The Wine Stop

Dropped by Saturday 7/17/21. They have a few bottles including some hard to find Alesmiths and Hermitage beers I wanted to buy, but they wouldn’t sell them. They are stopping all beer sales, and returning the remaining bottles to the “warehouse” whatever that is. Beer store no more. Just wine.

This place had just moved as of my visit - I updated the address for the listing. They were still unpacking in the new location so perhaps this review is a bit premature, but here goes. Space is very small. Basically bottle around the sides and one double sided shelf in the middle. Small fridge by the front door contains beer, as does the small display on the back of the center aisle, and some space in back. Not a lot of bottles here, but there was a lot of vintage stuff on display -- Old FW Anniversary bottles, Parabola, Sucaba, GI BCS-Coffee from 2014. I got interested until I looked at the price -- $29 for a FY anniversary XVIII seemed a bit crazy to me. There is a small tasting bar here too, not going yet, but the owner said it would be for wine, not beer. Not really a beer destination unless you are looking to pay for some vintage grabs.

Growing up in the area and then on my subsequent trips back for holidays and other random returns, I’ve probably walked by this place 100 times. I finally stopped in because someone added it to RateBeer.

The store is probably 95% wine and spirits, but there is some beer here, almost all in the portable cooler. The beer selection here is kind of small, but the quality is pretty solid. A lot of Bruery, Jolly Pumpkin, AleSmith, Firestone, and Goose Island. A handful of special releases in the mix, so that’s kind of neat. Prices are on the higher side, particularly for the special stuff.

There is a little tasting bar in the back as well, though there was nothing going on while I was there.

Visited December 23. 2013.

This is an interesting place. First off, it’s right on the strip on Burlingame Ave. The rent has to be pretty high here. Secondly, they have a tasting bar in the back, or so it would seem. I walked in there and there were two people (presumably customers) sitting at one of the tables without drinks and with a box of pizza. Maybe they don’t serve drinks before a certain time (I was there around 4pm) but there were no employees to be found in that section of the store. Actually, the only employee that I saw at all (including at the register) was a guy stocking shelves.

The store is mostly dedicated to wine, as the name would imply. The beer is all contained within a couple of fridges near the back, opposite the bar area. I counted four doors with beer in them. Ecclectic assortment in my opinion. Midnight Sun XXX Black IPA, all of the Bear Republic Racers (V, X, Cafe 15, and Black), several Evil Twin beers, some Ruhstaller, and Firestone XVII. This is all in addition to some Belgian greats like Chimay Blue, Orval, Rodenbach Grand Cru, St Bernardus 12, oaked La Trappe, and St Feullien Saison. The prices were actually pretty reasonable on everything. If it wasn’t the middle of the holiday season I would have stayed longer and bought some things but as it was I was ready to get the hell out of there. I’ll likely be back at some point, maybe a quick stop while taking Cal Train to/from SF since this is walking distance from the station.

Pretty sure these guys ship as well. The employee stocking shelves was putting orders together at the same time.

Great Craft Beer place!