Latest reviews from San Mateo

“Came here on 3.8.2023. Nice beer garden in San Mateo, a few miles from SF airport. The brewery is in Berkley and operates quite a few locations in the SF area. At least 30 beers on tap. The smoked lager and the Hazy IPA (Pulp) I had were excellent. Cool location with wooden tables and benches in a friendly neighborhood.“

Schlenkerla 266 days ago

“Fieldwork's San Mateo location is basically a beer garden and patio surrounded by all new buildings, but the only physical structures they have are a couple shipping containers. That means the food menu is pretty limited - a few sandwiches, a few apps - but the beer menu was 26 deep when I visited. Small pours for flights are $3 apiece. There was one bartender taking care of everyone when I visited on a slow weekday afternoon but he was doing a good job. The beer quality is very high here, which I knew, having been to Fieldwork's Berkeley location before. There are some cans available to-go. Great spot to visit if you're in San Mateo.“

phaleslu 340 days ago

“Unassuming great place to buy craft beer. Lots of single cans in the back refrigerators. Tons of local brewery varieties. Great prices, which are a rarity in the Bay Area.“

wetherel 487 days ago

“Great place to visit in downtown San Mateo. Flight of 5 x 4oz for $12. 12 interesting ciders on tap including many fruited and some barrel aged and soured. Music is blaring. Lots of places to eat next door.“

wetherel 1006 days ago

“Very similar to Whole Foods, except a nice large selection of single cans from Bare Bottle, plus I found a bottle from Palo Alto brewing, which I haven’t found elsewhere.“

wetherel 1097 days ago

“Typical BevMo: An aisle of large craft beers. Some common Belgians. Everything is in 4 packs. Few locals, and in 4-6 packs. Not worth buying anything.“

wetherel 1097 days ago

“Visited Saturday morning after a swim in Foster city. Nice, typical Whole Foods. Excellent food selection. Nice chocolate selection with some Marou bars. Beer selection is mediocre. Some Pliny, which is everywhere now. Some Belgian 750mL bottles. 1 case of 4 packs: Not good for rating. Very nice overall, but not worth going out of your way, at all.“

wetherel 1097 days ago

“Visited in April as Covid winds down. 16 beers on tap. $2-$3/taster. My flight of 6 was $12. A few barrel aged beers, including Eliza! available in cans for $12 each. Seating is really spread out, and staff is light, but they handle it well by literally running to customers. Of course, Fieldwork beers are fantastic.“

wetherel 1103 days ago

“Pliny for President on tap! The famous Kenji Alt Lopez as a chef. He is an incredible food scientist. Read his articles on Serious Eats and his excellent Food Lab book. Above average beer selection, with an emphasis on German beers. A must visit location for the Bay Area for the food, and good beer is a bonus. I had the awesome smash burger with roasted potatoes.“

wetherel 1229 days ago

“Fieldwork does good IPAs but this outlet brings way too many of those IPAs to the table (maybe like 5/15 taps are non-IPAs). Location is all outdoor seating. Was busy when I was there - service was fine but we had to flag a server down at first. Beer was good but as noted above the non-IPA stuff was too few and far between. Worth checking out but wish they did more browns / stouts.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1834 days ago

“What this is: a legit good restaurant (spectacular potatoes) with a broad, but not particularly interesting, beer list (focus is on local craft beers and some German and Belgian stuff, but nothing particularly rare - there's a St. Bernardus 12 in here and an Almanac sour but those are top of the heap. What this is not: something I would consider a beer bar. It's a good restaurant. Don't expect to be blown away by the beer list.“

WestCoastHawkeye 1887 days ago

“It's a brewpub equivalent of an IHOP. Not complaining, but I prefer the Armadillo Willy's just across the parking lot.“

WestCoastHawkeye 2074 days ago

“Had to play a bit of hooky on Friday at lunchtime to check out the newest Fieldwork installment. Its only 15 minutes from work, so it could even be a lunch stop conceivably. Basically in the business district of San Mateo, but there is 2 hour street parking available and plenty of it at noon on Friday. The place is basically all outdoors, with picnic table style seating, some of it covered, some not. Open air bar up front, but there are signs that say not to order from the bar unless you are getting crowlers or cans to go. I took a seat and was promptly served. Basically the same taplist and description booklet that you get at all locations, helpful and detailed, which is nice. Tasters are individually priced, although I think you can do a flight as well. As with the main location, taster sizes are served in full sized tulips, which seems wasteful. Basically every beer on the taplist is available in crowlers; I have seen a few exceptions including nitro beers and some BA stuff on the rare occasions that they have it. They are canning now too, using the Can Van, but I did not see anywhere on the menu what cans were available - ask your server! They had two when I was there. All in all a pretty solid experience. I have mixed feelings about their beer, but the experience is always good. A few light food selections, not a full kitchen apparently. They also allow you to bring in outside food, as well as dogs.“

bytemesis 2406 days ago

“Great outdoor taproom/patio, with bocce court. Oddly surrounded by commercial real estate on most sides so kind of a weird atmosphere. First round is purchased at the bar, and from then you have the option for table service - both of which were attentive and friendly. Food was good if a little pricy and limited for the offerings (snacks, tamales, and grilled cheese sandwiches). 12 taps, with some options for takeaway either through growlers and crowlers or limited can releases. Definitely a lovely spot!“

anarchivist 2455 days ago

“Decent beer selection. 9 taps and a few bottles. Mostly west coast breweries. The food was great, the ribs are tasty.“

Sledutah 2694 days ago

“First time at a Bevmo. Pretty decent selection about like a local beer store.“

fluffy 2869 days ago

“I had grander ambitions for the day, but the weather drove me here. What can I say, its a BJ’s. Service was really good, and the flatbread was solid. Beer was meh, but thats what you expect from BJ’s, isnt it? I will say that the guest tap list has clearly improved since Bobby’s review.“

bytemesis 3033 days ago

“Why do people keep entering Armadillo Willys? I have been to them all, in the bay area at least, so I guess its a free tick. Its been a while since I have been to this one though; a bit of a memory stretch. I actually enjoy the food, and the fries are awesome dipped in the Jalapeno BBQ. The fact that they have better than Bud is nice, but really its not a beer destination. It is just across the parking lot from a BJ’s“

bytemesis 3180 days ago

“This place brings back some memories. Firstly, it’s just a couple doors down from what used to be one of my favorite Chinese restaurants (Pierre’s), which is now out of business. The hospital and medical buildings were also some frequent visits back in the day, being a terribly asthmatic kid.

Anyway, it’s a cool little bar with a handful of bottles offered as well. The draft list is not terribly big, but there is a good variety and pretty solid quality to the list. They do half pours, but no tasters. Pricing is kind of on the high side on some beers (up to $9). But overall, it’s a good little bar. They also have a bunch of wines here as well if you don’t want beers.“

brokensail 3409 days ago

“I used to come here as a kid because my dad lived down the street in downtown San Mateo (B Street).

For some reference, it’s similar to a Whole Foods, but there’s probably a bigger selection of everything. There are some quality food items to be had here, but they’re not cheap. So bring your big boy wallet. The beer selection is off to the left (if your back is to the entrance), which may be confusing since the wine and spirits are on the right.

Selection is pretty good, particularly when it comes to some of the ciders. The pricing can be a bit laughable on the high side, but on some stuff it’s pretty reasonable.

It’s a good spot. Not so amazing I’d go out of my way, but if you are nearby it’s not a bad place to it.“

brokensail 3409 days ago

“Visited May 13, 2014.

Finally decided to stop in here after years of looking at this on the way up the freeway on ramp. This is in a new development that is difficult to drive in. All narrow and divided streets, lots of bad drivers, and very limited street parking. It’s not really THAT bad if you’re paying attention but it is irritating. As for the beer, its slightly below average for a Whole Foods but they have some fun stuff like Midnight Sun, Drakes, AleSmith, Boulevard, and a section for cans. Again, not the most innovative list but it’s certainly not a bad selection.

Prices on beer actually aren’t terrible at Whole Foods (prices on everything else, well that’s where the "whole paycheck" phrase comes from) and on this particular day they were doing their 20% off beer sales.“

t0rin0 3485 days ago

“Visited May 13, 2014.

Pretty standard BJs but in a shopping center I’ve visited numerous times over the last 20 years. This is an interesting choice for a location. There isn’t a ton of residential property in the area and it’s not the biggest shopping area. This is a shopping center kind of in the middle of a bunch of office buildings. Maybe their lunch time crowd keeps them afloat since there weren’t a lot of people here during my visit. Also, traffic sucks in this area so it takes a while to get into or out of this shopping center. As far as this chain is concerned the beer list is pretty bad. Obviously they have the regular lineup of house beers (which includes a seasonal or two) but beyond that it’s garbage. Newcastle, Coors, all macro stuff. At least at most other BJs you can find a Sculpin or a Ruination. The reasons for visiting this particular establishment should be limited to the following: 1) you work nearby, 2) your significant other is shopping somewhere in this shopping center (let’s hope it’s not the Kmart), or 3) you really like their pizza.“

t0rin0 3489 days ago

“Great environment. Not a huge selection of bottles but decent. Has a few bottles I haven’t seen anywhere else.“

tightslice 3518 days ago

“Visited May 13, 2014.

This is right down the way from where I used to live. In high school it was the place to get beer from friends that worked there but the beer selection was lousy. Then again, that was 2001 and there wasn’t all that much good stuff. Now they have significantly improved the section, especially for a grocery store, but compared to some of the liquor stores in the area it’s not really worth the trouble to come here just for beer. Unlike most grocery stores these guys have a glassware selection. I grabbed a Duvel glass and a 32 of Lagunitas Sucks. I stayed long enough to browse the beer aisle and do a quick lap around the store for nostalgia’s sake and then paid and left. Not as good as the other Mollie Stones locations that have been added on the peninsula. “

t0rin0 3540 days ago

“Out of the 10 or so WF that I’ve been to, this is easily the smallest selection of beer for that franchise. I guess it has a lot to do with the high price of real estate in Cali. Probably 60-65% California beers and nothing that is hard to get.“

fiveacestx 3609 days ago

“Good San Mateo market to get some good deals. Beer department is clean and well organized so easy to find what you are looking for.“

kaluman 3659 days ago

“Used to come to this shopping center quite frequently as a kid. Apparently now there’s a BJs here...the Starbucks of the beer world. Decor, beer selection, food, and prices are pretty much the exact same as every single other BJs location. The servers are friendly, of course. I personally wouldn’t bother to come here unless I just really needed a beer after almost getting run over on my way to Sports Authority or something.“

brokensail 3765 days ago

“Visited December 26, 2013.

I’d heard about this place a few times but never manage to make it over when I’m in town. Actually, since high school the only reason I ever go to down town San Mateo is for the old B Street Music shop (which isn’t actually on B Street anymore, but that moved over a decade ago. Shows how much I actually come here) so it’s not all that surprising that I haven’t been in. I’m glad that I did finally check it out. I could see being slightly more of a regular here, as in maybe once a month or so. The set up is kind of sad with a small L-shaped bar that seats maybe 5 on one side. There were no seats on the other side but I’m guessing that is because they want to take orders there. There are a few tables too but only a few. There is a large shelf prominently displaying a lot of Fou Foune bottles (empty) as well as a bunch of other popular beers. The only full bottles are the wine bottles. I never even thought to look at the bottle list but I can only assume they have some Cantillon on menu.

They have a modest eight taps but they’re all good or at least interesting. I saw Faction on the list and assumed it would be hoppy and thus ordered a glass but it turned out to be their dubbel. It was quite good, even if it was a bit light in color. The people sitting next to me were interested to try the Cedar Plank pale ale from Ballast Point so against my advice they bought a half glass anyway. Suckers. That brings up an interesting point though: they sell half glasses. I also spotted some taster glasses though I didn’t ask if they do flights.

Prices weren’t out of control: $6ish per glass, but more than I’d like to pay for a beer. No idea on bottles. They also have a small food menu that ranged from $4 to $8, mostly snacks like some charcuterie or a bowl of olives. The service was very friendly and he seemed to know the group that was at the bar next to me that opened a growler of something or other and showed me the Fifty Fifty / Healthy Spirits collaboration beer.

As mentioned before this place is a little depressing since it’s so open and you can hardly get any patrons in there but aside from that it’s a pretty cool place and I’ll be back.“

t0rin0 3772 days ago

“Visited December 26, 2013.

Actually this isn’t the first time I’ve been here but it’s the first time in a long long time and it’s certainly the first time I’ve gone for beer. This place puts Whole Foods to shame. When you walk in the first thing you’ll see is a deli counter serving only desert items. There is a sign that indicates that chocolates are $40 per pound. Yeesh. The beer can be found a few aisles back, opposite the wine and liquor. At first glance it seems that they have a lot of beer but most of it is in six packs. They do have a respectable collection of singles including a lot of imports though. But then, I noticed the prices. $15 for a St Bernardus 12? $10 for a St Bernardus Wit? $13.50 for a Rodenbach Grand Cru? What the hell? No thanks. They carry a large California selection though. Bear Republic, Napa Smith, Coronado, Heretic, Anderson Valley, Karl Strauss, Ballast Point, Lost Coast, Mission, Schubros, Cismontane, etc.

Over all the selection isn’t bad but the prices are horrendous. Parking in down town San Mateo can suck during the day, though things aren’t nearly as bad as before they built that structure across the street. So be glad they have a parking lot here that you can park at for free if you’re a shopper. Realistically it’ll be another decade before I come back here.“

t0rin0 3772 days ago

“In the area and decided to stop in. Very much below average in terms of the amount of space dedicated to beer as compared to others in the bay area. Selection itself isnt bad for what it is, there just isnt much, and nothing not fairly commonly available elsewhere.“

bytemesis 4147 days ago

“Disappointing selection, even by Bay Area BevMo standards. Only a small selection of beers and pretty bad/disinterested service. If you’re in a pinch, it will work, but not worth seeking out.“

brokensail 4181 days ago

“Visited 2006 and 2007. Been here twice now and both times I was dissapointed after having been to a few good bevmos. There is only 1 aisle of beers and a small portion of the fridge. There a few interesting selections to choose from but like the last guy said, there are much better ones not that far away.

The service is friendly enough but pretty much useless. They are not there to sell beer but rather to sell wine and liquor. The one pleasant surprise though was finding a 12 pack of the Sierra Nevada IPA for $14 last year. Over all not one of the better bevmos I’ve been to.“

t0rin0 4182 days ago

“I came here because I had heard of the generally good beer selection at Whole Foods Markets. I guess this is one of the exceptions. They had a few Belgians that I may or may not have seen elsewhere, a few Sierra Nevada selections, some Stone beers, Humboldt Brewing. No Russian River or really any other Bay Area brews. The only saving grace on the selection were the two bottles of the 2009 Mirror Mirror that I picked up. Although the beer selection was not the greatest, the store itself is very nice. Great food/drink selection and all very high quality foods and drinks. It’s a bit on the pricey side, but I expected that.“

brokensail 5176 days ago

“ Gourmet grocery store more note for its wine selection, but this location has a nice selection of Belgian, German, British beers with a respectable craft area (Lagunitas, Lost Coast, North Coast, New Belgium). You will find some beers here that you may not find elsewhere.“

bennylava 5472 days ago

“lots of good local brews, a large belgian selection, also UK bottles too. Noah and Paul are very helpful and have been keeping the selection good. one of the larger and nicer whole foods markets I’ve seen.“

MullMan 6885 days ago