Finding Good Beer by BART, station by station

There’s good beer – real local west coast ales and well-crafted brews – all over the Bay Area, and fortunately there is no paucity of good beer within walking distance of public transit. Get out of your car, get onto Bay Area Rapid Transit and into slow, delicious pints. Oh yeah: BART normally closes (station by station) starting at midnight. Uncivilized, but important to know.

A growing list of great beer places near transit. Also listed alphabetically in the right column.  (One shoe less than a quarter mileis up to one quarter mile walking, one way):

  • San Leandro Station, San Leandro
  • Walnut Creek Station, Walnut Creek
  • 24th Street Station, S.F.
  • San Bruno Station
    • BJs (Brewpub) less than a quarter mile

New list: Mass transit to local Microbreweries with tours or open houses

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What else belongs here? you tell us! Can you BART, bus and walk it?

Field research performed by local beer appreciators
Steve Shapiro & Gail Ann Williams. Corrections and suggestions welcome.

What’s going on? Tips for keeping up with the San Francisco Bay Area beer scene.

Happy Rails.

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(NOTE: Older comments — with some GREAT additional tips and suggestions — are over here now.)

31 Comments on “Finding Good Beer by BART, station by station”

  1. Julie B Says:

    January 2, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    AWESOME ! As a beer lover who is a CAT scan Tech, I’m all 4 drinking & Barting ! THANX :)

    Reply
  3. Raymon Cancino Says:

    January 26, 2009 at 11:22 am

    Hey guys, it was a pleasure meeting you both at the jolly pumpkin tasting. Maybe we will run into one another soon.

    Reply
  4. Gail Ann Williams Says:

    January 28, 2009 at 12:25 am

    Yeah, that was great, Ray!

    Reply
  5. Greg Fischer Says:

    February 2, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Great website!

    I referenced it in my blog post about beer in Oakland and Berkeley. Here’s the link to the post: http://www.norcalblogs.com/transportation/2009/02/destinations_getting_sudsy_in_1.html

    Reply
  6. shap Says:

    February 2, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    Greg,

    Good post on your blog. Keep breaking into conversations (when appropriate) and spreading the word about good beer. Hope to see you at SF Beer Week.

    Steve

    Reply
  7. craig younger Says:

    March 1, 2009 at 8:50 am

    Why is Jack’s Brewing Company in Fremont not part of this list of BART-able locations??

    Reply
    • shap Says:

      March 1, 2009 at 10:43 pm

      Hi Craig,

      Thanks for writing. Jack’s seems to be about 1.5 miles from Fremont BART which is beyond the 1 mile guideline we’ve been using for this site. We visited Jack’s several years ago and liked it quite a bit. I would recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

      Steve

      Reply
  8. craig younger Says:

    March 22, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    Thanks for your response.

    Will anyone be taking over the column Mr. Brand wrote??

    I miss his charming articles. What a loss. I hope someone picks up where he left off

    Reply
  9. Mike Says:

    April 18, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Hi Gail and Steve,
    Gourmet Haus Stadt, 2615 Broadway, Redwood City, now has a beer bar in the back of the store and a miniature outdoor beer garden. German beers well-served by friendly owner (son of previous owner). The beer garden was warm on Thursday (Redwood City–”Climate Best By Government Test”). It is within stumbling distance of the CalTrain station. Also has huge selection of bottled beers I’ve never seen elsewhere. Do not leave without getting a bottle of Innstadt Dopplebock.
    Mike

    Reply
  10. Andie Says:

    April 20, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Great seeing you two tonight at the study group. I am really glad I ran into Nicole and that she shared this opportunity with me!! Looking forward to our next class and maybe a post-class beer!! Take care.

    Reply
  11. John Says:

    April 22, 2009 at 9:54 am

    I’m not sure what your criteria is, but you might consider adding Pyramid Brewing in Walnut Creek. You can transfer to the “Free Ride” bus at Walnut Creek station. I think the walk is a little over 1/4 mile.

    If you don’t like Pyramid all by itself out there, you might put Casa Orinda and Roundup Saloon (in Lafayette) on the way to Walnut Creek. They are close to the stations and have some character. They aren’t really beer destinations, but they bridge the gap.

    Reply
  12. craig younger Says:

    May 3, 2009 at 9:41 am

    Saw the new reviewers first column a few weeks ago. He seems very knowledgeable. Sorry I forgot the name already. When will more of his column be published??

    Reply
  13. Gail Ann Williams Says:

    May 6, 2009 at 7:04 am

    Hi Craig! You must be talking about Bottoms Up and the former What’s On Tap, source of daily local beer news.

    That’s now “Brooks on Beer.” Jay Brooks is a veteran beer writer and blogger, and a familiar site around the Bay Area beer scene. Jay has also invited guest submissions and was kind enough to run one of mine a week ago.

    It’s time to take the old link to William Brand’s Beer Blog off the Blog Role on the left column, though still hard to do. We miss Bill and talk about him all the time. Thanks for mentioning it.

    Reply
  14. Carol Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 7:29 am

    Glen Park Station is two blocks from Glen Park BART station (duh). Not a huge selection of beer, but there’s plenty of other stuff to drink.

    Reply
  15. janelle Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 7:37 am

    Your black on blue color scheme makes it impossible to read anything here. Looked like maybe an interesting site, but…

    Reply
  16. Blow Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 8:25 am

    Too bad BART administrators and union graph won’t allow themselves the extra work of making the system run until 2:30am. There are identical systems in Montreal and DC, and somehow, they don’t have the same lame excuses, but I guess that’s what we “smart Californians” pay quadruple the ticket fare for.

    Reply
  17. Brian Cox Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 8:35 am

    The Attic 24th and mission- great music and $3 beers…

    Reply
  18. Dave Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 10:25 am

    I have a bar to suggest:

    The Trappist
    480 8th St
    Oakland, CA 94607

    it’s a 3 – 4 block walk from 12th st. Oakland. they have great Belgium beers.

    Reply
  19. Gail Ann Williams Says:

    May 8, 2009 at 10:36 am

    Thanks for the suggestions! (Janelle, if you are seeing black on blue I am thinking you have set your browser for a special color. This is a standard WordPress Theme, and the main text is all black on white, with links and titles in a toasty tan color.)

    Reply
  20. Guttersnipe Says:

    May 14, 2009 at 10:15 am

    Hi,

    I met you (Steve and Gail) at a couple of beer functions in San Francisco. You had mentioned an annual trip that you take to San Diego visiting breweries. Can you let me know which hotel you recommend? We will be visiting there over the summer and want to hit a couple of breweries at that time. I believe you said the place you stayed was within walking distance to a couple?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • shap Says:

      May 24, 2009 at 9:18 pm

      Hi Guttersnipe,

      Our strategy has changed in the past couple of years, due primarily to the moving and then closing of the Liars Club in Pacific Beach. We used to set up our base at the Best Western Blue Seas in Pacific Beach. It’s a pretty good, if perhaps slightly over priced hotel right on the ocean boardwalk. Nice location, but not near many beer destinations.
      This January we decided to move around and stay near to the pub where we wanted to end each nite. We stayed at the Beach Terrace Inn 2775 Ocean Street Carlsbad, CA 92008 which is walking distance from Pizza Port. It’s a very nice hotel and was very affordable.

      On the 2nd night we stayed at the Sommerset Suites Hotel – San Diego, 606 Washington Street, San Diego, CA , 800-962-9665. This is in the Hillcrest neighborhood and also nice and affordable. This is not walking distance, but as close as we could find to 30th St. (North and South Park neighborhoods), home to Toronado, Ritual Cafe, The Linkery and Hamilton’s Pub. Can’t really avoid driving or taking cabs to hit all of them.

      If you’re interested in Stone, Lost Abbey and Green Flash, a hotel in the Escondido or San Marcos area might work, though we have not done this. Driving will be involved.

      S.D. is a great beer destination, but not particularly transit-friendly.

      Hope this helps.

      Cheers,

      Steve and Gail

      Reply
  21. John Duncan Says:

    May 31, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    Hi Steve,

    Still trucking. Went to this unique brew pub in Pittsburg. Thought you might enjoy knowing about it.

    http://www.churchbrew.com/

    All the best, John

    Reply
    • shap Says:

      June 2, 2009 at 9:22 pm

      Hi John,

      Nice to hear from you. Thanks for the tip in Pittsburgh. Sometime we’ll get there.

      Please let us know if you’re truckin’ out here again.

      Steve

      Reply
  22. Poppy Says:

    June 10, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    Castro Valley BART: Spanky’s (Baker Rd), Krayon’s (Castro Valley Blvd), Brass Boar (CV Blvd in the Village parking lot), The Waiting Room (Lake Chabot Rd), Doucet’s (off of CV Blvd near Burger King- Rutledge?)

    Reply
  23. Chris Says:

    June 26, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    Here’s one that may be worth reviewing, Benders at 19th and South Van Ness. 15 taps; the next SF Brewers Guild meeting is supposed to be there on 21JUL.

    Reply
  24. Rob Says:

    July 3, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Hey folks,

    Thanks for hosting this month! My humble addition to the flock is here.

    Reply
  25. Gail Ann Williams Says:

    July 3, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    Excellent! Some are also being posted here:

    http://beerbybart.com/2009/06/04/announcing-session-29-will-travel-for-beer/

    We’ll be starting to pull the roundup together soon.

    Reply

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