February 17, 2012
Really nice, new looking Whole Foods with a decent bottle selection. Lots of local Santa Cruz bombers, some Port Brewing, random Belgian bottles. Nothing really caught my eye though. Port Brewing IPAs were 6+ months old.

September 13, 2011
Stopped in on a jaunt south of the Bay Area, wanting to pick up some West Coast rarities for the flight back to Japan. Damn, what an amazing selection for a supermarket! Best I have seen so far. Great stuff from West Coast and Belgium. Wish they were down the street.

July 22, 2010
Significant improvement since the store opened. Talked to the store’s beer and wine buyer on a recent visit. Friendly guy who was very helpful to customers checking out the selection and sounds committed to bringing good stuff to town. The second best selection I’ve seen at a WF behind the SF SOMA location. A very good complement to 41st Avenue for Santa Cruz county.

June 11, 2010
Whole foods has really been stepping it up lately and may have the best selection in the Santa Cruz area now. Multiple Fantomes and other obscure Belgians on my last visit, as well as all the American craft stuff that you can get in the area. You can buy singles of lots of stuff and most is kept cold, though they have already filled the whole cold area and keep some Belgians on the shelf next to it. Besides 41st, this is your best bet in the area, and the best for Santa Cruz proper.

March 23, 2009 [ Updated April 8, 2009 ]
An excellent new beer destination in Santa Cruz. Tons of bottles from all kinds of obscure little local breweries like Carmel, English Ales, El Toro, etc. I haven’t seen beers from lots of these breweries anywhere else. Decent selection of Stone and Deschutes, a few Belgians, but the highlight is definitely the dozens of small breweries that barely distribute outside their own walls. Primarily singles (!!!) here with a good amount of 6 packs as well. Almost all the 12 ounce singles are $1.99, which is a very good price around here. I’ll be harvesting new brews from this place for months to come. Much better than the WF in Los Gatos.