Don’t believe in delayed gratification? A new bottle shop in Oakland lets you purchase a tipple for home, but also enjoy beer and wine right there at a bar, too.
Good Times Oakland opened for retail sales in August at 6369-6371 Telegraph Ave., in the former spot of Tannery Bend Beerworks. On Sept. 18, it plans to start a (for-now limited) food service — like small European-style bites that include charcuterie and cheese plates.
The shop’s selection can be described as appealing to many different tastes.
“We’ll have natural wine, we’ll have wines that have no sulfur added, we’ll have chilled reds, you know, all the ‘buzzy’ things. But we’ll have standards, classics, stalwarts, too,” says managing partner Bryan Brick. “We’ll have a bunch of hazy IPAs, sours and imperial stouts, but we’ll also have a great selection of lagers and pilsners, British ales, German beers. We know we can’t be everything to everyone, but we like to try!”
Customers looking for variety will benefit from the proprietor’s deep well of bottles. “Being that we have our giant warehouse in Concord, we can hold a lot more inventory there than we can here,” says Brick. “We have plenty of items that customers will be able to order online, and we can transfer them to our Oakland location in 24 hours for free pick-up.”
Like certain other upscale bottle shops — Cask Store up the road in Berkeley, for one example — Good Times has a sit-down component for patrons to sample the wares. It opened just a couple days ago, and plans are already shaping up for a pleasant and leisurely hang-out experience.
“We will have 12 draft handles that will focus on beer and cider. Our plan is to have a more-balanced tap lineup, than most over all,” says Brick. “We will also have somewhere around 15 by-the-glass wine options available at all times, with our list fully rotating every two weeks…. And along with these options, we plan on having a spritz menu along with vermouth cocktails and wine-based amari.”
Food-wise, Good Times Oakland is keeping it simple for now. There’s no exhaust hood so the options for hot bites are a bit limited, but what’s there should pair well with anything on tap.
“Our plan is to have two sandwiches of the week — one meat, one vegetarian/vegan,” Brick says. “Hot dog of the week and a plain hot dog for the kids. Cheese and charcuterie plates. Salty snacks, cured things, pickled things. Good, fast and high-quality options.”
Details: Open noon-10 p.m. Thursday-Monday at 6369-6371 Telegraph Ave. Oakland; goodtimesoakland.com