Village Beer Just Opened a Bigger Bottle Shop and Eatery in Kapolei

Photo: Alexander Gates

Village Bottle Shop & Tasting Room is the best place to get beer in Hawai‘i with the largest, freshest, most diverse selection of styles. Since certified cicerone Tim Golden and business partner Daryn Ogino opened at Salt at Our Kaka‘ako in 2016, Village has brought to Honolulu guided tastings, brewer talks and blending classes. Now, West Siders can get a taste of all this: Village just opened its new bar, eatery and tasting room at Kapolei Commons.

“We heard from a lot of customers since we opened in Kaka‘ako. Many live outside the city and provided feedback about how difficult it is to get into town,” Golden says. “It was a smart move for us to open in Kapolei with built-in customers. We want to turn that once-a-month customer into a once-a-week customer since it’s close to home.”

Photo: Alexander Gates

What’s the same at both locations is the split of a bottle shop with a wall of beers from Hawai‘i, the U.S. and the world on one side and an expanded tasting room on another. The beer selection at Kapolei will mirror Kaka‘ako’s. Design elements are also similar—exposed concrete floors, clean white walls, vintage Hawaiiana décor and wood tables; you’ll even find a single little booth in the back corner. The bottle shop feels larger with space for boxed sets and merchandise. Buy a bottle, and you can drink it right there for a modest fee to cover the service.

Photo: Alexander Gates

Kapolei’s 24 draft taps are six more than at Kaka‘ako. The added space will help accommodate changing tastes as well as other locally made fermented beverages from Paradise Ciders and Mānoa Honey & Mead and Loop Seltzers from Beer Lab HI. Eight draft wines will also be available; the complete menu will be on the DigitalPour app.

“We have choices for non-beer drinkers, but in our focus for supporting beer drinkers, we have no cocktails or mixed drinks,” Golden says. “I don’t want to lose our signature and things we take pride in by focusing on too much.”

SEE ALSO: Hawai‘i’s Beer Scene: Openings, Closures and Beer Festivals to Go to

So what’s different about Village Bottle Shop Kapolei? Notably, it has a full-service restaurant with indoor and outdoor patio seating for up to 50 customers and a menu of burgers, sandwiches, salads and sausages. Heading the kitchen is Kaleo Chong, formerly of Scratch Kitchen & Meatery and Butcher & Bird—a longtime friend who “has been a customer at the Salt location since day one,” Golden says. “Daryn and I visited many places with similar concepts in Germany. We want to do a few things really well, like fries cooked in beef tallow for more flavor and a crispier texture, plus dipping sauces you’d find in Belgium.”

Photo: Alexander Gates

At a preview night, I tried the beer-battered andouille sausage bites with Village Sauce—think pigs in a blanket with thousand island, but better. Tallow fries came with a house barbecue sauce and an Asian pesto mayo for dipping. The jerk chicken salad in coconut mint sauce was refreshing, and the chicken cooked to perfection. Our Village burger with cracked pepper mustard bacon, cheddar and Village sauce was well done but juicy and flavorful.

Photo: Alexander Gates

For longtime customers wondering about tap takeovers, free tastings and other events at Village Bottle Shop Kapolei, these will start up after a few months. “This is a whole new beast, and the differences are new,” Golden says. “We’re excited, going to roll into it. We want people to come in and enjoy and help us get going.”

Open Sunday to Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., 4450 Kapolei Parkway #278, (808) 762-0052, villagebeerhawaii.com/kapolei, @villagebeer