ØL Beercafe & Bottle Shop

Tons of different beers, really lavish interior with dark wood everywhere. Lots of microbrews available from all over the country, with plenty of bottles too. I really liked the wide selection here, and look forward to returning in the future.

Great atmosphere, bartender was awesome. Very knowledgeable and made great recommendations. Highly recommend coming here. For sure to become a go-​to anytime I make it out here!

ØL Beercafe & Bottle Shop has more beer than you can shake a stick at. Want a sour beer, or maybe an IPA? You’re bound to find dozens of beers you’ve never even heard of.
Prices are pretty up there, but these are more «artisinal» than anything else — no PBR here.

Delicious beer, great bottle selection — what’s not to like?

Service was good. Staff was knowledgable about the beer. Quite over priced. Really wished the front windows opened up for a better view

There’s not not much to say. If you love beer, if variety is your thing, and if you’re tickled by old school wood furniture, you must stop by for a visit. Great beer, daily menu changes and knowledgeable bartenders make this place more than just a watering hole. Ol beer is an experience.

Nice selection on tap and bottle. Peeps are cool. I will invite friends and guests from the Phillippines to this place.

This is my fourth time here! I absolutely love this place. If you love raw oysters, and a variety of seafood, then this is by far one of the best places. For oysters, I recommend Chelsea that come from Washington, they are more mild than Point Reyes, which for me who likes salt are too salty. Free hot bread and butter are amazing. I recommend halibut with a creamy saucy, swordfish, and their scallops are the best I tried. Today I’m trying yellowfin tuna, and my husband got fish tacos –Mahi Mahi. FYI, there is a full-​stocked bar, great cocktails, friendly service and great ambience. Don’t forget to get their card to keep receiving points and earning money for next meal! I highly recommend this place!

This is my kind of beer spot! They have a beautiful selection of craft beers on tap ranging from stouts to lagers to IPA’s and a lot of them have some pretty unique ingredients and flavors. My last visit I got a clean, refreshing tasting wheat pilsner, that was perfect for the warm weather outside.
Then let’s not forget you have a massive selection of bottled craft beers to choose from, which by the way I could personal spend hours browsing. Prices for the beer on tap are very standard ($ 5 – 10 for a pint) and of course the bottled beers will vary in price depending on what you pick up.
I could go on about this place, but it won’t do it justice. Grab some friends/​family and make a day out of it; if you’re a beer lover I have no doubt you’ll find something enjoyable here.

I’m a big fan of this place for a couple reasons.
1. the beer selection is great — bottleshop portion has a lot of great microbrews from around CA and beyond. Tap list is always varied — I’ve never been a big porter, stout, or sour fan (blasphemy…i know), and I’ve always been able to find delicious alternatives — IPAs, Belgian Whites, Farmhouse ales, etc. NB: they do have a smaller selection that is in the fridge if you’re looking for a cold beer to take home or somewhere.
2. folks who work here — always had fantastic recommendations, service, and overall nice vibe. Ask for a taster if you’re not sure what you want and the staff will hook you up.
3. the crowd is more my kind of people compared to the rest of Walnut Creek, lets just leave it at that — I feel like I can say that considering its my hometown. And I’m so freaking happy there isn’t a TV in here. Ambiance is nice without it and I like the big bench table.
Let’s be honest — you’re coming for craft beer, so if you want to pay $ 2 – 4 for a beer — this is not your joint. You’ll be paying more like $ 6−9/beer which is pretty standard in my mind.
Parking: lots of street parking around — I’ve never had a really hard time finding parking here aside from Friday/​Saturday night on the street — look on Locust. It’s away from downtown WC and close to the target and auto dealers so not as crowded.
Overall great place to grab beers in the Creek, enjoy Unilocalers!

Had a nice dinner in Walnut Creek and it was to soon to go hoe so we walked over to OL Pub. Place was packed. Luckily found a table and I made my way thru to the crowded bar. Employee approached me a said to head back to the table and he would get my order. Within the next few minutes I had a porter, IPA’s and olives at the table. Awesome time. Loud but as expected for a busy bar. Great time!!! Will be back.

Great spot in the East Bay… no need to go to the city for a beer café! We went on a Sunday afternoon so it wasn’t too busy. The bartender was knowledgeable and helpful, making the navigation of the current offerings much easier. They also had some lovely plates (cheese, meat, and olives) which were the perfect munchies as we tasted different beers.
We brought our friends from out of town and had a great time; we experienced great customer service while feeling like we could have a nice conversation without being bothered. This spot might be too cool for Walnut Creek but we’re so glad it’s here!

First, they let me try any thing I wanted. Which was great because there was about 20 choices and I wanted like 15 of them. The bartender was incredibly knowledgeable and accommodating. Except for the fact she wanted to pour me a beer with in seconds of sitting down and I was overwhelmed looking at the menu. It was very hard to read unless you took the time to focus and read the whole thing. They could do a better job of color coding or giving me more time… also the missing star is for the high prices and small pours.
Your rating on this place will depend on how much you get paid and like beer. 5 stars for selection of rare and barrel aged beers. If you don’t mind small glasses (less then a pint) and high prices and LOVE rare beer. This place is great.
if you want something a bit more mellow and on the side of «girl beer» you will be better off somewhere else.
I love rare barrel aged and double and triple IPA’s. So this place is great for me.
They serve minimal food. But the allow delivery from local locations. I saw the Chinese delivery guy twice. Skippolinis Pizza is next door. You can order and bring anything in there.
No kids allowed? — I don’t have or like kids much so works for me. I have dogs and wish they had an outdoor seating area for dogs.

Clean, easy parking, and great selection of beer (local and not local)
Don’t be afraid to ask for a taste, worst thing that could happen is that they no. We were able to get something we actually liked.
Got the Founder’s KBS (kentucky breakfast stout). If you like coffee, you’ll like this.
Check out their website to see what’s on tap beforehand if you would like.
Great beer shop as well. My bf, the beer enthusiast didn’t buy anything but it’s still fun to check out what they have going on.
There’s a shelf on the left side of the shop with beer books but there are some games too. We chose to play a beer trivia game and learned a lot but there were some novelty card games as well.
They have some snacks for sale as well but with so many great places to eat in Walnut Creek, we got a drink here first before heading to lunch.

Awesome spot in Downtown Walnut Creek. Sort of hidden but worth it once you find it. They have some great beers and usually a pretty good crowd of people. Except people usually stick to themselves in there and don’t mingle or meet new people.

This place is AWESOME. The female bartender was knowledgeable and very friendly when we went in yesterday. If you like beer, you have to go here. It’s a somewhat classy millennial and older crowd. If you’re young and want to get drunk, don’t go here.

One of my to-​go beer bars when I’m in the area.
OL us known to have great beers (craft beers including Belgium beers). These are the beers that come in the large single bottles that cost around $ 10+ or so. So now you have these craft brews on tap for about 10 bucks per chalice (not pints).
The vibe is very dark and chill. Not a huge staff and not a lot of room. So if you come on a weekend during prime time, expect to wait a long time for service or beer along with a very loud atmosphere. Otherwise it’s a pretty good place to come to.
So if you like expensive craft brews, definitely come check this place out. The beer is amazing here (and expensive of course). If you’re looking for a normal bar scene for blue moon or something, you’ll be disappointed and should probably go somewhere else…
Me? I love my Belgium beers… :)

We came here for a friend’s 30^th Birthday party, about a week ago, and had a fantastic time. There are many different kinds of beer to choose from, as well as appetizers. The service was great, and our server was always there when our glasses «ran out». We will definitely visit again someday!

I had been wanting to visit Øl ever since reading Rachel Ann C’s ROTD. Actually probably before that, but who knows?
Before I begin to sound like a hater, I should admit that I’m often not fond of craft beer bars. However there are a few gems out there that aren’t dick riding on the craft beer wave. They offer up lively atmospheres, generous pours, and a wide selection.
Øl, unfortunately ain’t one of them. I wanted to love Øl with their small but diverse and constantly rotating tap list and unique bottle selection. In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy my time spent there.
I ordered a pumpkin porter that I expected to be pricey and served in a tiny glass. That’s often the case with this style of beer. But for $ 8 it’s more than I would expect to pay for 10oz?
So for my next beer, I ordered a hoppy lager. The tiny 12oz? pour it came in for $ 7 didn’t sit well with me. Sure it’s a good beer but not THAT good. Before you begin to sound like a hipster douchebag, please don’t «educate» me on proper glassware.
They may have been going for the dark atmosphere on purpose. A speakeasy sort of vibe. It doesn’t seem to work here. At least not for me. I like to be able to see what I’m drinking.
There were 4 employees manning this small bar. The first that approached me after standing there for 5 minutes, had a douchey attitude. The second dude was standoffish. The last kid was a creeper that had nothing better to do than wander around and eye-​fuck my phone every 30 seconds. Dude, I sat on the other side of the room, away from the bar so I WOULDN’T be bothered!
Their bottle selection was actually very well curated. The prices to go were not terrible but certainly on the high side of MSRP. Hey it’s Walnut Creek, I get it. However, their prices to pour in the store were outrageous. Perhaps they’re encouraging people to choose from their taps instead. Then again, the world renowned Beer Rev in Oakland only charges a measly $ 1 to consume a bottle on site.
I would much rather head to The Pickle or Hop Grenade in Concord, which are both much more my style.

Cool place however they have some seriously inflated prices. No doubt they have a really great selection however if you know where to look you can find something for closer to retail price. They were charging 50.00 per bottle of eclipse
My overall rating is 2.5 stars but I’m not able to do that on the app so I just gave 2 stars.
Service: 2 star. They don’t allow babies in there at all and they also have no sign that I saw or at least if they did it wasn’t obvious. We were just strolling around and decided to drop by because it showed up on Unilocal for craft beer. Can’t say much else I didn’t order beer or food just seemed overpriced.
Price: 1 star wow talk about price gouging! Anyways I would stay away from this place unless there is something you really gotta have. Prices are far from fair.
Food: N/​A
Beer

I really liked this place. They had a variety of booze and seating options!
The fact that they have a ton of different beers makes finding something for everyone easy. I’m fairly certain that they have a few wines available for non beer drinkers. They also had a nice selection of ciders.
A plus is that you can order food from the pizza place next door and eat it at the tables.
I had a blast here and will be back if I’m ever in Walnut Creek for an evening out.

From a pub perspective:
Good place to go to if you plan on sitting in and grabbing beer on tap– very good selection if you like saisons and Belgian styles. Definitely a respite from the IPA mania that you find elsewhere on the west coast. Nice atmosphere too– think dark and cozy like Church Key in North Beach, but more seating (~25% bigger) and a mid/​upscale Belgian beer hall vibe.
2.5÷3 stars
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From a boutique bottle shop perspective:
Extraordinarily overpriced. I feel like they can charge what they do because there are few other options for bottle shops in an affluent suburban downtown area. I think I saw that Saison DuPont was $ 18 – 20 for a 750mL– seriously?
The selection is okay. It’s as if you took the best beers from each category from a place like BevMo and put them in a room the size of a walk-​in humidor in the middle of a bar.
If you want to see a better selection with lower prices, check out The Good Hop in uptown Oakland.
0.5÷2 stars
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Go there for a beer and to meet friends, but avoid it if you’re looking to bring home something nice or grab something quick and go.

Great selection of beer. You can order one of the several drafts on tap or try your luck with one of the bottles in the fridge in the back. Feeling hungry? order up some skipolini’s and they will bring it to your table.
Staff is friendly and super knowledgeable. Great place to start the night off.

This is a really quaint little bar with a nice homey feel to it. They have a great assortment of beers from those on tap to their extensive options found in their decked out cooler full of beer. It’s a nice place to go to hang out with friends especially since it’s pretty low key, beer prices are moderate and the music isn’t terribly loud. The servers are really nice and friendly as well.
We’ll definitely be going back!

Excellent beer with a great environment and friendly staff. The menu is updated daily.
Plus, you can order a personal skippolini’s pizza from next door without leaving your seat.

A Walnut Creek standout. There is nothing that quite compares or describes this place. Go for the beer, stay for the atmosphere.
Øl is unlike anything the typical Americana bar has to offer. The lack of tv’s is a welcome respite from basically anywhere else in the vicinity. The extensive list of unique and one-​of-​a-​kind beers makes any other bar pale in comparison. The setting transports you to, a rather sterile but still convincing ancient eatery. And theirs is a beer bottle shop unrivaled, no question.
Great place to be a regular at, always attracts a tantalizing crowd.

Nice, classy atmosphere and great beer. It’s a little pricy but that’s what I expect in Walnut Creek. The bartenders don’t have much personality… But maybe that just means they aren’t always buzzed.

We came here for a drink around 5 on a Saturday, the place was quiet, which was good, because we were able to fit our group of 10. There were 2 other small groups (2 – 4 ppl) one of whom offered us their table, as they were sitting at the big table-​which was a great way to start off our visit!
The place is small, but really neat. I really liked all the wood and the overall feel of the place.
They have a good selection of beers and a great atmosphere! Everyone in our groups very much enjoyed their drinks, and the bartender was very friendly.

I love ØL and I really need to come more often. It’s not in the middle of downtown WC so I tend to forget about it, shame on me. The bar scene in Walnut Creek stresses me out sometimes, but ØL is such a chill place and the bartenders are so friendly and knowledgeable. If you don’t know much about beer, they are willing to explain the different types to you and help you select one that you might like.
Yes, the beers can be a little on the pricey side, but I’m willing to pay $ 7-​$ 11 for a unique and quality beer. I’m a huge sucker for sours so when I find places that have new sours that I haven’t tried before, I’m willing to splurge a little more.
There isn’t a TV here, so looks like you’re forced to actually talk to your friends ;-) put your iPhone away and enjoy a few beers here or even check out the bottles that they have for sale and take one home.
Feeling hungry? Skipolini’s Pizza is right next door, yum.

ØL reminds me of The Trappist in Oakland, and I love the Trappist. I would say the beer is on the pricier side, ranging from 7 – 10 for one drink. The vibe is laid back, clean, and sophisticated!
BEER: I got two beers: a sour and IPA. The beer choices are not of your typical choosing on tap. I’m always a fan of trying something new outside of my favorites. The bartender was attentive!
There are beers in the fridge behind the bar, so you can drink there or take home.
Choices galore. You will find beers here that you can’t find at your typical bar!

Need a chill place to catch up with a friend over a special beer? This is the place!
I’ve been here a number of times to do just that. We’ll grab a beer from the bar or if we’re feeling particularly adventurous, shop for a beverage in the bottle shop where they have a gabunch of obscure beers from around the globe for you to take home (or take to the bartender to drink on prem). Rumor has it that this place used to be a bank, so the bottle shop once held valuables… well it still does! There are some great individual beers in there!
Service has always been good for me here and the servers really know their beers. That paired with the relaxed ambiance makes for a great place to hang out… that is, if you can find a place to sit. If you come in on a Friday/​Saturday night after 6 or so, good luck, you’re probably going to be one of the standing masses. But you never know, you may get lucky!

This was my first «legit» bar experience and I love the vibe I got from it. I went on a pretty slow night, but it seems like a pretty intimate bar venue to grab a couple drinks with friends and sit and chat. I’m all for casual, social drinking and this place has the right atmosphere for it.
They have a lot of ample seating and a wide selection of craft beers in the fridges at the back. I didn’t get to try anything on tap or draft (I’m not the beer connoisseur). But, they do charge you more for the bottle to drink inside rather than taking the bottle to go.
Overall, this place has that small, very crafty and hipster vibe which any beer lover would love hanging in. The atmosphere and vibe in the room is a bit grungy with the right amount of space for yourself or for sharing with others. Cool place (if I loved beer more)! And the prices seem to match the beer’s rarity, around $ 10+. I’d come back with some beer-​lovers anytime!

What a neat little place tucked away in downtown Walnut Creek! Not only is it a beer bar, but ØL’s is also a bottle shop! Tables are scattered throughout for you to hang out and relax with your friends over a pint or three, and coolers are located at the back of the store, along with a section that is stockpiled with such a wide variety of beers that your head will spin trying to take it all in (mine definitely did!).
They have a huge list of beers on tap, and even the pickiest of palates is bound to find something here that will match their tastes. I snagged a glass of Tahoe Mountain’s Madagascar — a vanilla porter that smelled sweet like vanilla, but was smoother and not as sweet as it smelled. Absolutely amazing. They also do draft flights, for those of you who are interested in sampling a wider variety of their wares.
I also snagged a bottle of «Buzzerkeley,» a sparkling ale that is apparently made by combining champagne and beer. Sounds like a deal to me! And it was under $ 10! Total score. There are two prices on all of the bottles — the cheaper price is their «carry out» price, but for a little added premium (there was about a $ 1 – 3 difference from what I could tell from a quick glance), they’ll open the bottle and serve it to you right there in their store!
A very chill spot. I only wish it were a little closer to home. The Trappist would have some pretty stiff competition if it was! But alas, since it’s not quite in my neck of the woods, I guess it’ll have to be one of those «must hit» places when I’m in the area!