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Alkali Rye

4.8 (32 reviews)
Open 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

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Wine
Priyanka S.

This is a bottle shop with the funnest events. Their curation is very cool and new-age, and you can grab a glass and a bottle to enjoy in their upstairs space.

Cole K.

It's all about the esthetics here! They have managed to incorporate lots of selection in an order that is easy to decipher and items that compliment each other.

Brian C.

I love supporting small local businesses in my neighborhood and this was my first time coming here. It's nice and well organized. My only issue with this place were the prices. There weren't any prices on any bottles, so if you wanted to know you had to ask. I was in a rush one day and since this was the closest liquor store to me I bought a familiar bottle that I'd purchase before from a different store. When I purchased it, they didn't tell me the price they just told me to "tap when ready" and as I'm leaving I saw the the bottle was twice the price of regular retail from BevMo or even a grocery store. (I do take the blame for not asking before I purchased) I wasn't expecting them to match the exact price of bigger name brand businesses and I knew they were gonna charge a little more than normal but double the price? That's crazy.

They ever helped me gift wrap it!
Leme K.

I'm so happy they've kept the same layout. I love coming here. This tiny shop has a lot of big and local brands in store. With a wide selection of liquor for everyone. The prices are decent too! I came in to buy some bottles as gift and the sales associate also offered to tissue wrap it for put a little bow on it with a bag to send as a gift. Now if that's not a great seller than I don't know what is. I highly recommend coming here to support small businesses and to check out their great selection.

Goes great with bbq, spicy foods!
Victor G.

Alkali Rye replaces Alchemy Bottle Shop with a the same offerings plus tea, coffee, and alcohol/beer made by and for minority communities. Came here initially to check on the Rintaro bento boxes. unfortunately, it's here only thursdays, has to be pre-ordered. brew: BPLB hazy ipa by Crown & Hops (4/$18) 6.5% -BPLB means Black & Brown People Love Beer -saw the black can, never seen/heard this beer before, really surprised at quality. dark like a stout, heavy body like imperial stout, had an sharp edge like strong ipa or the sharp edge of cognac. -would go great with bbq meats, curries, heavy spicy foods -not the usual hazy brew,

Whiskey Section
Mike L.

This place is a welcome addition to the community, in the Grand Lake/Lakeshore Commercial District in walking distance from Grand Lake Theater and Lake Merritt. This location used to be Alchemy Bottle Shop, some new owners are here. The owners seem to be homegrown Oaklanders of color who were affiliated among other things with local Red Bay Coffee. This place has a pretty eclectic collection of wine and spirits. One of the owners, Kori, was mentioning that in their wine section they're trying to promote less known people of color owned wineries which I think is really cool. It was just Kori working when I was there but he seemed very knowledgeable with questions about wine and about whiskey (which is my jam), I really appreciate folks who are passionate about their craft. More so focusing on their whiskey/scotch section, they had a great selection, including local Oakland based distillery Wright & Brown. They also have different types of Whiskey (Irish, Bourbon, Japanese, Taiwanese). I can't comment on what their prices are compared to other places but I also wouldn't mind spending a little more to support a local business as opposed to a chain like Bevmo. I ended up getting a bottle of Kavalan, Taiwanese Whiskey, which I've always wanted to try but never got a chance to. My supplies are running low as a result of Shelter In Place so this is good timing. They are currently open during this COVID time, limiting the number of people inside to maintain social distancing. Support them, and DRINK RESPONSIBLY!

Cooler in the back!
Min C.

Let's start with the positives. The founding concept of supporting BIPOC and women owned breweries and distilleries is of course, fantastic. Also, the store is beautiful inside, somehow the bottles are arranged by color spectrum across the large wall so it is very aesthetically pleasing. Here's my mini gripe. Maybe I don't know much about prices for canned wine spritzers and ciders, but 2 of those for $19 bucks wasn't really much up my alley - but I admit, I can take that fault that on myself for not inquiring. But compared to 2 guests and 4 floor employees that were present during my entire visit - the lack of any intention to offer help at any point seemed uninviting. No reason to avoid necessarily, but also not many reasons to be back. In this sense, I actually would much prefer the small business liquor store near the Rose Garden/ACE.

a glass of alcohol and a bottle of liquor
Caroline M.

I absolutely love this bottle shop and I'm shocked to realize it's taken me so long to right a review. Located right on Grand Ave in a beautiful location with huge windows in the front, it's hard to miss if you're hanging downtown. They have a wonderful selection of different alcohols and wines - plenty I've seen and enjoyed, and so many I've never heard of! The owner of the store is wonderful and really helpful with suggestions. She actually helped me and my friend find ingredients for our new favorite cocktail with a cucumber and grapefruit gin, elderflower tonic, lavender bitters and some sparkling water. You can tell the owner's really know their stuff, and put together a really beautiful shop for people to enjoy the full shopping experience. In non-COVID times they've had some pretty awesome tastings in the back area, although when we stopped by this weekend there was a DJ which was awesome! Highly recommend for interesting, delicious and great alcohol finds at a great local shop!

a bottle of day rum and two bottles of day rum

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1 year ago

Great selection of unusual alcoholic and non-alcoholic bottles along with an exciting food selection

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4 years ago

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3 years ago

Very well chosen beverages designedly displayed and intelligently described and discussed. Always look forward to discovering more there.

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5 years ago

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5 years ago

Beautifully curated selection of interesting spirits and mixers. The people are nice and the store has a great ambiance

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5 years ago

Gorgeous shop, beautiful products (& they taste good too). The best to ever do it. Hands down.

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6 years ago

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6 years ago

Best bottle shop in Oakland, the owners are great people with excellent taste!!!!

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Review Highlights - Alkali Rye

The owners, Kori and Jessica, welcomed us right away and gave us a detailed tour of their inventory.

Mentioned in 4 reviews

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BevMo!

BevMo!

(131 reviews)

$$

Leevon was very friendly and helpful with assisting us and answering our questions. Our party is…read moreoff to a great start.

And I'm done with Bevmo…read more Was in here today, August 14, 2025. Looking at some beers. Hoping there would be a possibility I might find something fresh. Nope. Every beer I looked at had old brew dates - the freshest being January 2025. Again, we're in August of 2025. I took a picture of one Fort Point beer - March of 2024 (see my screenshot). This is not remotely acceptable. And that does it for me and Bevmo. There are lots of options out there to get good beer - you'd think Bevmo would stop selling this super old stuff - but they won't. It appears all Bevmos sell old beer. Count me out. That's the last time I ever step foot in a Bevmo. Also note - people do not need to be greeted when they walk in. For the life of me I do not understand why Bevmo thinks people like this. The person stops what they're doing a the register to yell "Welcome, hello!" to everyone who walks in. This isn't Blockbuster. It's a liquor store. Let people walk in and mind their own business without being accosted when they walk in (and walk out - "Bye, have a great day!"). And bye to you, Bevmo. (and note, the "Customer service" bot will respond with the stock response "we're sorry to hear about your service, please email us at blah blah blah..." And what happens when you email them? Nothing, outside getting put on a spam list. Avoid this dump) update edit: And the customer service bot responded exactly like I said. How is this place even still open?

Honor Kitchen & Cocktails - Crab deviled eggs

Honor Kitchen & Cocktails

(940 reviews)

$$

A cozy but spacious cute spot perfect for all occasions. There's some outside seating too with fire…read moreplaces. Inside there's the actual bar area that's low lit and more intimate and a bigger seating area with huge TV screens. Cocktails were good. We went with the Spicy Lil Burro which was a spicy margarita with honey and lime. The Nikkei Margarita which was a tamarind margarita was also solid. Started with the Brussels Sprouts which had the perfect glaze and the almonds added an extra crunch to them. The Fish-N-Chips were fresh and perfectly battered. Fries golden crispy. The Yard Birds was the winner of the night. Succulent and juicy inside but crunchy on the outside. Great portion of chicken. The biscuit was fluffy and paired well with the hot honey and chicken. The Mac salad was okay. It had a little flavor out of the ordinary that didn't taste great. Service was good and attentive. Parking can be difficult and limited as they share a parking lot with a cannabis shop and the security is strict. There is some street parking around

Came here for a light bite / happy hour before my flight and experienced the worst service ever…read more This place is across from a dispensary and offers ample parking. The inside has a nice modern look and there is a lounge to the side open for happy hour. We sat in there which has its own bar. It is very cozy. My husband ordered a Caesar salad and I ordered the French Onion soup with a bacon grilled cheese. Our waiter started off well but when he came to get our orders he didn't write anything down and I had to repeat myself twice. The first time he was facing my husband, the second he came to my side and I pointed at the menu while slowly repeating my order. I simply wanted a grilled cheese with bacon added no avocado as it is advertised as an add on, on the menu. As he walked away a part of me knew my order was going to be messed up. Low and behold my soup arrives with a side of bacon. I then explained again what I ordered. A few moments pass and he comes back and then my husband explains what I wanted. I'm not sure if it was a language barrier but it just didn't seem to register. I truly did not think asking for soup & bacon grilled cheese would be so difficult. By this time my husband had already received his salad which was delicious. Finally, he comes back with my soup, a grilled cheese and the bacon ON THE SIDE. If I ordered a bacon grilled cheese why would you give me like this? Why not make my grilled cheese and add the bacon inside? To make matters worse the French onion soup was so bland not even salt could save it. It tasted like a nothingness broth. The grilled cheese was better once I made it myself. The waiter never came back to check on us. The manager hovered by for a while but we had to even flag him down for the check. I left hungry and got a meal at the airport. Would not recommend. If you can't remember an order as a waiter please just write it down.

Alkali Rye - beer_and_wine - Updated May 2026

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