Best of the Beach 2016, Liquor Store: Ocean View Liquor
Ocean View Liquor’s Norm Kalosh. Photo
The key to the success of Ocean View Liquor is as simple as it is rare: the little shop on Manhattan Avenue near the HB/MB border is genuinely a part of the community it serves. Owner Norm Kalosh lives across the street with his wife and two kids and he carefully curates what the store carries in order to best serve his neighbors, many of whom first suggested some of the craft beers, wines and liquors now on the shelves of Ocean View. Kalosh’s backstory is that his father Albert immigrated from Syria and ran a liquor store in the Valley in the hope his son would “go the college route.” Norm did go to USC, but upon graduating realized he wasn’t cut out for the corporate life. Nine years ago, he bought the store, and because he personally liked craft beer made it a “bottle shop” before the term was in vogue.Per square foot, Ocean View has the finest selection of craft beer arguably not just in the South Bay but in LA County. Add the men who man the counter, Kurt, Marco, and Giovanni, each who knows their product, and their customers’ tastes, and you have an utterly unique liquor store. “I come to work happy every day,” Norm said. “We don’t take it for granted. We are really fortunate. We really have it good.”
3232 Manhattan Ave., Hermosa Beach. (310) 798-3331
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