4-stars is the best I've been able to give so far and Brawley's definitely deserves all 4!
This place hands down has the best selection of incredible wines at incredible prices of any shop I have ever been in, anywhere. Just an astounding selection of FABULOUS wines between $15 and $30. And I go into LOTS of wine stores.
I was looking for an obscure french wine and the distributor told me to go over to Brawley's..."you mean the old Mike's Discount Beverage" I asked?!? "That's the one" he told me.
Hell, Mike's Discount was where we went back in high school to buy beer when we were underage! My how it has changed.
Now it's called Brawley's, but it's in the same place and is once again run by Mike Brawley, both of them!
Well they didn't have the obscure french wine I was looking for but Mike Jr. and I started chatting. It was perfectly clear he had done some serious homework on each and every selection in the store. I simply took his advice and bought 5 separate selections, the most expensive was $27.99.
Each and every one was spectacular...just an amazing experience/selection.
Keep up the great work Mike!!
NOTE: don't expect a warehouse, or a fancy building, but do expect a medium sized selection of carefully cultivated and EXCEPTIONAL wine choices.
NOTE2: I classified this place as "inexpensive". Don't get me wrong, you can spend a lot of money on a bottle if that's what you want, but that's definitely not a prerequisite for finding exceptional wine. The reason I categorized it "inexpensive" is that there is more value-for-your-dollar here, than any other place I have ever been.