Pizza Port Bottle Shop

DoubleJ

California

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

Despite being small, the Pizza Port Bottle Shop is a must stop for any beer geek. While the lighting could be a little brighter, this place was full of life. One secret of the place is that you can drink any bottle you purchase here without paying a corkage fee. Perhaps that explained the crowd in here.

All the beer is kept cold and in good condition. The selection is very impressive; well over 500 bottles. Oddly enough, I was most impressed with the English section, seeing imports (Pedigree, Hook Norton) that I don't recall seeing before. A tidy selection of glassware is for sale too.

The checker was a great help, putting extra packaging around my purchased glassware and answering my question about drinking inside the store. Strangely, I feel that I met the guy at a tasting a few years back, when he said he ran the Pizza Port Bottle Shop. Well, my visit day finally arrived, and the only thing I'm dissapointed about is that I didn't visit sooner!

01-31-2012 01:33:14 | More by DoubleJ

Dogbrick

Ohio

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

Visited the bottle shop back in July 2008 when I hit the brewpub. The shop is kind of like an attached garage to the brewpub, which is located off the I-5 in Carlsbad. Street parking seems to be the best option, since there is only a small private lot behind the building.

The interior is small with coolers on either side. They are well stocked with an assortment of 100s of beers from the region and all over the world though. Port/Lost Abbey, Stone, Rogue, Alaskan, Deschutes...the list goes on. As for imports they have a nice selection from different countries. Nils Oscar, brewers from Russia, Germany, Belgium etc.

Service was good on my visit. The people behind the counter were helpful and knowledgeable.

Overall it would be nonsensical to visit the brewpub and not the bottle shop, and vice versa.

02-25-2009 20:28:19 | More by Dogbrick

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

4.01/5  rDev -10.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

We hung out in town an extra hour and a half to see the bottle shop. I was not disappointed but it is exaggerated by some of the visitors. Yes, almost all the beer is refrigerated in ideal cold temperature without any strong lights in the store. Yes the selection is very good, though the Lost Abbeys were all regular stock. Good on the smaller bottles, the reasonable prices, and stuff I get out east but is harder to find in South Cal. I did find a number find a number of bottles am I am happy. Also Shawn who opened the store was very knowledgeable about beer.

01-18-2012 13:39:52 | More by northyorksammy

barleywinefiend

Washington

5/5  rDev +11.6%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$$

Stopped by Port Carlsbad as part of my great Memorial Day beeraway. While sitting at the bar and eating pizza, drinking Top Sail with my wife and chatting with Dan(the bartender who was awesome) I asked when the Bottle Shop opened and he said 5PM and its lunch time so I thought I was S.O.L. Nope. They opened up the bottle shop 5 hours early for my wife and I. The guy who opened the bottle shop up was super cool and knew the beer scene very well. We talked beer and he made some recommendations for me. Service was awesome, selection was great and the prices were reasonable I thought ut some were a little pricey. Would love to go back. I picked up a Mirror Mirror and a Cucapa Bwine.

05-26-2009 23:50:28 | More by barleywinefiend

Yetiman420

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +0.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

On a Sunday - Monday period in Mid October, I did a tour of San Diego breweries, brewpubs and beer stores. All the bottle shops I visited received A+ ratings with a significant number of reviews. My goal was primarily Russian River brews (Pliny, Blind Pig, Supplication) and then WC IPA's that I can't get in Ohio (Alpine, Kern River).
The places I visited in order of ranking...

1. 3 Way tie - KnB Wine Cellars, Beverages 4 Less, Best Damn Beer Shop
2. Holiday Wine Cellar
3. Olive Tree Marketplace
4. Pizza Port Bottle Shop

My first overall stop of the trip was a freakin awesome stop at Pizza Port Carlsbad. From there I walked to the bottle shop where I found an exceptional collection but no RR other than Damnation and the new Belgian pale. It was nice that they had a table in the center of the room for tasting beers. There were around 4 people sharing some excellent, widely distributed beers. There were two guys working and the one with the beard was helpful and knew quite a bit about the San Diego beer scene and confirmed some of my destinations that I was on the fence about.

I think that because this is such a major beer destination, the really good stuff does not stay in stock. I had much better luck finding what I needed at some of the less popular places.

10-16-2010 22:23:43 | More by Yetiman420

GJ40

North Carolina

4.7/5  rDev +4.9%
quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Wow! I stopped in after a visit to Pizza Port on our first night of a southern CA vacation. This place isn't large but they've got some serious quality. I picked up 2 Alpine Pure Hoppiness, 2 RR PyE, 2 Ballast Point Dorado DIPA, an AleSmith YuleSmith and a Lost Abbey Tomme de Cuvee.

The guy behind the counter was very helpful with recommendations. The prices seemed to be better on SD beers and a little higher on others. But the selection was outstanding. I'm not sure I'd buy my everyday beers there but it is the place to find new and special beers.

I wish I had a Pizza Port Bottle Shop closer to home. If you're in the area, you have to stop in.

08-15-2009 04:42:57 | More by GJ40

sholland119

Pennsylvania

3.6/5  rDev -19.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Massively disappointing compared to my expectations. Selection was pretty good, but nothing that would blow a beer geek away. Of the three bottle shops I hit on our vacation this was third best, and it was no contest.

I guess this is a great place for a local bottle shop, or if you don't get down the highway to San Diego or something. But there were no rarities even of the Port/LA family, unless they are hidden away for those who know the (in my visit, not at all helpful) staff.

Glad I did not go just for the bottle shop here.

HV

02-29-2012 18:21:25 | More by sholland119

Floydster

California

4.65/5  rDev +3.8%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I have stopped here about four times now and I always find something good, it is literally right next to the bar and pizza place, whether it be a hard to find SD local or some other hard to find beer, tons of imports, some of the breweries they carry are Port and Lost Abbey of course, Alesmith, Stone, Green Flash, Mad River, Cantillon, Deschutes, Lightning, Coronado, Ballast Point, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Firestone, and many more, they have it all, some of the beers I have gotten in the past were Abyss, Lightning Old Tempest, various Jolly Pumpkins, and more recently Malheur 10, they have given me samples almost every time I am in the year of whatever they happen to be drinking, wish I would not have missed their vintage Stone bottle sale a few months back, they have keep some cool empty rare bottles along the window and I drool every time I look at the Cable Car with no contents collecting dust, place has like six or seven fridges in all, each stocked with great beer, prices are some of the best in the area, you can buy singles as well, they have held some cool tastings and have a cool staff, I even saw Vinnie in there last time, place is clean and small, you can even drink a beer you buy right there in the store and the stand up bar, they provide you with glassware and will sit and talk beer with you for as long as you possibly want to, I truly enjoy going to this place every time I am nearby

07-11-2008 23:28:41 | More by Floydster

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.35/5  rDev -2.9%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

A decent little bottle shop right next door. Heavy on the SoCal stuff and Belgians. NorCal and the rest of the West Coast conspicously absent.

Quality of the stuff they do have is top notch though. The service as well, very knowledgable. Price is a little more than I liked, but Socal, I guess everything is a little pricey.

Ambiance, no frills, this is just a bottle shop, and that's a good thing. Was kinda surprised how small it is. But you just can't pass up picking up a bottle, I was drinking and eating next door, such an enjoyable experience, and then you get treated right when asking about selections, you can't help but pick some stuff up, even if you might find it a little cheaper or somewhere else.

My only criticism would be that there isn't much variety, but it does seem to change a bit, so its got that going for it.

02-27-2010 23:22:24 | More by Beerandraiderfan

ThreeWiseMen

California

4.55/5  rDev +1.6%
quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Stopped in here for the first time in a long time on Sunday evening. JustinA1 and I had just placed our pizza order next door.

I really love how the Pizza Port Bottle Shop refrigerates ALL of their beers. That's quality, folks!

The beer in the coolers are high-quality as well. Most of the offerings come from the west coast, with a special focus on the greater San Diego area. We saw a lot of hoppy favorites, along with a good variety of Belgian and European ales. Perusing the wall coolers was fun.

The cashier was very nice and conversational, and not pushy or invasive at all. He seemed to know a lot about craft beer too - it looked like his laptop browser was open to BeerAdvocate while he rang me up.

Pizza Port Carlsbad is a must for craft beer lovers. Visit the restaurant and bottle shop - you'll be happy you did!

01-13-2011 08:08:35 | More by ThreeWiseMen