World Of Beer - Arlington

coldriver

Texas

3.74/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of Florida based World of Beer in Arlington, TX. The projected opening was August 2011 but actual grand opening will be in January 2012. My initial visit was on the afternoon of Dec29.

Location is an upscale stripmall off Cooper with a distinctive Calfornia style look. Noted lots of outdoor seating - not sure how much use this will get in the North Texas weather but a few tables were occupied. Not huge on the inside and with large open to the parking lot windows I felt like the atmosphere was a little corporate sterile.

Quickly greeted by waitress who informed us that Stella was the special for the day... The menu is updated daily with current and upcoming selections which is fantastic (and my main complaint about the Flying Saucer chain). They have forty beers on tap with hundreds of bottles available. Selection was pretty good, although there was nothing on tap and very little in bottles from the heart of Texas beerdom - the growing Austin scene - zero Jester King, zero 512, zero Live Oak. Would imagine that this unforgiveable sin will be corrected as time goes on, but it was a good reminder that compared to the competition (Saucer and Ginger Man), this is not a Texas-based chain.

The other thing that caught our attention was the sticker shock of the prices. Pint prices were in the $7 to $10 range. Granted they have special nights with half price deals for students and teachers, ladies, service industry, etc, but for the average Joe who spontaneously decides at the end of the working day to grab a beer, these prices are much higher than the competition. After two beers we'd had enough and headed for Ft Worth Saucer and $5 pints of 512 Pecan Porter.

Overall impression was that atmosphere was lacking, selection was impressive but not in touch with local beer scene (yet), and prices were too high. This chain apparently plans on several more DFW locations, and I'm sure there's a learning curve ahead for them.

12-30-2011 23:14:40 | More by coldriver