Foods Market on Shelbyville Road is easily the best grocery store in the Louisville area to find solid, quality craft and import beers.

The selection is nice: a long refrigerated section that displays a good 150-160 different 6 and 4 packs with quite the crosssection of breweries represented: locals including BBC, Alltech/Lexington; nationally distributed brands such as Atiba, Bells, DFH, Founders, Harpoon, Magic Hat, North Coast, Ommegang, Rogue, SA, SN, Stone, Upland, etc.; then all the larger European imports such as Guinness, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Stella, Newcastle, Paulaner, Schneider, Weihenstephaner etc.

Then there are two sections of singles, one refrigerated section about 4 shelves tall chock full of singles from most European imports, and higher-end American Crafts (last time it was Founder's KBS, DFH 120 and WWS and some select Bell's varieties) as well as larger 16.9oz bottles of most German hefeweizens/dopplebocks and 750s of all of the select Belgian lambics, IPAs and Belgian strong pale/dark ales (Chimay, Kasteel, Westmalle, La Chouffe, Houblon Chouffe, LFDM/Unibroue, etc.). The same can be said for the 3 racks of dry craft beers as you'll find most of the 16.9 oz European imports as well as a one whole rack of nothing but craft bombers from Avery, Stone, and New Holland. Pretty nice selection. They also had a couple of vintage selections including Kwak, a St. Bernardus gift pack (hell yah, got one of those!), Schneider-Brooklyner's Hopfen-weisse limited release, Cuvee de 7eme, etc. They also have a nice selection of licensed glassware from a number of both U.S. and European breweries - where I got my authentic, laser etched Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass.

Service is quite nice as they have their own beer-savant at each store who will even assist you in finding a beer that pairs well with the food selections you have in mind or in your basket (mmmm... sushi and beer).

The only downer is price - everything here is marked up at least 10% compared to what you can get the same beers for at the Liquor Barn on Hurstbourne Lane, just another 5-10 minutes away. However, you can find some good deals there from time to time. I did manage to get a killer price on a 750 of La Fin Du Monde $6 a bottle, as well as a cheaper per-bottle prices on some KBS compared to paying $25 for a 4 pack. Nice.

Overall, the easily the best grocery store if you are looking for craft beer. If you're also into health foods, then that probably seals the deal and Whole Foods is the place to shop for beer.
Jul 15, 2009
Photo of LauraG
Reviewed by LauraG from Kentucky

4.5/5  rDev +9%
Whole Foods is my go-to place to buy beer, even though the prices can be 10-15% more than big-box liquor stores. Why? Service, baby. Where else can you and the beer guy geek out for 20 minutes on Flanders vs. Saison, what time of year to drink a doppelbock (our conclusion: now), the best beer for when you're broke and eating ramen...

I've obviously never gotten anything but enthusiastic help there.

Selection is amazing for such a small space -- we're talking one aisle-length cooler and one shelf for the non-refrigerated stuff -- and it's packed with unique, interesting beers, with a wide range from Sam Adams to obscure, expensive Belgians. It's put together with love by someone who knows his stuff, but without being totally inaccessible to the non-beer-geek meandering the aisles with his organic produce.

Highly recommended.
Sep 17, 2008
Photo of cameraman
Reviewed by cameraman from Kentucky

4.15/5  rDev +0.5%
I usually go in to Whole Foods when I am working 2nd shift and have a chance to eat dinner out. For one they make some great sandwiches and sushi as well. The beer selection is about the same as you would find at a place like Liquor Barn, but for a grocery store they are incredible. Anything from Stone, Bell's, Great Divide, and so on. On my last visit the must have been overstocked on some Hopslam, because it was on sale below $10. Plus, I was able to purchase two glasses, a Chimay goblet and a Ommegang goblet, both for the surprising price of $2.99! I think, I was there on good day for beer. Plus one of the food preps, saw me purchasing the Hopslam, and gave me suggestion to purchase of their food items that he thought would go well with the beer. Very cool. Yes, it is not a liquor store, but there are alot of liquor stores in the area that do not come close to their level of respect they give beer.
Apr 12, 2008
Photo of jkrich
Reviewed by jkrich from Florida

3.85/5  rDev -6.8%
First of all, this is an excellent place to purchase a made to order sub as well as other tasty items. It is well worth the trip just to browse the aisles.

The beer selection offered absolutely the same variety as the mega liquor stores in the area, i.e. Liquor Barn and Party Mart. The one exception, of course, is Whole Foods' brand ale, Lamar Street, which is good, but hardly distinctive. (It is brewed under contract by Goose Island)

The prices tend to be slightly higher than Liquor Barn. I rated this establishment slightly higher because of the quality of its food products.
Jan 26, 2008
Photo of Cresant
Reviewed by Cresant from Kentucky

4.5/5  rDev +9%
Whole Foods Market has recently expanded it's already great beer section. They now stock some glassware and have created a room temperature display (shelves are about 5' x 10' ) in addition to the large chilled section.

There are approximately 175 different 6 packs in the cooler (44 packs across X 4 shelves). There are many singles and chilled bombers to the right of the 6 packs. The bottom shelf of the refrigerated section is devoted to cases and sample packs. There are two additional beer coolers in the regular grocery aisles with singles and packs. You cannot take singles out of the six packs but they do have a pretty good selection of singles.

Old Plowshare, Samuel Smith, and Bison organic beers are available. Shawn is the beer guy, he knows alot about his products.

Here is a list of just some of the offerings: Blugrass Brewing Co. (BBC) 6-packs and bombers, Traquair House Ale, Aventinus, Breckenridge, Arcadia, DFH, Bell's, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, Ayinger, Warsteiner, Abita, Hitachino Nest, Floris Apple, Liefman's, Lindemans, La Binchoise Blonde, Delirium Tremens, Abbey Affligem Noel, Ommegang, Tripel Karmeliet, Rochefort, Unibroue, Baltika, Augustiner Brau, Clipper City, Coniston Bluebird Bitter, Westmalle, Great Lakes, Buffalo Bill's Pumkin Ale, Czechvar, Corsendonk, Red Seal Ale, Orval, Belhaven, Duvel, Red Stripe, Left Hand, Summit, Great Divide, Kingfisher, North Coast, Weihenstephaner, full line of Stone (including Anniversary and 06.06.06.), full line of Rogue, and the more common SN, Harpoon, Goose Island, Pilsner Urquell, Newcastle, Shiner, Heineken, etc.

The selection is very good and the turn over seems to be good, so no dusty old beer.

Prices are often a little higher but not always. Specials are always offered.

Overall a very good selection, easy to reach from the expressway (next door to The Mall St. Matthews), very clean, and decent prices. Add it's nice to get great food and beer in the same store/stop.
Sep 07, 2006
Whole Foods Market in Louisville, KY
Place rating: 4.13 out of 5 with 19 ratings