Berkeley Bowl - Heinz Avenue

Store

920 Heinz Ave
Berkeley, California, 94710-2717
United States

(510) 898-9555 | map
berkeleybowl.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.49
Reviews:
11
Ratings:
18
pDev:
6.24%
View: Place Reviews
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Ratings by willjschmidt:
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Reviewed by willjschmidt from California

4.5/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
A large grocery store located in Berkeley. This is one of the best grocery store beer selections that I've ever seen. It's on par with some of the larger Whole Foods in the area. One of the pluses is that everything is in a giant cooler. Huge selection of american craft as well as imports. Prices are decent, about the same as you'd see most other places. One thing that stood out was that they had about 10 different Alesmith selections, which are rarely seen in the Bay Area. This place is definitely worth stopping in if you're in the area.
Jun 11, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.08 by BarrelAgedG from California

Jul 29, 2018
Photo of BayAreaJoe
Reviewed by BayAreaJoe from California

4.7/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 5
This place still has a huge selection, probably the best for a grocery store of any kind in the area.

They very regularly get rotating and one-off beers, just like a bottleshop would.

Most everything can be purchased by the single can or bottle except a few of the newer beers. Estimate about 75-80% of the stock can be purchased as singles.
Apr 05, 2018
 
Rated: 4.45 by grilledsquid from California

Mar 22, 2018
 
Rated: 4.23 by frasergrove from California

May 20, 2016
 
Rated: 4.23 by vtbeerandbud from Vermont

Apr 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.95 by drewone from California

Dec 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by atpca from California

Jul 17, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by SanFranJake from California

Jun 22, 2014
Photo of terence
Reviewed by terence from California

4.79/5  rDev +6.7%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.5
Berkeley Bowl West has huge selection of beers, ranging from all the popular NorCal brews as well as a lot of hard to find European ales. Everything is an open cooler unit.

The best thing about this place is that all four and six pack beers can be purchased by it individual bottles. I would recommend this place for any craft beer newbie. It is a great opportunity to find and discover all the different kinds beers out there, without committing to a 22 oz bomber or 6 pack.
Jul 02, 2013
Photo of elNopalero
Reviewed by elNopalero from Michigan

4.76/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75
Come here for the groceries, stay for the beer!

Well, not exactly, as they don’t allow on-site consumption. But: if you’re looking for an alternative to Whole Foods for whatever reason (price, selection, corporate practices) you’ll find it in the Berkeley Bowl’s offering of such a wide variety of produce—it’s one-stop shopping is reflective of the Bay’s diverse cultural landscape—as well as organic, crafty, specialty and hard-to-find products. That alone has made me a BB shopper (starting with their original location) and that’s what keeps me coming back although I’ve since moved across the bridge. Well, that and the amazing beer selection rivaling any number of bottle shops and specialty stores I have visited. Someone’s done their homework here because there’s things that until recently I only saw in one or two stores elsewhere (City Beer Store, Healthy Spirits) at a few dollars less even.

Worth a visit for the beer selection alone!
Jan 31, 2013
Photo of Billolick
Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4.4/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Referred here by foodie friends we were staying with in Berkeley…simply AWESOME and great looking store, just south/west of downtown. Modern large building with a separate café area to sit down and eat in. They have the a truly sick selection of all things food, especially impressed by the variety of veggies and fruits, cheese, breads, meat, fish, bakery, sauces, spices…you name it and they cover if food wise….beer also impressive with one HUGE open cooler unit to the left as you enter. Monster selection of all the Calif. goodies, regional heavy hitters and nation and international usuals + more. Well worth a visit to get some grub and brew if in the general area. Nice place as well to start the day with multiple coffee options or for a casual bite and great slice of life of this vibrant, super crunchy, beer advanced, foodie focused, politically/environmentally correct community.
Nov 06, 2011
Photo of DaveHS
Reviewed by DaveHS from California

4.01/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Excellent selection. Looks like a regular supermarket aisle from a distance, but when you start scanning the bottles...wow. This place has hundreds of top notch bottles, including lots of rare stuff. Found Tilquin gueuze here long after it had sold out at every shop in San Francisco, as well as a few beers from new nanobreweries I'd never heard of. I had a brief conversation with the beer buyer, who was knowledgeable and pleasant. Went in with the sole intention of browsing, spent over a hundred bucks.
Oct 31, 2011
Photo of colonelforbin
Reviewed by colonelforbin from California

4.7/5  rDev +4.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Fantastic selection and great prices. Lots of great imported beers, all the stuff you'd like to see too in that regard.

Huge cooler, really quite an extensive selection. Larger variety of beers from certain breweries that you only see a handful of varieties from at other stores (Midnight Sun, for instance). They also get most special releases from breweries that distribute to them.

Big fan of this place and I suggest checking it out if you are in the area. You likely will not be disappointed. This place is underrated.

One other thing, you can mix and match 6 packs with just a very slight per bottle increase, a great deal for sure.
Sep 17, 2011
Photo of avaldivia
Reviewed by avaldivia from California

4.63/5  rDev +3.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Absolutely amazing. The selection this place has is great. I drive well over 30 minutes and pay bridge toll to go to this place and do so happily.

The beer aisle is just that. It is an aisle that is completely refrigerated. The selection is great. You will find all the usual suspects and a lot of west coast brews but they have a really nice amount of imported brews.

My latest trip there I left with: Peche Mortel, Pepe Nero from Goose Island, Hellhound from Dogfish Head, a couple of brews from Midnight Sun and AleSmith

This place is a must for anyone wanting a great selection for a good price. I have never had any customer service when there but i like to look around and not be bothered so I was okay with it.

Also, the rest of the grocery store is really cool. Great produce section and the food is good.
May 31, 2011
Photo of veinless
Reviewed by veinless from Ohio

4.55/5  rDev +1.3%
This place blows your average department store out of the water not only in groceries, but beer too. Midnight sun all over the place, including berserker, TREAT, obliterator and more. California beers aplenty, with the notable exception of Russian river, at least the last two times I've gone. Tons of Belgian selections, including lots of fantome, and really a fantastic display, with an entire aisle of immaculately kept bottles. Service was fine, one guy I'm guessing makes sure the beer stock is good, but I haven't gotten to meet him. MYO six pack is rewarded with a 10% off, an added bonus, and their bottles are all fresh it seemed, with nothing dusty, and the ipas pretty new on the shelves. Alesmith ipa was 5.50 there, an awesome deal I thought. Prices in general are good though. Really a fantastic establishment...I would go here just for the food, but the beer is stealing the show.
Jan 26, 2011
Photo of sfprint
Reviewed by sfprint from Germany

5/5  rDev +11.4%
My jaw hit the floor when I saw how large the cooler was. What an excellent selection, even larger than the other Berkeley Bowl. I think the top row is entirely bombers. 6 Packs galore, from everywhere. They even have shitty beer from France, Spain and Italy. How bizarre! And prices are quite reasonable, often cheaper than from other places. And the beers they have here, I would say 15-25% of them are different than the other Berkeley Bowl.

If you're in Berkeley, between here and Ledger's are the only places you need to go.
Jul 08, 2010
Photo of Falcon91Wolvrn03
Reviewed by Falcon91Wolvrn03 from California

4.59/5  rDev +2.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Berkeley Bowl West has the largest beer refrigerator of any store I've been to. Very impressive. When I saw the length of the cooler, I couldn't wait to see what was on the shelf.

The selection was outstanding, although I didn't find any Russian River. They carried lots of Rogue, Deschutes, Stone, North Coast, Bear Republic, Unibroue, Allagash, Oscar Blues, and many others.

Prices are excellent, and each beer has the price of both the 6-pak and the single; something I've never seen before except at the other Berkeley Bowl.

Overall, this is a great beer store, with the potential to be even better due to the massive size of their beer fridge.
Dec 18, 2009
Berkeley Bowl - Heinz Avenue in Berkeley, CA
Place rating: 4.49 out of 5 with 18 ratings