I Need Root Beer

January 26, 2007 1:41 PM

Where can I find root beer in London?

I'm living in Berkshire (with easy access to London) and am in desperate need of root beer. Where can I find some?

posted by BradNelson to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges all have Root Beer. The House of Fraser on Bond Street used to sell it. You might also try The Texas Embassy, close to Covent Garden. It's a restaurant, but they are renowned for their re-heated burritos and other American classics.

You could also try to order a root beer-making kit from Amazon and be the hit of every party in London by serving your own brew.
posted by parmanparman at 1:45 PM on January 26, 2007

Best answer: Root beer in the UK.
posted by chrismear at 1:57 PM on January 26, 2007

Bonus: the Selfridges house brand is actually good.
posted by rokusan at 2:27 PM on January 26, 2007

Its also worth checking the off-licenses in your area. When I lived in London, I freaked out when I found a place with a whole display case full of Snapple. I hadn't had Lemonade (American style) in like 6 months before that.
posted by heh3d at 2:53 PM on January 26, 2007

I hadn't had Lemonade (American style) in like 6 months before that. posted by heh3d

How does the rest of the world make lemonade?
posted by buggzzee23 at 2:56 PM on January 26, 2007

If you ask for lemonade in a British pub or restaurant, you'll most likely get a can of 7-UP (or Sprite, which tastes exactly the same).
posted by afx237vi at 3:27 PM on January 26, 2007

Sainsbury's has root beer, you can even buy it from them online and have it delivered.

My boyfriend says it taste not-so-great, though. Perhaps it should be the last option. Although, he says you can also get pretzels at Sainsbury's at Christmastime--for what that's worth.
posted by divka at 3:30 PM on January 26, 2007

Best answer: Cybercandy in Covent Garden for your authentic American sugar fix, or order online. In my youth you could get root beer in UK McDonalds - which is where I picked up my taste for it - but sadly no more.

Also, American lemonade is actually made with lemons and is closer to what we Brits call cloudy lemonade, but less fizzy; or, indeed, lemon Snapple.
posted by featherboa at 3:40 PM on January 26, 2007

Actually, on posting, ignore what I said about lemonade, afx237vi has it.
posted by featherboa at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2007

Lemon squash UK=lemonade US.
posted by brujita at 11:17 PM on January 26, 2007

I always thought what you call root beer was what we call Dandelion & Burdock, so you could try looking for that.

I don't actually like either of them, so my tastebuds might be unreliable, though.
posted by randomination at 3:23 AM on January 27, 2007

Lucky Seven or Bodeans?
posted by quiet at 4:08 AM on January 27, 2007

Dandelion and Burdock isn't the same thing as root beer, I'm afraid. Entirely different taste, and not always an American-pleasing taste at that :)
posted by divka at 6:33 AM on January 27, 2007

You might try the 'Autralia/NZ/Canada/Various Other Colonies Shop' on Maiden Lane, right around the corner from Cybercandy in Covent Garden.
posted by Kreiger at 3:30 AM on January 28, 2007

Costco in Reading is closer to Berkshire than Central London, and stocks Root Beer intermittently. It doesn't taste great though. I buy my root beer cheap, by the case, from Oriental City in Hendon.
posted by roofus at 3:52 AM on January 28, 2007