noun
liquor store; sake shop; pub; bar
Formal or literary term for a place that sells or serves alcohol. Not used in everyday conversation; modern equivalents include 酒屋 or バー.
彼は街の酒家で一杯ひっかけた。
He grabbed a drink at a pub in town.
noun
Formal or literary term for a person who drinks heavily. Rare in modern speech; 酒飲み or 飲んだくれ are more common.
あの老人は若い頃、有名な酒家だったそうだ。
That old man was apparently a famous heavy drinker in his youth.
Compound of 酒 (sake, alcohol) and 家 (house, shop, or person with a certain trait). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the kanji combination naturally yields both 'alcohol shop' and 'person of alcohol' meanings.