Is there any difference between Howard County liquor stores? I don't drink that often, but I feel like I drive past a liquor store in every strip mall on every road. Even half-filled new shopping centers have a liquor store.
Many of the new places seem to be going upscale. Even old joints are renovating with wood floors and classy designs. Perfect Pour in Elkridge appears unique because of its sheer size and the beer wall inside. But I went looking for a special wine last year and realized that any liquor store will order anything if you give them a week or so to get delivery.
Are there Howard County liquor stores that are worth a drive? Mrs. HowChow wants her house wine House Wine, but I'd be happy to check out a special place.
21 comments:
My wife and I like visiting the Wine Bin in Ellicott City across the street from Judge's Bench. They have wine tasting every day and also a great beer selection. I think it's the best looking liquor store in Howard County.
The fancy stores are nice for tastings, hanging out and seem to be designed to have the wine and beer drinkers comfortable in one place. This is good for my household.
Personally, the liquor stores I like the best you can't see the floors. If you can see the floors you don't have enough stock.
I like my beer, cellar temperature and my liquor stores dirty.
The only Liquor stores I feel are worth the drive in Maryland are Chevy Chase Liquors and State Line.
The Wine Seller in the newish Shipley's Grant plaza (Coal Fire Pizza, Cold Stone etc) is pretty excellent. They usually have something out to taste and I have found them to be really nice and helpful.
But I can usually get the guy at Richburn Liquors in the Long Reach Village Center to order me what I need and he's super nice too. And I definitely wouldn't consider that a "nice" liquor store.
Love love love the Richburn Liquors guy! He expanded his store once the uber pricey Perfect Pour came into town. I'm not impressed w/ Wine Cellar b/c Ricburn *can* get you what you want, and, he'll remember what you liked in the past.
From the beer side (never learned to like wine) I prefer a place that keeps the craft beer cold, rather than room temp, as cold beer stays fresher longer. So my preference is for Jason's on Rt 40 over Perfect Pour. Most of the beer is in refrigerated cases. Plus I think Jason's slightly smaller selection means a higher turnover of product and that means fresher beer. (old beer is a problem I've had at Perfect Pour)
Can't have this conversation without mentioning Corridor Wine & Spirits off Rt. 198 in the Laurelish part of town. They have a HUGE selection of wine, and a fair selection of liquor and beers. Great place to go to prepare for parties of all variety (college Rage-out to a sophisticated high-society shindig) I've always found the prices to be very good as well.
You could not find a nicer owner than at the store in Elkridge that's in the same shopping center as Pazani and Katana Sushi across from the Giant (Lyndwood Square Wine and Spirits). Almost every time I go in it's either the owner or his son behind the counter, and they are extremely helpful.
They recently expanded their beer selection and while it's nowhere near the size of Perfect Pour, I've never found it lacking. Unless I'm looking for something particularly unusual this is always the store I go to.
I love Decanter Fine Wines in the Hickory Ridge Village Center. Very helpful - will to order anything - and Yogi always has great wine suggestions - he knows his stuff!
Corridor Wine, at the Hwy 198 West exit off of Hwy 295 in Laurel. And, yes, they replaced their floors - and lighting - just over a year ago!! LOL!!
When I want to sample new beers, I head to Corridor near the Russett part of Laurel. It's nice to be able to put a six pack sampler together beer by beer to try new things--and at $1.50 a bottle for most craft beers and such, it's way cheaper than trying a new beer while out at a bar.
we live fairly close but we love the perfect pour
you can put together your own 6 packs
they will order anything you want and they even offer discounts on things
the owner is super super helpful and if you stand around looking confused (yeah, that's how i roll) he'll come over and help and he has never recommended something that i didn't end up loving
and....
they have wine tastings on thursdays, fridays and saturdays
not to mention they have special events for belgian beer tastings and other things
My vote goes to Corridor. They have a good beer selection, a great wine selection and plenty of liquor, along with very competitive prices.
The Perfect Pour does have an amazing beer selection, but is pricey and lacks the same wine and liquor selection.
I have to toss in my love of Richburn liquors as well-- the folks there are super nice, the prices are great, and they usually have tastings on Friday nights!! He keeps expanding and expanding, too, so the selection is better and better.
Has anyone seen "House Wine" (Mrs. HowChow's favorite) anywhere else besides i.m.wine? I generally go to Corridor, but have forgotten thus far to ask if they carry it.
You know I find it funny that all these individuals mention a variety of stores in the columbia-ellicott city area but neglect to mention what time they open or close.Most of those mentioned close by 9pm or as late as 10pm. Jason's is great for their selection but info on product is usually ehh..I asked for a winekey in there once and got a confused look back.Also, they are not the only store in the area that has craft beer cold..Allview Liquors is the oldest and by far more reliable, not just on info or especially when it comes to ordering beer or wine, but on how late they are open. Sunday-Wednesday 9am-12midnight/Thursday-Saturday 9am-2am. They also cash business checks till 8pm everyday,til5pm on aturday and 12pm on Sunday!
Their prices are very reasonable especially on wine compared to nearby village centers and provide 10% discount on cases of wine-5% discount on half cases as well.
All of those other places are great for one thing or another, but if you need it quickly without the sales pitch,or the hassle of a line.
Located off of Old annapolis road behind Dorsey Search Village Center..
I live about a block away from Jason's and have never gotten a blank look in response to a question there. I have gotten a "Let me find the person you need to ask," response but I don't mind that a bit. I've never walked out of there without what I was looking for or a suitable (if not better) alternative and often find interesting things I didn't even know I needed.
And FYI - a new liquor store just opened in St John's Plaza (by Mars). I haven't been in but it looks like a generic, strip mall liquor store from the outside. They are running a "$1 over cost" special right now.
FWIW- Richburn is open until 11 most nights and the young guy who manages the place will show up in a snow storm so that people like me can have their wine when snowed-in.
I finally went to the new liquor store next to Solana's in St John's Plaza. The wine selection is mostly what you would expect from a strip mall liquor store (lots of yellow Tail, Gallo, Kendall-Jackson, etc,) but they did have quite an extensive selection of sake. I know virtually nothing about sake so all I can say is they have about 3/4 of one side of a gondola devoted to it and a lot of the labels had no English on them at all so I assume it's not just the regular stuff they make for import to the US.
Also, $1 over cost is still going on so it's a great time to stock up on "house wine."
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