Best beer, wine, & spirits retailers in KCMO city?

[rxlexi]

yeah, Cosentino's actually has a pretty solid beer selection given the size of the store.  Easily as good or better than the BKS location, quite a few interesting individual bottles/warm stuff on a shelf opposite the cooler.  Still, in the "CITY", Gomer's is where it's at for random awesome beer finds.  How is the new Grand Slam downtown?  It seems much larger and with better selection than before, but is basically just malt-liqour central?

Also, Mikes on 85th is decent if you're out south city/Waldo.  And I still say Red-X is my fave overall, and it's about as far from DT as Brookside. 

[ChefColby]

i love Lukas, but i'm talking CITY retailers. 

Of course....silly me 

[mean]

How is the new Grand Slam downtown?  It seems much larger and with better selection than before, but is basically just malt-liqour central?

Seems to be about what it was before. A few alright craft breweries are represented of the Anchor and Sierra Nevada type. Nothing particularly weird or awesome, but better than BMC.

[rxlexi]

  I just want to add to this thread that I took a brief tour through the upcoming Cellar and Loft in City Market on Saturday and to my surprise came away thinking it might earn it's way onto my "go to" booze shop list pretty quickly.  And they didn't even have anything on the shelves yet. 

  I met a super-nice, younger gentleman whose name escapes me, and was most intruiged by the awesome "cellar" part of the concept, which is the old stone basement of the place, filled with dark hardwoods and hand-made wood shelving that will contain 185 different bottled beers (supposedly lots of unique and cool stuff) for build your own six packs, as well as a number of interesting, small-batch spirits (they don't plan to carry "mainstream" brands such as Grey Goose, I believe) and of course a lot more wine and the wine locker and hang-out room.  Truly a sort of hidden and "special" vibe down here, thus far.

  I came away impressed and the idea of a boutique wine/beer/spirits shop full of interesting stuff, in a cool location is unbelievably appealling.  Here's to hoping it comes together as good as it sounds right now...

 

[elonalum]

did you ever visit the cellar and loft in brookside? 

[rxlexi]

^^^ no elon, never made it to the BKS location, though I did stop by it's successor, Wine, (I believe) a few times.

[trailerkid]

  I just want to add to this thread that I took a brief tour through the upcoming Cellar and Loft in City Market on Saturday and to my surprise came away thinking it might earn it's way onto my "go to" booze shop list pretty quickly.  And they didn't even have anything on the shelves yet. 

  I met a super-nice, younger gentleman whose name escapes me, and was most intruiged by the awesome "cellar" part of the concept, which is the old stone basement of the place, filled with dark hardwoods and hand-made wood shelving that will contain 185 different bottled beers (supposedly lots of unique and cool stuff) for build your own six packs, as well as a number of interesting, small-batch spirits (they don't plan to carry "mainstream" brands such as Grey Goose, I believe) and of course a lot more wine and the wine locker and hang-out room.  Truly a sort of hidden and "special" vibe down here, thus far.

  I came away impressed and the idea of a boutique wine/beer/spirits shop full of interesting stuff, in a cool location is unbelievably appealling.  Here's to hoping it comes together as good as it sounds right now...

 

wow. sounds awesome. i'm staying downtown for a couple days to go to the KU game. i hope to check it out if it's open by then.

[butter_breath]

For price I like RedX or Hyvee. Hyvee does an awesome job supporting state and local wineries & breweries, I used to buy beer from Gomers (on 99th or so) when I first returned from Europe, but they didn't move enough product so it was always stale.  I don't buy power house wine anymore if I did I would get it shipped up from the Brown Derby. I just like quaff wines I guess, must be my simple east Kansas City approach.

[elonalum]

cellar and loft of bks was just that - the cellar was stone walls, creaky harwoowoods and shelves and shelves of beer and wine.  none of the prices were great but the tastings were fun and the ability to build your own 6 pack was the best part. i couldn't bring myself to buy wine there - prices weren't great considering the other options right in the neighborhood (reason Wine never made it) upstairs was home decor type of stuff and part of the cellar was kitchen gadgety things and other foodstuff. i loved the feel down in the cellar and as little as i went there, i miss having that in brookside. 

[trailerkid]

Is Gomer's South better than Gomer's Midtown?

[KC Sporting Life]

Is Gomer's South better than Gomer's Midtown?

Depends.  Also has a fantastic wine and beer selection and knowledgeable people.  They do tastings on Saturdays.  Joel, who handles the wine purchasing to a great extent, is really into Burgundies and Pinot Noirs, so they have an extensive selection.  Pricing may be a little better, because they've got Royal Liquor down the street, and they're always competing with them. 

If you get to know Joel, you can sometimes buy farm fresh eggs from him too. 

[loftguy]

Pricing may be a little better, because they've got Royal Liquor down the street 

Your mention of Royal Liquors brings up one of my pet beefs.  It is the continued dismal condition of Royal Liquors on SW Boulevard.

A visit to their 63rd Street location, or the larger one on 103rd at State Line, makes it obvious that the downtown spot is a red-headed stepchild. 

I'd be interested to know if the informed among you know if there is so much money to be made in malt liquor and in flight sized liquors that a capable owner would not be motivated to upgrade and take advantage of downtowns new demographics?

[LenexatoKCMO]

Your mention of Royal Liquors brings up one of my pet beefs.  It is the continued dismal condition of Royal Liquors on SW Boulevard.

It does seem like it is a bit of a lost opportunity.  Even if they kept the dingy aesthetic they could at least bother to carry a little more beer.  They have a huge sq. footage and lots of cooler space, yet Boulevard and Guiness is about as exotic as it gets. 

I would hate to see it class up too much - the Royal is hands down some of the best people watching in town. 

[moosnsqrl]

I saw a stabbing there (Royal on SWB) one Sunday afternoon, possibly 8-10 years ago. The clerk grabbed an odd weapon (PVC with a nail or something sticking out), leapt from behind the counter and chased off both stabber and stabbee (?). He came back in calmly and rang-up the person in front of me in line - who also seemed completely unphased by the entire incident. I imagine/hope it has changed since then, but that might explain some of the discrepancy between that and other locations.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I imagine/hope it has changed since then,

Nah - not really.  You could have posted that same story and said it happened last week and no one familiar with the place would have batted an eye. 

[chrizow]

sometimes you gotta cut a motherfucker.  

[warwickland]

sometimes you gotta cut a motherfucker.  

Moderately surprised when I realized you posted that.  :lol:

[redperro]

royal liqours is definatly a people watching event, u get it all there

from the bums, to the downtowners, to johnson county people, latinos from kansas city,ks some from northeast and especailly a neighborhood party junction for latinos on the westside

some of my buddies from the westside work/have worked there, it can be uncooth as hell, but its defiantly a third place for people to grab a beer...