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Alisal Cellars
Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go
448 Alisal Rd.
Solvang, California, 93464
United States
// CLOSED //
Formerly Bedstemor's Cellars
448 Alisal Rd.
Solvang, California, 93464
United States
// CLOSED //
Formerly Bedstemor's Cellars
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by JayTheFinn:
Reviewed by JayTheFinn from California
3.31/5 rDev -8.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3
3.31/5 rDev -8.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3
It appears they've changed their name from Bedstemor's to Alisal Cellars. Not sure how recent that is, but since they're in the middle of remodeling the room, I'd say it's fairly recent.
With all the bakeries, restaurants and gift shops crowded on top of one another you might miss this place (I did numerous times). There are literally gift shops right on top of Alisal Cellars, and that would be because it's underground. You walk down a flight of steps into a somewhat chilly, dimly lit, catacomb-like room with wine bottles spread out on display all over the place. The relatively smaller beer selection is up against the back wall.
Beers include various locals as well as items from around the world. I recall seeing Lost Coast, Anderson Valley, Rogue, Humboldt Brewing, Firestone, Erdinger, Chambly, and Affligem for example. There are 6 rotating taps.
There's a bar that seats about a dozen people and then there's numerous tables and chairs about the place.
The server was friendly and quick, but his knowledge of what he was serving up was lacking bigtime. In his defense, he claimed he hadn't been there in about a week and was rusty.
Overall this is a must-stop if you find yourself in Solvang...and if you live in So Cal, sooner or later you will. If you're not a big fan of shopping for knick-knacks, but your wife or people in your group are, this is the perfect place to get in out of the sun and have a few good brews.
Jul 05, 2006With all the bakeries, restaurants and gift shops crowded on top of one another you might miss this place (I did numerous times). There are literally gift shops right on top of Alisal Cellars, and that would be because it's underground. You walk down a flight of steps into a somewhat chilly, dimly lit, catacomb-like room with wine bottles spread out on display all over the place. The relatively smaller beer selection is up against the back wall.
Beers include various locals as well as items from around the world. I recall seeing Lost Coast, Anderson Valley, Rogue, Humboldt Brewing, Firestone, Erdinger, Chambly, and Affligem for example. There are 6 rotating taps.
There's a bar that seats about a dozen people and then there's numerous tables and chairs about the place.
The server was friendly and quick, but his knowledge of what he was serving up was lacking bigtime. In his defense, he claimed he hadn't been there in about a week and was rusty.
Overall this is a must-stop if you find yourself in Solvang...and if you live in So Cal, sooner or later you will. If you're not a big fan of shopping for knick-knacks, but your wife or people in your group are, this is the perfect place to get in out of the sun and have a few good brews.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Floydster from California
3.51/5 rDev -2.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2.5
3.51/5 rDev -2.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2.5
We went here around 8 pm on a Thursday night which is very late in Solvang time, one of the few places in town that is still open, it is only a few buildings down on the same street from Vin Hus too, you walk down a flight of stairs and make a left into a wide open area with a few spread out tables and four taps including Stella Artois and Sierra Nevada, the atmosphere was cool in here and something I can picture being in Europe, lots of different things going on down here including wine as the focus and beer as the second option, place was older but added to the whole vibe in here, there was a frdige with about fifty different beers including a few decent crafts that are all easily obtainable, some of their Belgians including Duvel and St. Bernardus were their most interesting offerings, did not even noticed they had food but we ate right before going here anyways, cool place if you are looking for a fun place to hang out when everything else is closed but do not go thinking they have a good beer selection, glad I checked it out
Sep 15, 2009Reviewed by barleywinefiend from Washington
3/5 rDev -16.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3
3/5 rDev -16.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3
I went to Solvang looking for this place and found a better place. See Vinhus. I was disappointed at the beer selection on the back wall. They had a lot of Euro macros and some NW brews like Rogue which you can lamost find anywhere. It was downstairs off the main darg in Solvang. Walking in you see wine and then on the back wall you will see the brew selection next to the bar. Nothing special but you might find something you like in there. Not a fan of Euro brews but you may be so check it out when in town. Stay away from Tower Pizza. Bad stuff in my opinion.
Jan 06, 2008Reviewed by DogFood11 from California
3.9/5 rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
3.9/5 rDev +8.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
Brother Thelonious on tap? Yep and 5 other winners as well. The bottled beer must have thinned out a bit because I would guesstimate it at around 40-50 different selections. But and a big BUT the bottles were warm and lined up along the back wall, that kinda takes away from being served up quickly. They have a small cooler by the back wall that contained a small sampling of their bottles but unless the beer you wanted was in the cooler you'd have to pull one off the wall and tuck it away for some cooling time and hope nobody else buys it in the meantime....kind of odd. They have wine and champagne tastings for a fee as well as a beer sampling of the on-tap offerings. Its a decent environment as you are actually underground in an actuall cellar type atmosphere. I grabbed a bottle of the Chouffe Dobbelin IPA tripel and immediately put it in the cooler, had a north coast brother thelonious while I was waiting. Food consisted of packaged cheese and meats in a cooler. A good stop.
Nov 12, 2006Reviewed by instrumentality from California
4.36/5 rDev +21.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4
4.36/5 rDev +21.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4
Thanks in part to the movie "Sideways," Solvang, once a quaint little Danish town and a dot on the "wine country" map, is now overcrowded, overpriced, and overbooked for much of the year. However, it's still a fun place to visit, especially if you can get there on a weekday when things are a bit more tame. There are plenty of fine establishments at which wine tasting can be had, but for BA's and people who just generally want a laid back, non-snobby atmosphere, the gem of Solvang is Alisal Cellars.
Touted as the oldest, largest, and only underground winery in Solvang, this place has quite a bit of space and quite a lot of variety. In addition to the sea of bottles, they do various types of wine tasting, champagne tasting (on weekends), sake tasting (in the summer), and even have an espresso bar. There's a small case with a few chilled snack food options as well. But most important to us...they also have beer.
The tasting menu always includes a selection of six beers drawn from their six rotating taps, generally poured from lightest to darkest, sometimes with a framboise or peche or something else unusual thrown in. This was the place that turned my girlfriend on to Lindeman's Framboise and caused a chain reaction of born again beer lovers among our circle of friends.
Personally, I've never been overwhelmed by their beer tasting menu. It's what's on the back wall that ensures that I will always make a point of visiting this place and spending at least an hour there every time I visit Solvang. The back wall has several shelves stuffed with bombers and sixers of nothing but craft beer. Last I checked, selections include several offerings from Unibroue, a couple of types of Delirium, Rogue, Lindeman's, Chimay, and numerous others. In addition, they have a beer fridge that usually contains most of what they have on the shelves, ready to be cracked open and consumed right there.
I'll usually start with a tasting of some sort and then move on to a bomber or so. I've found that while the focus of this place is wine, the servers tend to be pretty knowledgeable about everything they serve, and if the person I ask isn't all that educated, he/she will call over someone who is. The result is that if I describe what I like, they can generally recommend something comparable (or better), and once I've chosen a particular brew, they can do a pretty solid job of describing what I'm getting myself into.
Once I've sufficiently liquored up, they're always full of plenty of good advice on where to grab a bite to eat, whether it's a popular hangout or some new spot that's a bit off the beaten trail.
Prices range from competitive to a bit higher than liquor store prices, but this isn't a liquor store, it's a bar/wine cellar, so I'd consider them pretty reasonable.
The atmosphere is usually pretty fun - lots of 20- and 30-somethings, as well as some of the hipper members of the older crowd. I'm not the sort who likes to drag random strangers into conversation, but I've yet to visit this place without meeting at least a couple of interesting people and babbling about every subject under the sun.
Definitely a must for any beer advocate who happens to find himself in wine country.
Jul 28, 2006Touted as the oldest, largest, and only underground winery in Solvang, this place has quite a bit of space and quite a lot of variety. In addition to the sea of bottles, they do various types of wine tasting, champagne tasting (on weekends), sake tasting (in the summer), and even have an espresso bar. There's a small case with a few chilled snack food options as well. But most important to us...they also have beer.
The tasting menu always includes a selection of six beers drawn from their six rotating taps, generally poured from lightest to darkest, sometimes with a framboise or peche or something else unusual thrown in. This was the place that turned my girlfriend on to Lindeman's Framboise and caused a chain reaction of born again beer lovers among our circle of friends.
Personally, I've never been overwhelmed by their beer tasting menu. It's what's on the back wall that ensures that I will always make a point of visiting this place and spending at least an hour there every time I visit Solvang. The back wall has several shelves stuffed with bombers and sixers of nothing but craft beer. Last I checked, selections include several offerings from Unibroue, a couple of types of Delirium, Rogue, Lindeman's, Chimay, and numerous others. In addition, they have a beer fridge that usually contains most of what they have on the shelves, ready to be cracked open and consumed right there.
I'll usually start with a tasting of some sort and then move on to a bomber or so. I've found that while the focus of this place is wine, the servers tend to be pretty knowledgeable about everything they serve, and if the person I ask isn't all that educated, he/she will call over someone who is. The result is that if I describe what I like, they can generally recommend something comparable (or better), and once I've chosen a particular brew, they can do a pretty solid job of describing what I'm getting myself into.
Once I've sufficiently liquored up, they're always full of plenty of good advice on where to grab a bite to eat, whether it's a popular hangout or some new spot that's a bit off the beaten trail.
Prices range from competitive to a bit higher than liquor store prices, but this isn't a liquor store, it's a bar/wine cellar, so I'd consider them pretty reasonable.
The atmosphere is usually pretty fun - lots of 20- and 30-somethings, as well as some of the hipper members of the older crowd. I'm not the sort who likes to drag random strangers into conversation, but I've yet to visit this place without meeting at least a couple of interesting people and babbling about every subject under the sun.
Definitely a must for any beer advocate who happens to find himself in wine country.
Reviewed by Zorro from California
3.49/5 rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5
3.49/5 rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5
Alisal Cellars as this place is called now is an upscale Beer/Wine/Sake cellar that does lots of tastings and also sells bottles and servers Beer Wine and Sake as a bar. This place is underground so look for the stairs and the Erdinger beer sign out front. Inside the place is very nice with mostly a walnut interior.
One downside of the place is that since it is in a tourist destination it can go from no one there to crowded as hell in seconds! Solvang is a popular stop for Asian tourists that always seem to only travel in packs of 100 or more so if you can't get in the door do something else for 15 minutes and then try again.
They run 6 beers on tap at all times and NEVER will anyone of those be a Macro brew. The day I visited this was what was on tap: Spaten Premium Lager, Gonzo Imperial Porter, Scrimshaw Pilsner, Firestone Double Barrel Ale, Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema, and Lindemans Pêche. Beer tasting costs $6 or $8 if you want a glass too.
Beers stocked run about 100 in number and NEVER will an American macrobrew be on the shelves. This place tends to concentrate Unibroue and high alcohol brews. Turnover on beers is very quick so you have no hope of finding an old bottle of Unibroue 10 on the shelf.
Not a place to drive a long way to get too but since it is in Solvang there is a good chance any Southern Californian will find themselves drug out here in wine country hell. Have hope there is this little place and the Vinhus just up the street.
Jul 31, 2005One downside of the place is that since it is in a tourist destination it can go from no one there to crowded as hell in seconds! Solvang is a popular stop for Asian tourists that always seem to only travel in packs of 100 or more so if you can't get in the door do something else for 15 minutes and then try again.
They run 6 beers on tap at all times and NEVER will anyone of those be a Macro brew. The day I visited this was what was on tap: Spaten Premium Lager, Gonzo Imperial Porter, Scrimshaw Pilsner, Firestone Double Barrel Ale, Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema, and Lindemans Pêche. Beer tasting costs $6 or $8 if you want a glass too.
Beers stocked run about 100 in number and NEVER will an American macrobrew be on the shelves. This place tends to concentrate Unibroue and high alcohol brews. Turnover on beers is very quick so you have no hope of finding an old bottle of Unibroue 10 on the shelf.
Not a place to drive a long way to get too but since it is in Solvang there is a good chance any Southern Californian will find themselves drug out here in wine country hell. Have hope there is this little place and the Vinhus just up the street.
Alisal Cellars in Solvang, CA
Place rating:
3.6 out of
5 with
6 ratings
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