Whole Foods Market

BeerSingh

India

4.15/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

One of the good places to go for beer shopping in case you're in and around Fairfax. Beers available on tap to go with all kinds of food - pizza, bbq and seafood. Great atmosphere and people to help you choose. Good selection of international beers as well as both East Coast and West Coast craft beers available.
It is a place where you can go for a haul with your family, lots of stuff there to keep them busy. I had visited the store about a week back when they were just about to host the German beer festival - German beer, food and music, voila !!

09-26-2009 07:43:42 | More by BeerSingh

neorunner

Virginia

4.72/5  rDev +5.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $

I love this place. Its my go-to bar, which is funny because its a supermarket. $3.99 a 10-16oz. pour depending on ABV. Super expensive kegs will carry a $7.99 per pour tag. The double charge kegs are things like KBS, Parabola, DuPont Avec Les Bon Voieux. Yes, DuPont on draft at a supermarket.

Lee, the beer manager, does an amazing job keeping the draft and shelves filled with delicious goodies. He also maintains a facebook page where he posts new bottle arrivals and a continually updated stream of draft status as kegs change out.

Food wise you can grab anything from the shelves, or grab a bite at any of the 4 venues. Personally I do not recommend the Sushi restraunt (they are not affiliated with WF but lease their space in the store). Cheese Town will have the best beers, but you are welcome to enjoy your pour at any of the other venues.

If your significant other is a wine fan they have 10+ different wines at cheese town and a wine room upstairs that is very nice to relax in.

Stop by and say "Hi", odds are I'll be sitting at the end of the bar enjoying a pint.

01-03-2012 21:11:10 | More by neorunner

MRN

Virginia

4.75/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

The Fair Lakes Whole Foods in Fairfax, Virginia is exceptional. I've been told it's one of the largest Whole Foods on the East Coast. Certainly it's the first supermarket I've encountered where a live Jazz trio may be playing in the seafood section on weekends.

They have ten craft beer taps -- two at the "Seafood Shak" food station, two at the "Smoke Haus" BBQ food station, and six at "Cheez Town." You can also pick up food at the other food stations like sushi, pizza, salad buffet, sandwiches, etc. and have a meal with your beer. Lee, their beer guy, keeps the Whole Foods Beer Market Facebook page regularly updated with the current selections and hosts frequent tastings. They will fill any growler and sell their own glass half-gallon jug for around $6. My only peeve is that I wish the Seafood Shak and Smoke Haus also had blackboards listing the current beer selections like Cheez Town.

08-05-2011 12:46:33 | More by MRN

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +2.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped by this place during a recent stop in Fairfax. This ISA supermarket with a very large beer section in the back right corner along with a cool bar that offers a great selection of beers on draft and for growler fills.

The bar had fie or six taps including three rare beers and a few locals. They had Allagash Victor, Allagash Curieux and New Holland Oak Aged Hatter all on tap plus a DIPA from Starr Hill and another local.

The selection of bottles is really impressive carrying lots of imports, locals and other craft. They carry pretty much everything that is distributed to the state including Cantillon, 3 Fontinen, Firestone Walker, Brooklyn, New Holland, Epic, Clown Shoes, DuClaw and a bunch more.

The service here was excellent and better than at most beer establishments. The buyer was there and he was very knowledgeable about beer, answering all of my questions. Nhe was also pouring samples of 6-8 different beers that he chose including Avery 18, Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, FW Union Jack and a few more.

Overall I was shocked at the quality of this place. A huge selection of really good and often rare beers along with great service make this place worthy of repeat visits. Highly recommended if you are in he area.

06-30-2011 03:06:26 | More by corby112

Tripphop

Virginia

4.05/5  rDev -9.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $

Wholefoods in Fair Lakes is a kick ass place to grab a pint. The beer market there is small but has a great selection. The beer manager, Lee, is very knowlegeable and gets in some great stuff. There are three sets of taps in the store at the various restaurants, but all of the high gravity stuff is in the small cheese shop. Lee does a good job of putting quality, food friendly beers at the Seafood Shack and the Smokehouse, which each have two rotating taps. You can get growlers at any station for a pretty reasonable price, and their pints are all around $4, no matter what beer it is. The vibe is a bit odd, beacuse you are drinking in the middle of the grocery store. The service is good depending on who is working. Some people are dicks who ignore you, and some are very friendly and happy to hang out. Very reasonable, and always a good selection.

05-16-2011 03:34:33 | More by Tripphop

sympleesmshn

Virginia

4.58/5  rDev +2.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$$

So Whole Foods is one of my favorite places. Being a vegetarian, it is one of the best places for me to shop. Food there is good, but a bit expensive. Since this is not a food review, lets move on to the beer! They have a nice selection of bottles. If I need a special bottle of beer, it is one of my first two stops. Whether it is first or second depends on where I am and what day of the week it is (they have great specials on food based on the day of the week). They also have great specials on game days in the sports bar. The one thing that I had to dock them on is that in the beer area it is hard to find someone to help you. It hasn't mattered for me so far, but it is nice to know someone is there just in case. They also do beer tasting classes, which I haven't been able to make, but look interesting.

12-31-2010 20:43:30 | More by sympleesmshn

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I've been to most of the Whole Foods locations in the area, and this one is near the top of the heap for sure. To begin with, it's one of the biggest I've been to in my day. The beer area is tucked back in the far right corner, but there's plenty to be had. Many singles and sixers, both in the cooler and on displays. In addition, they now have growler fills, occasionally offering some treats like Flying Dog's Coffee Stout and Oskar Blues GUBNA. And the prices on the growler fills are pretty solid, if you ask me. The bottle prices are iffy, but not much higher (if at all) than anywhere else around here. The service was friendly and willing to help, but, as per usual, I rebuffed them. I need no service! If you're in the area, make it a point to stop in and see what they've got to offer!

06-25-2010 08:17:56 | More by TMoney2591

BurkeBeerGuy

Virginia

4.18/5  rDev -6.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

Guys:

Whole Foods Fair Lakes is now filling growlers. Yes, you read that correctly. Ten taps -- two at the seafood bar, two at the BBQ bar, and six at the cheese bar. All high-end craft beers; a couple of weekends ago, they had (sigh) Oskar Blues Gubna! Had Hemp Ale Organic Brown Ale last weekend; the beers switch VERY frequently (the Gubna was gone in three days; word must have gotten out), so you know it'll be fresh, even if your chances of finding the same thing twice aren't that great. For the Fairfax beerheads, the world is now a brighter and shinier place.

A new center of the universe; go early and often.

05-16-2010 17:34:56 | More by BurkeBeerGuy

qchic

Maryland

4.25/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

Stopped off of I66 when I remembered that I'd heard incredible things about this place that is visible from the highway (actually I had passed the exit already so I got off at the next exit and went back). Whole Foods Markets tend to have at least decent beer sections, but this one is clearly well thought out and respectfully displayed. On a sunday night, I didn't expect any of the resident gurus to be present, but their efforts were obvious. One could find bigger selections, but I'll take quality over quantity. With many seasonal offerings and a few growlers, I'm assuming there is quick turnover. Since I was continuing my drive I also couldn't take advantage of the reasonably priced beers on tap, but the fact that they're available is amazing. I could see making a field day out of a trip to this whole foods and I'll at least make this a regular stop when passing through.

01-02-2010 17:39:54 | More by qchic

BierRobvocate

Virginia

4.33/5  rDev -3.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

A must visit for the beer lover in Fairfax.

The selection... while not all inclusive of the beers I love... is immense and beautiful. I frequently find all the beers I want to buy for a 2 week period with one stop to Whole Foods, where as a trip to Total Wine usually leaves me in need of another stop (usually by Whole Foods). The prices can be a tad higher than what I would pay at Total Wine or other local beer/wine stores, but I have found some good bargains (especially on the displays throughout the store). I don't tend toward imports very often, preferring to live my beer-life amongst American Craft Brews... but when I do decide to venture abroad, Lee (the beer buyer/guru) has excellent recommendations.

Overall... one of my favorite places to buy beer in Fairfax County (including anything I've found in Loudoun County)

12-11-2009 03:30:59 | More by BierRobvocate