Piñon Bottle Co. has been a staple in Midtown for years. Taking up space next to Noble Pie and downstairs from award-winning Arario’s, its ideal location made it a mecca for beer drinkers day and night.
Then, the brand added a Sparks location smack-dab in Victorian Square, taking up space in another highly populated area for late-night crowds. This time they focused, too, on a small food menu and several events, including DJ Trivia.
With their third location, Piñon appears to have struck gold again. This time capitalizing on a slightly different demographic, Piñon Bottle Co. opened on Wedge Parkway. Across the street from Reno Ice, just steps from one of the area’s newest home developments and across the street from the Arrowcreek apartments, the clientele is built in.
If you’re a hockey or figure skating parent, there’s ample opportunity to enjoy a brew or some small bites from a local food truck on Fridays and Saturdays while your kids are at practice or open skate sessions. Or head over for food and beer post-practice and games as the facility is family friendly (including your dogs on leash).
The beer list, as always, is impressive, serving up a collection that includes local standouts, far away favorites and some classics. In addition to a long, rotating list on tap, an entire corner of the shop is dedicated to grab-and-go cans.
The website is updated daily with the day’s selection of brews so you know what to expect. Of course, sometimes a keg is tapped, but in general the list remains accurate. There are 35 beers in all, plus some non-beer items including cider and draft wines for a total of 40 taps. 
While the beers do swap out, my personal favorite find is the Huck It, a huckleberry-flavored blonde ale from Montana that I’d never tried before. At 5% ABV, it’s a light sipper. The rich and earthy flavor of huckleberry is present in this pink-tinged brew, but the drink isn’t sweet at all and certainly doesn’t toe the line into cider territory.
Local beers come from big names like IMBIB Custom Brews, Shoe Tree Brewing Company, CraftHaus Brewery, Alibi Ale Works, Pigeon Head Brewery, Brasserie Saint James, Revision Brewing Company, Lead Dog Brewing and more.
A notable mention is the Best Bud beer, an imperial IPA created in a collaboration between Schussboom Brewing Co., IMBĪB, Shoe Tree and Great Basin Brewing Company.
While there is a little of everything, from nitro brews to good old Miller High Life, Piñon also pays attention to what’s trending, so there’s no shortage of IPAs on the menu and several sours.
The space itself makes the experience. A long patio overlooking Wedge Parkway allows guests to enjoy Reno’s better weather days. All they do is open up the garage-style door between the indoor dining area (which includes a mix of small tables, large high tops and coveted bar seating) and the outdoor patio with a smattering of chairs.
On Friday and Saturday evenings, food trucks park outside in the brand-new Meadow Creek Shopping Center parking lot. The online events calendar helps patrons plan ahead for what kind of grub they want, and there’s sometimes more than one option.
On Fridays, food trucks serve from 5-9 p.m. On Saturdays, service comes in shifts between 2 p.m. and 9 or 10 p.m. Past visitors have included Wok & Roll, Slater’s Ding-A-Wing, Daddy’s Tacos and Hungry Devil’s.
While Piñon has become a big local name, and most have heard of it, the new location takes its winning concept and molds it to fit the area. In my opinion, it’s what Piñon does well. Instead of copy and pasting one business onto the next, they truly map out the neighborhood, its clientele and what would serve it best. That’s how they’ve ended up with a rowdier Midtown bar, a family-friendly location with food trucks and an event-heavy location serving a daily menu in-house all throughout the Reno/Sparks area.
