Santa Rosa has a new beer destination. No, it’s not a brewery. It’s not even a bar (well, not by itself). It’s a grocery store. How can a grocery store be a beer destination? Welcome to Whole Foods Coddingtown.
Located in Coddingtown Mall, Whole Foods has rebuilt a new (and enormous) space into one of the largest grocery stores in Santa Rosa. Tucked away in the back is a wooden shed built from reclaimed wood with a simple sign out front reading “The Tap Room.”
Inside the taproom you’ll find 16 taps of beer, all craft and with an emphasis on local breweries. From Sonoma County, there are 2 taps from Moonlight, 2 taps from Lagunitas and one each from Bear Republic, Sonoma Springs and Russian River Brewing. In addition to draft beer, cold bottles are kept behind the bar and any beer purchased within the store can be opened in the tap room for a $1 corkage fee. Beer can be purchased by full pours or by 2 ounce samples, prices at $1 apiece.
In addition to beer, the Tap Room features a small menu of food and an ability to bring in any food purchased around the store. The TV located next to the bar will have NFL Sunday Ticket and should be tuned to sports during most hours of operation.
Speaking of hours of operation, the Tap Room is a function of the Whole Foods grocery store. The Tap Room closes each night at 9pm, one hour before the store closes at 10pm. Whole Foods Coddingtown makes its Grand Opening today at 10am.
Have you ever seen a grocery store with a bar before? Is this the first of its kind in California?
Comments
Is this Tap Room open yet? I like the idea of being able to taste local beers and have organic food with a few sips.
Pay for samples??? Ick. That's an $8 pint! Hopefully they'll be liberal with smaller samples. The real question is...will growlers be filled like at the really good Whole Foods from Austin to New York?
tap room is open. 2.5 oz. samples are a buck. It is illegal for anyone other than a brew pub/micro brew to fill growlers in california.
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