Texas Wine & Spirits

Every town needs a classic wine & spirits. Texas brings that and more to the heart of Carlsbad. The prime location lies by the freeway’s artery and within walking distance to Carlsbad’s tourist zone.
An expansive footprint allows Texas to stock up on massive amounts of beer. Their selection is broad and covers every price point so you can bet the farm on a fantastic offering. Shelves are loaded with award winning and distinctive brews that will wow even the most discriminating connoisseur.

Wow I’ve never seen such a well stocked liquor store before. This place has a huge variety of rare beers and items that would go great for Xmas or birthdays. Check it out!

If you are looking for craft beer or any sort of liquor this is the place! Located off of Carlsbad Village Drive it is pretty easy to find. They have both A LOT of bottles of beer which is nice. No matter what you are looking for they should have it. They have all of the local beers along with the lots of other breweries to choose from. They have multiple different types of beer so no matter what type you are looking for you will find it there. They also have a rather extenuative collection of booze. From Vodka to Tequila to Whiskey they have it all. if you like high end spirits they are a good place to look. For instance if you are a whiskey drinker they have Pappy Van Winkle from time to time and other hard to find Whiskeys. If you follow them on Instagram they always post when they have some rear spirits!

This review has been a long time coming as I’ve been a regular of Texas Wine and Spirits since moving to Carlsbad six months ago. This is THE place to buy craft beer in Carlsbad, and here’s why:
1. They get Pliny on the regular. Don’t believe it? Check their Instagram. In fact, any rare, new, or otherwise interesting beer goes up on their IG page, and I can’t tell you how many different types of beer I’ve been exposed to by this.
2. They stock tons of local beer.
3. If they don’t have something you’re looking for, they will order it for you.
4. Random and frequent tastings in the store. I had some Aztec samplers the other day, and there was even a lady in there doing vodka tastings the same day.
5. Selection. For such a small place, Texas Wine & Spirits has it all. Sours, IPA’s, Belgians, Saisons, Barley Wines, Stouts, Porters, Pale Ales, you get the picture. Massive selection.
6. Location. Easy to get to off of the 5 and Carlsbad VIllage Drive.
7. Service. Ryan and his team are super cool guys.
8. Oh yeah, they also have a massive Wine and Spirits selection as well. At the time of this writing, they had 3 different bottles of Pappy Van Winkle in the case.
9. Price. A lot of people have complained about some of the pricing at Texas Wine & Spirits, but it’s in line with most places in town. I’d rather pay a bit extra than drive anywhere else looking for something that I know for a fact will be at TW&S.
Cheers!

This place has really gone downhill in the last year or so. I used to be a frequent customer because they have a large beer selection and were often the only store in town that carried some limited releases. They also had decent prices on everything. However, lately they seem to have just gotten very greedy.
They charge a mark up on any beer that is remotely popular (Pliny for $ 15 for example), and often their stock is months old. I feel like I have to search through 5 or 6 different beers to find an IPA that was brewed in the last month or two.
The most egregious example of their greed is in their spirit prices though. Nearly everything is marked up $ 10 to $ 20, with some of the less common stuff marked up even more. Their mark up on bourbon is so high in fact, that it is cheaper for me to buy half a tank of gas, drive to Total Wine or Hi-​Time Wine in Orange County, and buy my spirits there rather than at Texas.
If you are looking for beer in North County, I’d recommend going to one of the local BevMos, or Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido. Texas is now a last resort place for me if I can’t find something at another store.

It’s my local bottle shop. 30 – 40 visits in the past couple of years. Follow them on Instagram @texas_liquor for their latest beer, wine, and liquor arrivals.
Walking distance from Pizza Port Carlsbad and across the street from 83 Degrees. Big parking lot shared with a grocery store. Huge interior that is stuffed with bottles and a center shelf makes for a cramped experience. They get in just about every major special release beer and will sell out in a matter of hours for some coveted offerings like Alpine Duet and Nelson. About 50% of the selection is refrigerated with the most expensive bottles sitting on wooden shelves. Markup for some pricier bottles verges on the laughable. However, most of their special release bottles are reasonably priced. Plus, you’re not going to find these beers just anywhere. Staff is always talkative and friendly. They have a deal that if you buy 6 single beer bottles or so, you get the seventh for 10 cents (whichever bottle of the lot is cheapest is the one that goes to 10 cents). So far, it is the best bottle shop I’ve found in North County SD.

Fantastic neighborhood spot in Carlsbad. Great selection of beer, wine and liquor. Stopped in to grab a special bottle of Bourbon for a friend. Ryan helped me choose from a wide variety of hard to get bottles and educated me on each I was considering. Typically you expect to pay a premium for the limited availability spirits but the prices were fair and certainly lower than other specialty stores like this.

Awesome selection. Agreeable prices.
Always get treated well and never had any issues.
Also, best instagram account you’ve ever seen a liquor store have.

This little store is jam packed with fridges full, from ceiling to floor, of literally the BEST selection of craft, import, or straight up unique beers I’ve seen in SD. Then you turn around to see the shelves behind you offering you hundreds more options! Bombers and single serve bottles. They carry beers I’ve only heard and dreamed of. Pretty average prices, too!
And they do beer and wine tastings on the weekends!

Wow! Fully stocked liquor! Huge variety of bourbon and whiskey. Some great sales, Woodford for $ 29.99!!!
Staff here is very nice. With great suggestions. Probably most awesome independent liquor store I’ve been to in awhile. They have some pretty quality stuff.
The store front is pretty nice. Nicer version of liquor stores.

Glad we found this place! It satisfied our beer hunt for the night. The shop is kind of small but its jam packed with tons of alcohol! There is a huge selection of craft beers and wines which makes it even harder to choose from. We took our time and browsed around all the shelves and ailes until we found a honey blond ale from Me so Honey and a dark chocolate stout from Rouge. Both were very good and a decent price around $ 6 each bottle and the bottles were a decent size, just enough to share. This place made our night.

Waiting for the owner to call me after a complete fiasco. I will update my review after the owner calls to make it right.
I purchased a bottle and agreed to pick it up later in the afternoon. First off, it’s a $ 95 bottle of beer (Approx. 350% markup) that me and some friends were going to split the cost of. Tough to find, but figured if we split the cost, not as bad.
I show up, AFTER MY CARD HAS ALREADY BEEN RAN AND THE MONEY TAKEN OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT. Only for them to tell me «here is what happened, we sold too many». So after I paid you $ 95+, you didn’t remove the item and put it behind the counter? Actually, I am sure they did. Knowing the reputation of these guys, someone came in and offered a few dollars more for the bottle that was already purchased, and they took his money and figured they would smooth talk me into something when I came in.
So they tell me the bad news, and try to offer me a COMPLETELY different bottle that is NOWHERE NEAR the price of what I paid, for the same price. After I kindly said no thank you to their poor attempt to keep my $ 95, they then started saying that they would give me a $ 115 store credit for anything in the building. So… you want to give me $ 20 store credit so I you can keep my $ 95 and spend it on already incredibly high marked up beer prices.
UPDATE:
No call from the owner, as expected. Will not be stepping back into this place. I always heard people tell me they stopped going here because «man they over price their bottles like crazy», or «I always feel like I am getting taken every time I am in there». Well, I kept going back because I never had anything happen to me. Well here it is, the shadiness got me.
It’s San Diego, plenty of other bottle shops to go instead of dealing with shady businesses.
FIND ANOTHER BOTTLE SHOP THAT DOESN’T PRICE GOUGE AND ALWAYS TRY TO HUSTLE THEIR WAY INTO A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS!!!

I went there yesterday to buy a very hard to find beer that they had in stock. This beer (called Nelson by Alpine Beer Company) sells out the same day and is nearly impossible to find otherwise. This is the only liquor store I know of that stocks it, and it doesn’t happen often. I’ve been looking for it for months (my husband loves IPAs, this one is supposed to be one of the best, and I wanted to surprise him for his birthday). I saw on their Instagram that they got some in stock, so I quickly put my kids in the car and drove down there right away (about a 30 minute drive). They keep it behind the register because there is a one-​bottle limit per customer.
The guy ahead of me in line stepped up and asked for a Nelson and a Duet (a similar IPA by the same brewery). The man at the register told him that if he wanted those two, he also needed to buy the Red Ale by the same brewery. The guy protested, saying he doesn’t like Red Ale and didn’t want it. But the man at the register said that they needed to get rid of it, so if he wanted the Nelson and Duet, he needed to buy all 3. I had been talking to the guy before he was helped, and he was saying that he had also been trying to get Nelson for a long time, so he bought all 3 because he didn’t want to miss out on the chance to buy Nelson.
So I stepped up to the register and also asked for a Nelson and a Duet. The guy helping me said that if I wanted those two, I also needed to buy the Stout. I told him no one in my house likes stout, that I just wanted the two IPAs. He told me that I needed to help them out; that the brewery sends them these other beers that aren’t as popular, and they are hard to sell, so if I wanted the Nelson and Duet, I needed to buy this other beer as well. Basically the same thing he said to the previous guy. I again said I didn’t want the stout, but if he was making me buy another beer, I’d rather take the other one he had on the counter, another IPA by Alpine Beer Company called Pure Hoppyness. He then moved that bottle over to the other three and said if you want that one, now you need to get all four. He was basically forcing me to buy two beers I really didn’t want, in order to allow me to buy the two I really wanted. I asked if I could just get three, but he said I now needed to buy all four. He kept saying, come one, you need to help us out.
Obviously he didn’t force me to make the purchase, but having waited months to find this beer, having loaded my kids in the car and driven 30 minutes to this store, I really didn’t want to leave without what I came there for, so I bought all 4. I complained about the experience to a friend later, and he explained that it is illegal for them to force you to buy something in exchange for allowing you to buy something else. So just wanted to warn everyone else about this shady practice.

I collect liquor and after you have run out of all the standard mixers and basic spirits, sometimes you want the hard to find stuff. Not only do these guys stock a ton of great and hard to find expressions, but they can get their hands on virtually anything. Bevmo is fine for basic runs but if you want the really good stuff, these are the people to see, hands down.
Friendly, knowledgeable, and well stocked.

This place deserves a double whoo hoo!!! Have you been searching for that random craft beer? They probably have it! So many too choose from you might be overwhelmed at first but keep your eyes steady you will find what your looking for!
I mean let’s face it a liqour store with the name TEXAS on it means its bigger and better haha!
Prices range from low to high and served cold or shelved your choice. And if you don’t prefer beer you can also venture into their wine and liqour selection there is plenty in there too!

I was disappointed with these guys trying to push old beer on me. The clerk told me that a sour beer would ferment more in the bottle. Without having any residual sugar there is no more fermentation. He told me about his degree in some type of bull shit and said he did not want to go into the details.
Be careful when you buy beer from these guys. Beer is perishable and should be refrigerated. It spoils and if these guys push a certain beer it might be old.
The selection was great but the genius behind the counter does not know what he is talking about

My score says it all.
⁵⁄₅ Friendly Service, when you walk in you get greeted and the staff always seems happy you are in their store.
⁵⁄₅ Knowledgeable staff, and if they are not sure they let you know. Have been impressed with their recommendations every time. Its great.
⁵⁄₅ Have decent prices and I always try to buy from them first if I am looking for something particular. In some cases they even beat the big chains (BevMo/​Vons/​Albertsons)

My favorite Carlsbad liquor.
I buy liquor all over from my local grocery store to the BIG BOX liquor store chain but I come here when I’m in the area. Incredible beer selection — hands down possibly the best in the area or; all of North County! Nice wine selection as well and of course tons of liquor choices behind the counter including some items you won’t find anywhere else.
Friendly service too. The guys always recommend what’s good, new and hot and I’m always down to try something different so I appreciate the advice and good customer service here.

Nicely curated wine & beer selection! This family owned spot seems like you average liquor store until you walk in!
I was looking for a nice red wine to share with some cheese we had picked up at prontos. As I try to choose my varietal I kept choosing on a red zin but then seeing a nice local cab… Or maybe I should go for a lighter sparkling like a Lambrusco?

Just 1 block west of the 5 Freeway at the Carlsbad Village Dr. exit, this well stocked bottle shop deserves a stop for the craft beer fan as well as your normal liquor store fare.
They carry unique an hard to find 22 oz. bomber bottles of craft beers, as well as many singles of European style and non traditional SD Beer scene beers.
Prices are about what you’d expect at any other liquor store, and the good thing is they aren’t exceedingly higher than anywhere else that I’ve noticed for a store this size and the large selection they have.