Westover Market

nonagon

Virginia

5/5  rDev +25.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

I'm pretty sure Westover Market offers Arlington's largest beer selection. The back wall of the grocery store and much of the two adjacent walls are devoted to beer. Besides the store, there is the Beer Garden outside and the new Beer Haus restaurant/bar inside the store. Both are great places to hang out with friends. The outside has a rolling bar with five rotating taps and the bar inside has ten taps (I think). There are TVs for watching sports both in and outside. Devin, the manager, is a hophead and maintains an exceptional and unique selection. The friendly staff are also beer lovers and know their stuff. Even if you aren't local it's worth checking out. I live in the neighborhood and appreciate that I can walk there.

08-26-2011 21:17:26 | More by nonagon

sobeleg

New York

4.2/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$$$

Westover Market has one of the better selections in the DC metro area. Tucked away in Westover, where Falls Church and Arlington meet is this little corner grocery store with a monster beer selection. I almost always find something new, interesting, and often quite rare when I head over here, and they claim to boast of 1,000 selections.

The grocery part of the store seems a little grundgy and I do not think I would come here to food shop. They always have a beer garden in the back, but I have yet to check it out.

One of the big drawbacks is the price. Everything here is very expensive: 14.99 for WWS, 24.99 for 2010 WWS, 14.99 for Backwoods bastard singles, etc. If you are looking for something hard to find or want a great selection to choose from, I would recommend Westover, just get ready to pay for it.

07-25-2011 18:44:52 | More by sobeleg

jschonert

West Virginia

4.18/5  rDev +5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Grocery store in the middle of Arlington. Right across from the Lost Dog Cafe.

Has a crazy couple aisles of beer. Ones that caught my attention were Founders, Bells, Southern Tier, Mikkeller, DFH, Stone, Terrapin.
I was visiting the DC area and didn't care to go east of the river. This seems to be the best place for beer in Arlington and the surrounding area from what I saw. The prices aren't the best, but I was willingly to shell out some money for Founders since I didn't see that anywhere else.

I saw there was a sign for Founders Breakfast Stout and got excited. The clerk yelled out for a guy in back who told me they were out of stock. Seemed to know his dates on beer releases fairly well.

Grabbed a 4pack of Founders Devil Dancer and DFH 90minute.

I a

07-02-2011 20:32:07 | More by jschonert

BigTomZ

Virginia

3.88/5  rDev -2.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $$$

This is a store in Arlington that I stop by from time to time. They are a grocery store with a huge beer selection. They have tons of micros with a small selection of imports. The side and back walls of the store are all beer. Seems to be a good few hundred kinds there. They keep up on all the essentials for the area. I do see some old stock from time to time. Not a deterrent to shopping there, just a note for BA's to check labels on those hoppy brews. Most of the beer is kept refrigerated. I don't really see much in the way of locals represented. I have noticed that some of their prices are a bit high, even for the area. I can't recall ever speaking to any of their staff aside from checkout. For the most part I'm left to browse at my leisure, which is fine with me.

02-20-2011 08:15:23 | More by BigTomZ

CuriousMonk

Virginia

3.7/5  rDev -7%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$$

It's pretty much a mini urban grocery store (right across the street from Lost Dog Cafe) with quite an expansive beer selection once you enter and turn right towards the back (their Wall of Beer). They have a very good selection of US micros like Bells, Stone, Victory, Bear Republic, etc. There's nothing here that you can't already get at other good Northern Virginia stores like Norm's or Whole Foods EXCEPT for a couple Southern Tier beers and Hoppin' Frogs. Compared to their US micros, their Belgian selection is somewhat limited but what they carry is good (Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru, etc.). A pretty passionate beer selection for a grocery store. Worth checking out for your everyday beer needs or if visiting the area. Almost their entire shelf stock is refrigerated. The back patio is open during warm weather for beer drinking from their taps too.

02-17-2011 20:10:56 | More by CuriousMonk

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.7/5  rDev -7%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

All around, this place seems like it should be really great. They have plenty of high-quality beer as well as a purportedly-large keg selection. However, the few times I've been have been quite a bit of a disappointment, and I've had other service issues as well. On more than one occasion in the past I've tried to order a keg and been told that it would be in after a certain number of days. Without fail each time, the keg never ended up coming in.

After discussing the same keg with another local retailer, I discovered that this brewery does not deliver kegs to the area for retail sales. No big deal, but this is a big brewery and something a credible beer retailer should know about.

Other than the problems with information, I will say that the individuals I spoke with on each occasion were quite friendly.

The selection here is pretty good, but not mind-blowing. I saw the reviews and thought I would have to check out the selection. While it's certainly above average for the area, I don't see it being any better than Rick's or most of the Whole Foods locations.

The pricing seemed on par with the rest of the area.

02-05-2011 13:37:46 | More by Thorpe429

moondogzane

District of Columbia

5/5  rDev +25.6%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

One of my go-tos when I want to just browse as I know I am going to come away with something I haven't had before. They have upped the ante in the last two years and claim to have over 850 beers - I haven't counted but they certainly have a fairly enormous selection. Biergarten outside is very relaxed and there are 5-6 taps that seem to rotate with some frequency. Live music used to go on here as well (smaller acts to keep with the relaxed vibe) but some in the neighborhood complained (they have a petition to get it reinstated). I know there are tastings (haven't made it to one yet) but based on the list of previous tastings and the fact they occur in the produce/beer section of the grocery store, how can you go wrong? Family-owned, and both sons are really involved with expanding and rotating the selection.

10-20-2010 22:00:42 | More by moondogzane

HURTemHIZZY

Virginia

4.35/5  rDev +9.3%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Great beer store, and the beer garden is enjoyable as well. They have a nice selection of beer, both singles and 6ers. They have a good bit of bombers, with a few vintage offerings (i noticed 2009 dfh world wide stout and grabbed two of them.) For most of the big name breweries that are hard to come by in the area (i.e. deschutes, lost abbey, rr, ballast point, etc.) this won't help out, but they still have a great selection of brews. It is a bit pricey, and I would definitely recommend heading across the street to the Lost Dog Cafe, as their prices are a bit better.

10-08-2010 15:48:34 | More by HURTemHIZZY

DaveBlack

Virginia

4.65/5  rDev +16.8%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I moved into the Westover Apartments in fall of 2009 and immediately fell in love with this place. The beer selection, which has been increasing since I moved in, is now (I believe) touted as 750+

The selection is impressive, everything from the standard American beers to upper scale beers. Devin, who is in charge of the beer, is always friendly and helpful and often willing to order beers that they don't generally stock.

The beer garden which has been constantly expanded over the past year is, I believe, finally in it's final form is fantastic. Food is available from the deli, as well as from the Eco-friendly butcher which is also located in the market. They have six rotating beers on tap, so every night you go it's likely to be different. They always offer seasonal beers on tap: pumpkin ales in the fall, Delirium Noel last Christmas. It's family and kid friendly. They have free tastings a couple of times a month, live music regularly and good beer all the time.

If and when I leave the Arlington area this will be one of the spots that it'll break my heart to leave.

09-27-2010 17:27:12 | More by DaveBlack

ChrisB

Virginia

5/5  rDev +25.6%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$$

The Westover Market (and Beer Garden) is easily the best place to go in the Washington DC are for craft beer. Westover has 3 things going for it: great selection of bottled beer, a very diverse selection of beer on tap (after 5pm) and a friendly/neighborhood feel to the place. If you know of a beer that they don't have, Devon will get it for you. They have over 700 varieties including most of the best American craft beers in bottles so chances are that they have what you are looking for. I go there to try the different beers on tap in their outdoor beer garden. We all know that drinking beer outside is the best way to enjoy a beverage and Westover is the place to do just that. With the nice shade of the trees in the summer while enjoying the friendly vibe of the neighborhood or the roaring fire pits to ward off the chill of the late Fall/Winter evenings, you can not beat the atmosphere. The mix of local live music is the cherry on top. In addition to the amazing selection of beer and atmosphere, the staff lead by Devon (who is brains behind the beer selection) is friendly and makes you feel at home. This is truly like the TV bar Cheers where everyone knows your name. Check out the Westover Market and Beer Garden and you will walk away with the beer you want and a desire to come back soon.

07-21-2010 22:38:45 | More by ChrisB