When you think of the Los Angeles craft beer scene, you probably wouldn’t picture the city of Downey. It’s better known for being the birthplace of the Apollo space program than for its breweries. So, I was intrigued when I caught wind of a bottle share happening at Uncle Henry’s Deli in Downey. A digital flier making the rounds on social media highlighted a “wall of taps”—104 to be exact. I knew then that I had to see if this tap wall was as impressive in person as it looked online.
I visited Uncle Henry’s Deli on a Thursday at noon, right at the peak of the lunch rush. The place was buzzing with energy: sandwich orders rang out from behind the counter, and its eight picnic-style tables were packed with patrons on their lunch breaks. I saw construction workers with their neon vests and steel-toed boots chomping on double-stacked meats; women in business-casual attire washing down their sub sandwiches with mugs of beer; and a man sitting solo in baby-blue scrubs, sipping a pint and loudly declaring, “This is a great Stout!”
Behind the bar at the back of the room stood that wall of taps. It really was glorious.
The deli’s origin story is one of ambition and resilience. At just 14 years old, the eponymous Henry hitchhiked 1,021 miles from Colorado to Hollywood and found work at a butchery, where he honed his skills. He later opened and operated his own successful butchery, which he aptly named Uncle Henry’s Deli.
Years later, in 1979, Henry sold the deli to his nephew, George Gaul, and George transformed the deli into a bona fide sandwich shop. He also obtained a liquor license and began adding beer to his menu. Business took off, and Uncle Henry’s Deli enjoyed decades of success. Following the 2008 economic meltdown, George delegated operations to his kids, fraternal twins George III and Christina Gaul. The duo are responsible for the deli’s current incarnation as a local beer hub.
“Back then it was only stuff like Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob,” says Christina Gaul, recalling the early days of the deli’s beer menu. George III started overseeing beer buying right when craft brands were beginning to gain traction in the local market. At the same time, Uncle Henry’s Deli became the go-to caterer for a local beer distributor. This connection put the Gauls at the heart of the area’s craft beer renaissance, and the siblings knew then how they would leave their mark on the family business: They’d introduce Downey to craft beer.
Leveraging his distributor connections, George III began bringing in beer the deli’s customers had never heard of; soon, Uncle Henry’s earned a reputation for being the first retailer to offer many emerging brands locally. “When Hangar 24 first released their Orange Wheat, we had a launch party here. It didn’t seem like a big deal then,” remembers George III.
As word began to spread of a growing tap wall in a local Downey deli, beer fans started trickling in from all over Los Angeles. “I was a deli faithful before I worked here. I heard about the tap wall and came for the beer,” says bartender Carlos Gomez.
Today, Uncle Henry’s Deli is a local institution, beloved for its special releases and hard-to-find imports and now a host to bottle shares and other community events. When asked what’s next for the deli, George III considers before answering: “I’m trying to get a non-alc Lager on tap!” he laughs.
Words by Ray Ricky Rivera