ISO: Good liquor stores (US)

[Bricktop]

I was inspired to start this thread by the NY stores thread. Since I have been bitten by the cocktail bug, I have been on the lookout for places that sell more than just the common or garden variety of beverages that other like-minded folk might be looking for. Hopefully this will be useful to the community, especially if you add your favorites to it.

Here are a few I have stumbled across recently. I will come back and edit the info on why I liked them when I get a bit more time.

MA: Julio's Liquors, Westborough Fee's Bitters, lots of single malts, Velvet Falernum, Forest Floor Bitters

MD: The Wine Source, Baltimore Luxardo Maraschino, Fee's bitters, Peychauds Bitters

MD: State Line Liquors, Elkton Sazerac 18YO, Peychauds Bitters

NJ: Shoppers Vineyard, Clifton Luxardo Maraschino, single malts, Rittenhouse rye

[Kent Wang]

Spec's in Houston.

http://www.specsonline.com/cgi-bin/snf?body=/cgi-bin/people

The Warehouse Store is the crown jewel of our operation. With over 40,000 labels of wines, spirits, liqueurs, beers, and finer foods, Spec's indeed fills all 80,000 square feet of selling space. Our walk-in cigar humidor offers over 900 cigars - more than many tobacconist stores. Our deli offers the finest in deli meats, pates, domestic and imported cheeses, fresh caviar, and a complete assortment of domestic and imported smoked fish and salmon. Our full line of jams and jellies, pastas and sauces, oils and vinegars, crackers and cookies make our selection limited only by your imagination.

[thirtyoneknots]

Spec's in Houston.

http://www.specsonline.com/cgi-bin/snf?body=/cgi-bin/people

The Warehouse Store is the crown jewel of our operation. With over 40,000 labels of wines, spirits, liqueurs, beers, and finer foods, Spec's indeed fills all 80,000 square feet of selling space. Our walk-in cigar humidor offers over 900 cigars - more than many tobacconist stores. Our deli offers the finest in deli meats, pates, domestic and imported cheeses, fresh caviar, and a complete assortment of domestic and imported smoked fish and salmon. Our full line of jams and jellies, pastas and sauces, oils and vinegars, crackers and cookies make our selection limited only by your imagination.

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Hear, hear

[Chris Amirault]

RI: Gasbarro's on Atwells Ave in Providence; Town Wine & Spirits on Newport Ave in East Providence; Joyal's Liquors on 117 in West Warwick. Click for a bit more information.

[eje]

RI: Gasbarro's on Atwells Ave in Providence; Town Wine & Spirits on Newport Ave in East Providence; Joyal's Liquors on 117 in West Warwick. Click for a bit more information.

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I was pretty astonished when I visited Gasbarro's a year or two ago. Amazing selection of limoncello, amaro, and grappa. I keep hoping I will find some store in one of SF's Italian neighborhoods with a similar selection. No joy, so far.

Pretty good for microbrew and other liqueurs, as well.

[barcelona]

MA: Julio's Liquors, Westborough Fee's Bitters, lots of single malts, Velvet Falernum, Forest Floor Bitters

second this, and the microbrew selection is plain awesome! They also run regular tastings on Sat, i think around 4 or 5pm.

[eje]

WI: Star Liquor on Williamson Street. Great selection of local and national microbrews. Very good selection of American Whiskey. Decent and eclectic selection of reasonably priced European wines.

[eje]

CA: PlumpJack Wines, two locations, San Francisco. Small stores; but, they pack lots of good stuff in. Great selection of wines, liqueurs, scotch, american whiskies, bitters, aperitifs, Belgian Beers, and obscure local micro-brews. Tend to stock mostly high end spirits. Will special order gladly.

CA: John Walker & Co, 175 Sutter Street, downtown, San Francisco. Great selection of spirits, wines, and obscure liqueurs. Almost no beer. Also carry most cocktail bitters and some pretty obscure secondary cocktail ingredients (Elderflower Syrup, etc). Prices sometimes quite a bit higher than SF average.

CA: Beverages and More, many locations. Surprisingly good liquor and liqueur selection for warehouse type liquor stores. Decent beer and wine selection, as well. Overall fair prices and often significant savings on featured sale items.