Friday, March 13, 2009

K&B Wine Cellar

I have read the positive reviews on this liquor store (that is under new ownership since November) and was in the SDSU area the other day and paid a visit. It is an impressive store. It has been redesigned with high ceilings and plenty of inventory. It has the feel of a cellar. It is in a shopping center just north of I-8, off of College Blvd in Del Cerro (6380 Del Cerro Blvd). It is located next to the Windmill Farms grocery store in the old Del Cerro Liquor location. (The Del Cerro Liquor sign still sits above K&B Wine Cellar.)

The "beer guy" is Adam. I met him, he is beervangelist and knows his product. K&B has an impressive selection. It has thirteen beer refrigerators. It has a wide selection of local crafts, Belgians (I bought a St Bernardus Tripel), crafts from around the country and macros. In addition to the refrigerators, it has a twenty-four foot long shelf with four rows of bottled beer. There were some hard to find beers here - Stone's Vertical Epic 06.06.06 and 07.07.07, Deschutes 20th Anniversary Wit, and St. Bernardus's Christmas beer, to name the ones I remembered. The prices were OK, I did not see any smoking deals.

At the front of the store, there is a coffee counter and deli that serves breakfast and lunch. When I was there construction was under way for outside patio seating. Adam said that he plans fifteen taps and is waiting for approval. He plans to have the best tap list east of 30th Street.

It is encouraging that people are opening and expanding businesses in this economy. K&B Wine Cellar and Ocean Beach's Olive Tree Marketplace have filled a void in the middle of San Diego County for people looking for good beer. K&B has an excellent inventory that I suspect will improve as it grows. K&B is worth a visit if you're looking for quality beers, and the prospect of fifteen taps will make it a must stop for beer lovers.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was in yesterday. Sounds like the taps are about 5 or 6 weeks away. Can't wait, five minutes from my house. Some nice Cantillons in there. I was able to grab a couple of those '06 Vertical Epics for $14.99 a piece instead of the marked $19.99. Just mentioned to Adam that it seemed overpriced. I still think what I paid was too much for that beer, a simple belgian dark ale with some age on it. Worth $9.99 maybe.

Adam gets some good stuff, picked up Consecration from him a while back.

Rational Realist said...

That is a good deal Adam knocked off $5. I have one VE 04, and a bunch of 05s,06s and 07s and drank all but one of my 08s. I am a little dubious about the condition of the older VEs. I think I'll go back later in the week and get the St Bernardus holiday beer.

Anonymous said...

We live in the neighborhood and seem to have problems every time we go to the place. They lose our phone number when checking on ordering some wine for us. Since they try to do food service as well as sell wine, they are too busy to handle a counter customer and serve food with 2 employees sometimes. One clerk became augumentative about a purchase. Not a good experience.

Rational Realist said...

I went in last week after a long absence. It looks like the restaurant area is now a big focus. I still found beers mispriced (same beer with two prices), while others seemed like good values and others are expensive. That's too bad about your experience, but you have Windmill Farms next door, and its selection is very good, and it sells Alpine beers.