Texas Liquor

CasanovaCummins

Nevada

3.6/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

This store is right down the street from Pizza port. But not anywhere in their league.

The owner is a bit gruff and not exactly friendly. But there are a few guys who seem to be helpful, almost in spite of him.

This is kind of like a family liquor store/711 hyped up on steroids. Where they score big is their selection of craft brews. The have a surprisingly good selection of Great Divide yeti, Alesmith, Bruery, and even, gasp, Russian River Pliny ( but you do have to buy another beer if you buy one. So serious boo here ).

And though they do have a discount for six of more, ASK for a detailed reciept ( seems they occasionally "forget" unless prompted ).

Not much on atmosphere. But if you work fast, you can find a must-have brew here and there. Not worth hitting up unless it is in conjunction with Pizza Port. But go there second, the Port might already have it, and cheaper, too!

02-20-2012 05:26:22 | More by CasanovaCummins

Seanibus

California

4/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Very nice beer place. The selection is extensive, with a quite complete local lineup, good regional offering and a scattering of national standouts, including Dogfish Head and Victory from the East Coast. The store devoted as much as half its shelf space to beer, with a long series of cold coolers on one side and room-temperature shelves on the other. Nice balance between bombers and sixpacks. Prices seem reasonable for the area and the wine and liquor selection, to the extent I studied it, seemed pretty good. A must stop if you are in town.

02-15-2012 04:52:43 | More by Seanibus

thebeerhound

California

4.94/5  rDev +26.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Stopped by this little shop on my way back from the Pizza Port Bottle shop to grab a coke for the road.

WOW! Was I surprised when I walked in to see a very cool bottle and package lineup!

They had a driver come in and I saw a bunch of new beers coming in. The owner Ryan said they just got Laughing Dog from Idaho and RJ Rockers from South Carolina in and a bunch of other beers!

He ripped into the boxes and I was one of the first to buy the Alpha Dog Imperial IPA and RJ Rockers Black Perle Ale.

I also grabbed some Green Flash and 2 bottles of Sculpin from Ballast Point.

Nice shop huge high-end wine selection, some nice spirits as well. I'll definately come back to check this place out when I'm at the Pizza Port Bottle shop.

Keep the new stuff coming Ryan it was like Christmas!

02-01-2012 18:22:17 | More by thebeerhound

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.8/5  rDev -2.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

underated bottle store. Great selection of the locals, displaying their complete available product lines, and harder to get Califormia beers. Plus a very good Belgian selection. Priced at the going rate, with hours much more convenient than the Pizza Port bottle shop. Head here earlier in the day for the main stock, have some beer at the Pizza plant, and then hit the Pizza Plant bottle shop. Not much in service, just a lot of choice. An unusual discount if buy 6 or 12 but they take care of it at the cash.

01-18-2012 13:29:39 | More by northyorksammy

jdense

Oregon

3.66/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$$

Visited 8.11.11 while sourcing beers for weekend tasting.

Located a few blocks from Pizza Port San Clemente in a parking lot shared with a grocery store, Texas Liquor offers what they claim to be the best craft beer selection in San Diego County. While that may be debatable, they certainly have a top notch selection, my guess is about 500 beers.

The help was pretty tied to the lone cash register, so I was left on my own to roam the narrow aisles looking for goodies. About half their craft offerings where refrigerated, with a significant amount on tall shelves opposite the cold box. While I struck out on my intended goal (Ballast Point Sculpin, evidently there was a distribution 'issue) I was able to score a bottle of Alpine Exponential Hoppiness, which while on the tres spendy side was a very pleasant surprise.

Given the funky hours of the Pizza Port Bottle Shop, the (still) closed South Bay Liquor, this is the best alternative in north county, though you should expect to spend 15-20% more than you would at Total Wines and More. However, the allure of Alpine products, more than makes up for the rather pricey offerings. Worth a stop, but after being spoiled by Beervana's bottle shops, no world beater.

08-21-2011 21:19:39 | More by jdense

notchucknorris

California

4.44/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I just moved to the area a few weeks ago and one of the things I was most excited about was the fact that I'm now walking distance to Texas. I absolutely love this place and while the selection isn't the best in San Diego, they get some fantastic stuff. The prices are average with some of the specialty beers they get coming in on the high side, but overall I'd say the prices are fair. When the buyer is there, he's great to talk to and he genuinely has a passion for beer, which is great to find. While they might not have the square footage of some of the other bottle shops in San Diego, they cram the space they do have with some good stuff, including a lot of beers I haven't found anywhere else. If you haven't checked this place out yet, I would definitely recommend it.

07-19-2011 16:43:59 | More by notchucknorris

DCon

Missouri

4.72/5  rDev +21%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

While driving from Pizza Port to Stone, we stopped at a gas station right by the highway and I saw a sign saying "Best Beer Selection in Town" on the outside. I immediately ran over and was in shock of what I saw!

Coming straight in, the liquor was almost all behind the counter and then the wine lined up on the back side of the wall. Signage was huge here and it was easy to navigate around.

There display bottles first on the shelves and then were 6 deep behind. I went for the ones behind and made sure the B.O.D. (if available) was in check. They all were! They also had back-up boxes of each brew and this was an option to pick from these.

They had friendly cashiers but no one was out and about in their store helping for those hard to reach bottles. The shelves were at least 8 feet tall and this was an issue... I used a small ladder to get 3 bottles of the AleSmith on the top shelve. Also, all of the brews were in alphabetical order!?!? This was different for me!

Unreal selection! This should be called The CarlsBADASS Beer Store! The beer took up more than 50% of the store with its shelves and then cooler that stretched all the way down the whole store. They even had a small section with limited/rare beers.

I was very pleased with coming here! Next time I'm in Carlsbad, I will be stopping at the Pizza Port Bottle Shop first and then here again!

07-16-2011 18:04:07 | More by DCon

DoubleJ

California

4/5  rDev +2.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

A collegue told me about this place a while back, but since I don't normally travel around Carlsbad, earlier today was my first real chance to give Texas Liquor a try.

Located off the I-5 in a small shopping center anchored by an Albertson's, Texas Liquor can hold its own with its selection of beer. There's a long shelf that runs in the middle of the store that seperates the wine and spriits from the beer. Beer is located on the left side as you walk in, half of it refrigerated, half sitting at room temp. Bottles are tagged with pricetags, which leaves out a lot of guesswork that I hate to do for myself. Two store clerks waited at the register as I looked through the generous selection: Kiuchi, Avery, Ballast Point, Gouden Carolus, Duvel Tripel Hop, Samuel Smith's, Fruli, Old Dubh 40, Alpine (no IPA's though!), and lots more. Most of the items I found to be a little more expensive than what I would normally find.

The hours at the nearby Pizza Port Bottle Shop are whacky, so at the very least (no disrespect) you could use Texas Liquor as a backup plan when you are craving to take home beer. Still, this is a very respectable store to drop by.

06-24-2011 02:07:14 | More by DoubleJ

bohemiandonut

California

5/5  rDev +28.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

An utterly fantastic alternative to suffering the overcrowded, often understocked bottle shop at Pizza Port a few blocks down. The owner is friendly and seems to live for this moderate obsession. I asked him about Fantome and how hard it is to find the classic Saison of theirs these days and within seconds he was on the phone with the distributor to see what's up. (This was my first time at his shop.)

His prices are NOT exorbitant in the least (about the same as BevMo) and the atmosphere is relaxed and chill. He'll leave you alone to browse or let you know what's he's got in so new it's barely on the shelves. The selection is out of this galaxy as well.

This is easily my favorite bottle shop in San Diego County. Hit it up next time you're in the area. You won't leave empty handed, I guarantee it.

06-10-2011 05:29:42 | More by bohemiandonut

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.9/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Came across this place by accident, when leaving the Pizza Port bottle shop. Didn't look like much on the outside, but what is inside, is golden. Unique set up, some stuff is in coolers, some on the floor, some in this giant wooden display thing.

Quality of the beers on hand is very good. In fact, I picked up more bottles here than I did at the PP shop. Alesmith, DFH, Port, Alpine, Stone, Ballast point, RR, basically all the Socal stuff is here.

Definitely pricey, but worth it on some of the bottles, definitely found lots of stuff here I couldn't down the street. I really only went in here for a bottle of water, don't let the outside of the joint fool you, there is some good shit inside, even if the help don't know much about beer.

05-06-2011 21:01:53 | More by Beerandraiderfan