Wine aficionados will have a fresh place to sip in a couple weeks with the arrival of the Library Social Club, a new wine bar that will offer libations and small bites in downtown Walnut Creek.
The long-in-development wine bar, which is going into the former Guava Eats space at 1506 N. Main St., is headed by co-owners JB Balingit, Eddy Negrete and Leo Negrete at the Hideout Kitchen in Lafayette. Like the Hideout, which specializes in American comfort cuisine, the Library Social Club plans to serve up food in the form of small plates and charcuterie-style nibbles. But the main focus will be wine and beer, says Macy Delzell, director of operations at Balingit’s Morello Restaurant Solutions.
“During COVID, we had to shut the doors to our guests at the Hideout, which was heartbreaking,” Delzell says. “They came up with a wine club as a service to guests, where they could pick up wines once a month. Once we reopened, we wanted to just focus on guests getting the best experience possible, and the wine club got put on the back burner. So when this downtown Walnut Creek location became available, we jumped on that to do the club once again.”
The Library Social Club plans to be a membership-based service and “social experience,” complete with repurposed vintage decor, value-conscious price points and a blend of esoteric and classic wines and local brews.
Membership packages vary in price. On the low end, there’s The Apprentice for $100 per month, which includes one to two bottles of wine plus a complimentary tasting and various discounts. For $150 per month, The Academic includes one to two bottles, three complimentary tastings, priority invitations to winemaker dinners and vineyard/brewery tours and other perks.
And what kind of wines will be featured? “JB loves to be all over the place. He wants to bring in new varieties every month, so people can drink and learn from them,” says Delzell. The new wine bar’s applications are all in, Delzell adds, and the team hopes to open by mid-June.
Keep tabs on the progress at www.librarysocialclub.com.
