Liquor Liquor Liquor

I love liquor stores. What’s not to love really? They are stores and they sell liquor what more can you want? Cigarettes? They’ve got those too! Providence has an abundance of great liquor stores. It has been a personal goal to go to as many of them as I can. I’ve always got an eye out for a new one. I am not a liquor store snob. I like a dive sometimes more than your swanker establishments. I like everything about liquor stores except one thing, the lottery. The lines always bug me and I just don’t get it. You’re not gonna win! I also don’t get the term Package store. The “packy”, I just don’t get it? I know it’s some Rhode Island expression that I just don’t get but that’s a whole other story. As I said I am always on the look out for a new store, so if you know of any please let me know!
One of my favorite liquor stores is luckily right by my apartment. Tropical Liquors on Cranston St is always a good time. Packed from opening to closing Tropical stocks as various a mix of products as their mix of clientele. You can find an excellent priced ½ 12 pack of Becks or Bass right next to the Olde English. Just across the isle from the boxed wine one can find a decent cabernet at a decent price. The place is always hopping, but nothing bad goes down ever. They don’t go for that kinda crap at Tropical Liquors.
I’m also a big fan of ENO Downtown on Westminster. It’s rather toney for my everyday usage but I do enjoy their selection. I went to a very nice beer tasting there once. I didn’t particularly care for the beer they were showcasing but it was fun and I did find a beer that I love and is hard to find. I am on the constant hunt for a Czech beer called Staropramen and I think they may have a handle on getting some. They have an excellent wine collection at moderate to high prices and a very amicable and knowledgeable staff. They don’t sell cigarettes though and that is a negative for me.
Nikki’s Liquors out on Admiral Street is the place you want to go if you are looking for interesting beer. It’s in a horrible location, an ugly shopping plaza, but the beer collection is outstanding. The prices aren’t cheap and it’s a pain in the ass to get to but I highly recommend it. They have a mixed case deal that is great. If you like craft or import beer this place is for you.
There are two liquor stores off the top of my head I love to go to just because they look great. Swan Liquors on Hope Street is the first. The old coolers and shelves are beautiful and they have a pretty good mix of stock. I used to live in the most boring place in the world, Wayland Square. The only liquor store there is beautiful as well. The coolers are gorgeous; too bad the help is so unpleasant.
I am obsessed with going to the liquor store on Douglas Ave that was in the news recently for serving underage kids. Not that I agree with serving underage kids but I am glad to know that there are still stores like that around. It’s pure nostalgia on my part. “Rinute on ice how nice.”
Campus Liquor on Hope near Wickenden is another favorite of mine. The staff is always nice and they have a great selection. It’s a store I go to if I need to buy a bottle of wine as a gift and don’t want to get screwed on the price. Where the campus its name alludes to isn’t clear to me as it’s an actual bus ride from the Brown campus but whatever. Practically on the Brown campus is an excellent liquor store Spriritus Fermenti. It wins hands down for the most pretentious name but it has a good selection and decent prices. The winner for me in the neon sign category it Nocera’s on Smith St. That is one fine sign and a good little liquor store to boot! There are lots of little liquor store around but few big ones. Gasparros on Atwells is pretty big and their wine collection is legendary. There was a liquor store called Peoples Liquor in the Brewery Parkade that I loved. It was huge. Peoples Liquor, how more egalitarian can you get? It has had a closed for renovations sign in the window for nearly a year. A liquor store with shopping carts, that’s real liquor shopping!
So do yourself a favor and go check out one of these little gems. If there is one that you think I really should see please let me know as I will make a concerted effort to check it out!