Whole Foods Market - SoMa

I’m contributing place reviews of San Francisco’s Whole Foods locations. This is for the SOMA branch, which is just a short hike from Union Square and the downtown shopping district—for those looking for a general spread of regional and widely distro’d craft.

 

Stopped by when I was in SF since it was just down the street. I visited this place after visiting City Beer, so my opinion is based on a comparison. Well, there isn't much comparison. This Whole Foods had a good number of beers (all in the fridge, from what I could tell), but they didn't really have any special releases. Good number of Belgian beers on one end and good singles on the other. Worth a stop, but not if you are seeking harder-to-find options.

A real good location for a chance to get some brews.

As with all Whole Foods, it varies on selection determined on how much shelf space is given. Here there is an entire solid isle dedicated to brews.

Real good selection, with a lot of variety, even a few broken single 12 oz bottles as well. However, there are quite a few items on the shelf that have been sitting, and definitely past prime, so make sure you check.

Great stop, and also with very good pricing as well, worth a stop.

 

 

 

 

 

Decided to stop by since it was near our hotel and was happy that I did. They had a pretty good bottle selection including a few limited release seasonals that I didn't end up finding at any of the bottle shops. Overall selection is much better than your average Whole Foods and prices were comparable to the average bottle shop prices in the area. Given this store's proximity to Market Street, this is an easy place to make a quick stop on a trip to San Fran.

The selection here is what I would describe as "typical" for a Whole Foods at its best. And that means that there are just a ton of beers to be had. They won't be getting any of the obnoxiously obscure beers in, but they do get all of the more widely distributed good stuff.

There is one long cooler with just about anything you'd want to see. As with all the other well stocked Whole Foods, you'll most likely find some nice rarities here from time to time as they are released. Even if you don't live in the area, it may be worth your time to check this place out. It won't have the high amount of rare stuff that you'd find at a committed beer store, but there sure is a lot of stuff here.

I stopped at this Whole Foods 2 weeks ago during a visit to the west coast. The selection of west coast beers was as good as I'd hoped it would be, including good things from Firestone Walker, Russian River, Bear Republic, Bruery, Deschutes, etc. Prices were about normal for all selections, despite the probable high rent for the real estate.

The location is fairly convenient from 101 and also a short walk from Union Square. If you're in town for a conference you'll probably be close to this store.

I've been to a lot of Whole Foods stores and I've divided them in my mind into 2 groups, those with normal beer selection (<25 beers) and those with a choice amount of local + import beers (>100). The 4th street location is in the second group, better than NYC or CT locations and somewhat competitive with SC and Columbus operations.

When you enter any Whole Foods establishment, you know what to expect: gourmet food at gourmet food prices, and a beer section which is given the same thoughtfulness as its wine section.
Even so, the store on 4th St in SF has the most impressive beer section of any WFM I've been in, in the Bay Area or elsewhere (including their Columbus location, 2nd largest in the chain).
It extends the entire length of an aisle; the same amount of space given its frozen section. Nearly every craft and import beer available in the area seems to be found here...from California & Western US crafts, to every German & British offering readily distributed to the US, to a well thought-out Belgian section, to all the current Russian River releases.
And all fairly affordbale, when considering the location and fact WFM is known for its high prices in general.
The guys stocking were almost hoping I'd have questions to ask, so I threw them a few bones, given we all love to talk beer.
Nice experience...don't pass it up just because it's a supermarket.

This Whole Foods, located on 4th and Harrison, has a surprisingly great beer selection. Almost all of the beer is kept cold, and the cold shelf is enormous. Stone, Deschutes, North Coast, Anchor, Firestone Walker and Lagunitas are well represented here, amongst many other locals. I've found many a limited release here, including all of the Firestone anniversary ales. Nice variety of imports too, with one of the bigger selections of lambic and gueuze I've seen at a grocery store (though it seems to be dwindling as of late). Prices are standard, I've never seen anything marked up here. Well worth a stop, and not far from City Beer.

A pretty damn good beer selection, especially for a grocery store. It's easily the best beer selection I've seen in a Whole Foods. A great selection, lots of local stuff (including 7 Russian Rivers), Belgians and other imports. Plenty of stuff that would definitely be considered rare and hard to find. Everything is in a cooler and they sell singles. I was also struck by some low prices, something you almost never see at Whole Paycheck. For example Rochefoft 8 was $4.99 which is 50 cents cheaper than Bevmo.

This whole foods in downtown San Francisco (SoMa) had the best beer selection of any supermarket in the city! The selection is always very fresh and it rotates quite frequently as well. The beer guy here is pretty good and open to ordering suggestions and the prices are on the low side of things for a Whole Foods store...the wine selection is also killer here as welll, and I highly suggest checking this whole foods out when you are in the area...if you can't find everything you are looking for at the specialty beer stores in town...Na Zdrowie !