Sunday 29th of May 2011 10:50:08 AM

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Carlsbad, California -- a village on the ocean, one of several on the North San Diego County shoreline (Encinitas, Del Mar, Solana Beach) and one of the prettiest.

Landed here for about a week to look into available living spaces and the first thing to do was stock the larder...buy food...and beer.

I'm used to frequenting Whole Foods -- my "go to" place for good micro brews but the closest one is 30 miles away in San Diego. Too far.

Lots of good local craft breweries around but again, that's a major effort to go, buy growlers of beers I've tried (or want to) then cart them home and polish them off before they go flat / bad.

The closest store was 2 blocks away and there, right next door, was Texas Wine and Spirits.

Mostly liquor and wine but a good selection of local micro brews and imports.

Wish they had a better offering of something other than Stone (in Escondido) and Lost Abbey (San Marcos) and Ballast Point (San Diego) but it's understandable. They also seemed a bit recalcitrant in ordering -- or even determining IF they could order specific beers.

The staff (all men and accented so not Carlsbad-ians) were pleasant enough but I would not call them friendly. When I asked about 2 particular beers, I was told they were "out" but I suspect that they never had them in the first place and did not believe they knew the beers at all in the 2nd.

In the 3rd place, it is convenient -- the prices are relatively normal, not over-priced and they do have a special -- buy 6 beers, get a 7th for a nickel.

So, yes I did!

So although I would much prefer a friendlier group to work with, Texas Wine and Spirits does have product and plenty of choices.