Winners For

Best Liquor Store

All right, people, we kind of fucked up. Somehow Costco, Kroger, Walmart, and a bunch of other corporate overlords convinced us that we needed to boot the state out of the booze business and give them exclusive rights to sell the stuff. A majority of us voters must either be gullible rubes or drunken buffoons, because we actually believed prices...

In a city with so many places to go out for a drink, there are still times when you just want to booze comfortably at home. For those nights, you can't find a better store to stock up on intoxicating beverages than Warehouse Wines and Spirits. The selection is great—it's rare not to find what you're looking for—and the truly warehouse-like space...

Don't let Spec's attempted takeover of the fine spirits world distract you from this gem in Addison. Aside from a great selection of booze, wine and whatever else you need to wet your whistle, the deli in the back has a great variety of cheeses, house-made duck pot pies and gourmet sandwiches. Irish lass and cheesemonger Theresa Magee rarely for...

Don't go to Vom Fass on an empty stomach...unless you're ready to take a cab home. The German boutique in Maplewood — one of just seven in the United States — may not look like a place to get boozed up, but walls of absinthe, brandies and whiskies don't lie. And neither do the salespeople here when they invite you to taste anything that catches ...

Old Towne Orange has gotten a little uppity in the past decade or so. Thankfully, Rod's Liquors is holding down the old-school fort, with its semi-circle driveway for convenient parking and a down-to-earth staff that puts up with all manner of bullshit, from drunken homeless people to drunken Chapman girls to hipster dicks who frequent the nearb...

Fie on wine and spirits snobs. This is the place where cool people go. And despite the name’s funky spelling, it’s not all about champagne. The knowledgeable staff stocks low-end, high-end, and everything in-between because it’s not about what you should be drinking—it’s about people-pleasing. Of course, they’re always apprised of and stock the...

Wells has all the hooch in the world, fine wines, beer of all nations, and they will find a way to order your potent potable if you stump them, but really, when it comes right down to it, when we’re coming out of the shop with our Leaving Las Vegas starter kit, it’s the easy parking, yo. Right in front.

Well, we love the fact it’s another option aside from Lee’s, but the wine selection here is just unbeatable. Any region, any year — you’ll have a ball finding what you’re looking for here. And, the staff impresses you with information on how to best serve it and which meals best complement it. We love that these guys were first to sell Skinnygir...

This is a liquor store. It’s not some fancy, hoity-toity grocery store that sells alcohol too or a convenience store with big dreams and 20 different varieties of light beer. Twin Liquors has a huge selection and offers a lot of two-for-one specials, but ultimately all that matters is that you can walk in and find the booze you are looking for q...

An early adopter of the Lowertown neighborhood boom nearly 10 years ago, Lowertown Wine & Spirits is that fascinating cross-section of connoisseurship and here-comes-a-regular friendliness. If you're just stopping in to get a 40 of Mickey's, a case of Natty Ice, or a sixer of Summit, you might find yourself blindsided by just how eclectic its se...

Homer Simpson said it best: "Alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all life's problems." The wisdom of Homer reigns supreme at Sunset Corners Fine Wine and Spirits, where its massive selection of distilled antidepressants is fit to cause or cure any ill. From craft beer to rare spirits, your liquid elixir is here. Bernie and Rosalind Rudnick b...

Counterintuitive or just plain amazing? These were our first thoughts upon encountering Happy Pappy's, a drive-through liquor store in Hollywood. Located on Griffin Road across the street from a pawn shop and next door to Happy Pappy's Sub Shop, this standalone mom-and-pop establishment looks like a little hut of joy, complete with a terra-cotta...