Brix Wine Bar makes a splash in Shell Beach

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Fresh off a two-year streetscape project that transformed Pismo Beach’s oldest road, originally built in 1914, into an attractive pedestrian- and bike-friendly thoroughfare, the surrounding community now boasts a wine bar.

Debuting in late 2024, Brix Wine Bar & Bottle Shop joins a dozen eateries and a handful of hotels lining the refreshed Shell Beach Road.

The bar is the brainchild of Jasi Sotello, longtime owner of hair salon Fringe by Jasi & Co., located next to Brix.

“My husband, Gilbert, and I have been interested in the wine industry for many years,” said Jasi, who resides in the Avila Valley area of San Luis Obispo. “Our good friends Gary and Teresa Burk from Costa de Oro Winery (in Santa Maria) introduced us to the process of winemaking and appreciating the different types of wines.”

They thought a wine bar would be a great addition to Shell Beach’s vibe, she said. So when a space next to the salon opened up, they couldn’t resist the opportunity. Their eldest daughter, Mekynzi, and her boyfriend, Nicholas Carrade, had recently moved back to the area from Nashville.

“While there, Nick was a bar manager at a popular restaurant with an extensive wine list where his love and knowledge of natural wines grew,” Jasi said. “We knew Nick would be the perfect partner to manage and be the face of Brix because of his friendly personality, work ethic, positive energy, and love of wine.”

Carrade jumped at the opportunity to serve as general manager and co-owner of the establishment along with the Sotellos.

“For the time being, I am the only one working full-time at the bar,” Carrade said.

“Jasi and Gilbert were active in the design and building of the space, but now their roles are more limited to consulting and brainstorming ideas for events and such.”

They participate in occasional wine tastings with distributors and use their network to connect Carrade with help for the website and accounting, he said.

“Mekynzi has been great with graphic design for events and social media,” Carrade added. “We really do work as a team, but I do take on a majority of the day-to-day responsibilities.”

Born in Santa Rosa and raised in the North Bay Area, Carrade boasts more than a decade of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry combined with a business administration degree from Sonoma State University.

“I took some elective wine-business courses during my time in college,” he said, “one being a summer course where we spent one day each week touring different wineries, learning their stories, and tasting from both the barrels and the bottles.

“Throughout high school and college, I worked part-time in various restaurants

and food-service establishments, eventually working my way up to bartender, where I fell in love with craft cocktailing and the business of hospitality.”

Carrade’s industry skills were further refined after moving to Nashville, where he worked as a bartender and bar manager for several different bars and restaurants, “learning new skills and diving deeper into the world of hospitality,” he said.

“My last year and a half was spent working at a new restaurant called Xiao Bao,” he continued, “which served elevated Asian comfort food and had a great natural wine list and cocktail program.”

As the bar manager, a big part of his job was figuring out what wines to serve 

“This was probably my favorite part of the job. I got to taste so many cool wines from all over the world,” he said. 

The couple moved back to California in 2023, and a short while later Brix fell into Carrade’s lap.

“The property management company wanted to offer it to Jasi first before putting it on the market,” Carrade said. “Jasi knew she wanted the space but was trying to figure out what to do with it. She played around with a few ideas before landing on a wine bar. When I heard that, my ears perked up and I told her I was interested in joining her in that adventure. The universe was giving me signs, and it seemed like it was meant to be. About a year later we opened our doors.”

Brix specializes in local wines stretching from Monterey to Santa Barbara.

“Our wine menu currently features around 40 selections, and we’re always rotating our offerings to showcase new and interesting finds. We prioritize wines that are low-production, low-intervention, or sourced from sustainable vineyards,” he said. “I do a good amount of research to find [these] winemakers, and when I find one I like, I reach out to them or see who they distribute with and then set a meeting to taste.”

Sometimes, he said, winemakers reach out to him to see if we would like to carry their product. 

“Those are my favorite, because they are usually very small brands with little to no recognition, doing everything themselves, kind of like us,” he said. “What I love so much about SLO is that there are so many small businesses, and the community is so supportive. … We try to use Brix as a platform for these small businesses to get more recognition.” 

For non-wine drinkers, Brix offers a selection of draft and bottled beer and cider, as well as mocktails. Customers can also purchase a variety of snacks, Brix swag, a selection of candles and wine-related games and puzzles, and dried bouquets from Idlewild Floral Co. in SLO.

Beyond beverages and a perk-heavy wine club, Brix hosts live music, winemaker takeovers, and food trucks, with wine-education classes and more to come.

“There are no other wine bars in Shell Beach that I am aware of,” Carrade said, so reception to Brix from area residents has been especially enthusiastic.

Jasi concurred: “We’ve only been open for a few months and already we have local regulars excited for us and to have a new spot in Shell Beach to enjoy. 

“We look forward to getting to know more of our neighbors.”

Contributor Writer Cherish Whyte thinks Brix is bound to liven up Shell Beach. Reach her at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Mar 6-16, 2025.