Hey All, I recently moved to Santa Monica from Texas and have been trying to get a lay of the beer land. Any advice for the best bottle shops out this way? I'm super close to the Whole Foods on Lincoln in Venice. They have a nice little selection and probably the place I'll go for a lot of regular line-up stuff nearby. Seem to be a little light on six-pack varieties and only get a few of the limited bombers. Davey Jones liquor is also close by. Small selection, but they seem to get Stone's best offerings. Awkward markups on some of the beers, though (like Hop Stoopid is basically $1.50 more than most places). Basically no good six/four packs. What am I missing that doesn't require me to drive all over L.A. to put good beer in my fridge?
In short: Westside- Wally's, Vendome Beverly Hills, Beverage Warehouse (Culver/Marina), various assorted Whole Foods/Bevmos Downtown-Ramirez Liquor Valley-Valley Beverage, Vendome Toluca Lake Atwater Village: Bill's Liquor Long Beach: Stearns Liquor, California Heights Market
Welcome to the hood. I am often seen at beer tasting night at the Lincoln Whole Foods, which is on Fridays. If you come by say hi.
Welcome to the Westside. We dont have too many options for good beer around here. Vendome on Olympic is the best spot around, by a longshot. But thats over in Beverly Hills near Doheny. The closest spot near you is probably Duck Blind on Montana and 11th in Santa Monica. Much more of a Wine shop than a beers shop, but they have some gems in their small collection. The next closest spot to you is probably Wally's on Westwood near Olympic. Nice enough place, but theyre going through a remodel right now so their normally small beer selection is even tougher to find good stuff in. So in short: just head over to Vendome. It's worth the extra five minutes. And you wont be disappointed. And by next year (maybe) Firestone will have growler fills right by Lincoln and Venice. So stay put. Heh.
Oh shit, I had forgotten all about Beverage Warehouse. That place is real close to you and has a crap ton of beer, especially if you like buying in bulk. All of the below suggestions are great btw.
jmgrub's list is solid. I would just add the various Total Wines. They have a good selection of everyday craft beers, and for me at least, I can buy singles.
One of the reasons why you don't see to many six pack varieties is because Cali breweries, along with many of the out-of-state breweries that distribute here, like to package their beer in the premium formats. Probably has something to do with making more money per ounce...
Star Liquor at Main/Bay in Santa Monica has a decent selection. Vendome BH is moving to Robertson/Gregory in January also ya'll FYI.
Thanks for the help, everyone. I've never stopped in at Star Liquor, so I'll have to check that one out (seems closest of the recommendations). I'm at the opposite corner of Santa Monica from the BevMo (I'm right on the Santa Monica/Venice border), but I'll have to get over there. Went to Whole Foods tonight in search of Sierra Nevada Celebration and was in luck. Their selection actually seems to be looking up. The first few times I was just curious why they didn't even have Torpedo, but most of the regular lineups for the California breweries are present. I grabbed the new Better Weather IPA from Golden Road, so that's good... I like to have a couple sixers of solid beers in my fridge and then a few bombers of new things. Things certainly don't seem to be as available or as wide of a selection on the westside as other bottle shops far away, but if you putter around I think you can find most things. I'm still getting used to the differences between the Austin and L.A. beer scenes!
You didn't ask, but for beer bars in S.M. I recommend Daily Pint, Library Alehouse and Father's Office.
Much appreciated. Haven't been to Daily Pint yet, but I'm walking distance from Library Alehouse and have been crushing their happy hour (best happy hour around until somebody convinces me otherwise).
