Hello fellow BA'ers. On a recent trip to New Orleans and the north shore I was on a quest to find the best bottle shops. Of course I found Stein's in NOLA and Aquistapace's in Covington. However, here in my area I have 4 bottle shops within 1.5 miles of my house that put Aquistapace's to shame, and 1 of the 4 far outpaces Stein's, while the other 3 are very close. IMO. So my question is, is NOLA lacking a good craft presence for no good reason, especially when it comes to retail, or is it because NOLA just isn't ready for it yet? I ask because I was recently layed off from my job. My wife and I are looking to move somewhere new and New Orleans is her hometown. My education, work experience, and a probable partner from the food and beverage world have me seriously thinking of moving there and opening a bottle shop/tap room. From my experience there, it really seems like NOLA would be a prime candidate for another shop, but I feel like I must be missing something. Thoughts?
There are plenty grocery stores in New Orleans with good selections. But I'm sure the city could use another. Not sure I understand your knock on Stein's.
I'm not sure where I knocked Stein's at all? They are a great shop. My point was that they are by far the best in New Orleans, but after them, there seems to be a big drop off, and in my area, which has a similar poplulation to NOLA, we have multiple stores that seem to be right on par with Stein's, or better. Not a knock on them at all, just an observation that other mid size cities have multiple shops like them. I guess what I'm trying to get at in the end is the answer to whether or not NOLA can sustain more store's like Steins?
I think the answer to that question is kinda up in the air. No one really knows yet because the beer scene is just starting to take a major presence in the city. Sure Stein's is the only great shop in Nola right now, but others like Elio's are up and coming and get every major release just like Steins does today. We also have breweries that are just starting up like Courtyard Brewery who is incredibly popular, but is just a taproom currently. Wayward Owl brewery is coming and I have heard great things about their brewer. NOLA brewery is just getting their sour/funk barrel room started which has been getting good reviews as well. So the growth is already here in NOLA, but Im not sure where that limit is. NOLA is first and foremost a liquor city, not a beer city. Beer is gaining traction but who knows how long that will last. Also its not like anyone here has any major trouble getting limited beer releases(Ghost in the machine for example) from Stein's or Elios, etc. either. So demand isn't "too high" I would say. Take that for what its worth.
FWIW, Acquistipace's used to be a legit spot to hit up for some HTF &/or limited beer. The past couple times I went, it seems like they quit caring about beer and just carry the basic lines of any brand now. Or may'be the locals just buy HTF releases quickly and I was SOL those days. Sad to see it somewhat fall off.
Baton Rouge >>>> New Orleans in Craft beer New Orleans does have Courtyard, Avenue Pub, Bulldog and Nola brewing but many restaurants in the French Quarter still serve only Abita. Baton Rouge has the 2 Chimes locations, Tin Roof, Pelican House, Bulldog, CBD, and others at the moment..... Although New Orleans gets Great Raft and Baton Rouge doesn't which disappoints me.... I think Great Raft is the best brewery in Louisiana even though Parish distributes the best beer (Ghost in the Machine.)
I'd be willing to bet it could sustain another place like Stein's and the warehouse district may be the optimal location. One thing I should note is that right now, Stein seems to get ALL the special Shelton Brothers releases (read: Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, and other lambics) that are allotted to New Orleans bottle shops. For example, when Framboos hit last month, I'm pretty sure Stein's and Avenue Pub (for onsite consumption) are the only places in New Orleans that got any of that. Same thing with Cantillon. I'm not sure if other places like Elios and Whole Foods just don't care or have anyone there knowledgeable about rare lambics or what, but he seems gets it all. Now, maybe they throw other stores a bone here or there with something like classic gueuze, but I haven't heard of it recently. So, my point is, if you want to be on the same level of his operation, you'll need to be getting a piece of that pie. And I'm not sure how easy that will be for the new guy in town.
No way. Baton Rouge does pretty well with its craft beer bars for a city of its size and gets pretty much everything that Nola gets (I actually find it easier to get rare beers in BR), aside from special stuff that Polly pulls here and there. But there is only one brewery, that is as about "meh" as they come. New Orleans has a lot of breweries in the works.
I went late last year and found some classic gueuze just sitting there like a common shelf turd. Also, I picked up some good fantomes. They don't get all the good stuff, but whatever they get tends to linger a good bit longer than in BR or Nola, from my experience.
well the breweries are nice but as far as places to go and try several different beers Baton Rouge has many more establishments in my opinion. I go to the Nola brewery and I can have some 1 off Nola stuff but nothing else, Courtyard has 1-4 of their own stuff on tap and then 15-20 of other places, and then Avenue is in a class by itself. Baton Rouge only has 1 brewery which is "meh" but some of the one off stuff you get only at the brewery is actually fairly good, then they have many other places to go and grab a beer (not a BMC) than Nola. Only issue is that they are all congested into a small area around College/Corporate.
