“It made me happy that he was self-employed, (and) we just kind of grew on that. “He was a loving guy, he wanted everyone to get along, do the right thing,” he said. Now Jeffrey carries on his father’s legacy, his penchant for great liquor sales and his immense hospitality. For Matilda, there was “no other way” to run the business except for within the family, with the constant of the Ruiz clan making the years “fly by.”
Ruiz also gained popularity from opening in the evenings after elections, coining the phrase “if your vote should be the loser, by 8 p.m., you’ll be the boozer.”īill’s love for the business rubbed off on the entire family, including Matilda, who still does accounting for the store at 95 years of age. The wild ride also had many positives, with the top celebrities of the time period stopping in to buy from Bill, including Frank Sinatra and “The Beverly Hillbillies’’ star Buddy Ebsen. “We put a little sign ‘Chicano-owned’ so nobody would mess with us … they had buses right on Pico and Lincoln so nobody would come and riot on the beaches. “Every place was closed except ours,” Jeffrey said. Jeffrey started working with his father at 13 years of age during a tumultuous period in Los Angeles history, as the Watts Rebellion caused a week of unrest and tragedy in August 1965. He’d give the shirt off his back for somebody, he hardly ever said no.” “If they didn’t have money for milk and bread, my dad would (give that). “My dad was real helpful with the people who lived in the neighborhood,” Jeffrey said. Purchasing the wine and spirits location while still at Sears, Ruiz translated his work ethic to the growing business, while displaying compassion for his new customers. “He was sitting on the porch and nobody was home … my sister and I saw him, lonely sailor over there … we went over there and met him, he started telling us stories about his ship (that) had already been torpedoed, he had been wounded a little bit, we were really impressed with all the stories he was saying.”Īfter marrying, the couple both worked hard in the Santa Monica area, with Bill using his love of self-teaching to provide gardening expertise to Sears customers in the city. When Matilda met the young Ruiz, she immediately commended his accomplishments. Following naval training in San Diego, Ruiz was assigned to the “Pacific Theater” of World War II, eventually earning a Purple Heart Medal when he was wounded defending Marines he transported in the Gilbert Islands. Born in Moore Park, California, in 1924, he became a member of the United States Naval Forces after his 17th birthday. Taking chances in life was nothing new to Ruiz at that point. We finally said yes, that we would buy it … (from) the fact that you’d have your own business.” “(We) thought about it a long time, because, oh gosh, it’s kind of dangerous working there,” Matilda said. Designed to mimic the feel of the seaside Huntington Beach location, this wine-based oasis pairs popular vintages to a menu of classic small plates, including fish tacos, flatbreads, sliders, and charcuterie, in a welcoming, fully open-concept layout. He purchased the store in 1963 from Walter Kulgene after long discussions with Matilda. William, or the beloved Bill in the store’s name, passed away in September of 1981, leaving the business to Jeffrey, siblings William and Maria, and wife Matilda. This year marks the 60th for Bill’s Liquor store on the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Pacific Street, or as current owner Jeffrey Ruiz puts it, “where the pines meet the palms.” The Ruiz family continues to be proud of the location, which served as a self-starter for Jeffrey’s father, William Stanley Ruiz. There are much better places to buy your booze.While pursuing the latest in wine and spirits, Santa Monica residents have taken part in one of the city’s strongest family legacies. The owners clearly do not care about taking safety seriously in a pandemic. One of the guys restocking the shelves had the mask well below his nose (why bother, my dude?), and another guy making a delivery was not wearing a mask. Both times I’ve see the manager lady behind the desk with the mask down around her neck, then walking out onto the floor and still not wearing the mask properly, easily within breathing room of customers. It’s fine if you need some staples, I guess, but finding something new and unique and interesting was a hallmark of Old Line, where LAX falls woefully short.On top of this, and more importantly, we’ve come in twice in the past couple months and some staff are not wearing masks. In particular the craft beer section is smaller, and they also have fewer Scotch options, fewer bitters, and no Martinique Rhum Agricole. They just don’t have a good selection of stuff like Old Line did. We regularly went here when it was Old Line.
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