Woods Beer & Wine Co. says it is ready to break ground on a taproom in Downtown San Anselmo, planting its craft beer and natural wine operation outside San Francisco for the first time. The San Francisco brewery has pointed to a location on San Anselmo Avenue for the project, which was initially expected to open in late 2022.
A Years-Delayed Marin Outpost Takes Shape
Per the company's website, Woods Beer & Wine Co. says woodsbeer.com that “we will be breaking ground on our newest outpost in Downtown San Anselmo later this year,” putting a fresh timeline on a project that has missed several previous targets. The company's own site lists the address as 649 San Anselmo Ave., though a liquor-license listing on opengovus.com places the establishment at 647 San Anselmo Ave. — a discrepancy the available records don't resolve.
The San Anselmo plan isn't new. In 2022, Woods told Patch that “we won't be opening our doors until late 2022,” describing its opening timeline at the time.
Food Partnerships Across Woods Taprooms
Woods describes partnerships with local restaurants and makers as a feature of its taprooms, serving simple, takeout-friendly food alongside its drinks.
By late 2024, the count of Woods locations had shifted again. The San Francisco Standard reported the company had expanded to five outposts, with the San Anselmo location described as still coming — and notable as Woods' first location outside San Francisco proper.
From a Mission Garage to a Bay Area Hub-and-Spoke Brand
Woods Beer & Wine Co. traces back to 2012, when it launched as Woods Cerveceria near Dolores Park. The brand says on its Wefunder fundraising page that it pioneered a hub-and-spoke model in the San Francisco Bay Area, brewing centrally and supplying its scattered taprooms, each one serving simple, takeout-friendly food like empanadas or pizzas through partnerships with local restaurants and makers.
Those taprooms have built a following around beers like MateVeza, a yerba mate-infused West Coast IPA, alongside Retro Pilsner, Local Honey and Morpho — the last two an herbal ale and a hibiscus ale, respectively. The company has paired that lineup with natural wines made using organic and biodynamic grapes, native yeast and minimal intervention.
San Anselmo would mark Woods' push beyond its San Francisco base, where the company has built out locations across neighborhoods including the Lower Haight, Russian Hill, Outer Sunset, Mission and Cole Valley. For now, the company's public message is simple: ground is set to break later this year on the Marin project, according to WhatNow, even as the exact address, kitchen partner and opening date remain loose ends for a project that has already outlasted several of its own deadlines.
