Gordon's Wine

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

4.65/5  rDev +14%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Edit 1/16/10: After attending the "Black Tie" event, it should be noted that this store has improved dramatically since I had first been there. Eventually I will re-write this review entirely.

Visited on 5/10/07 after a completing a training class for my job, which had me in the area. It's a pretty spacious store with an awkward but efficient layout. The cooler juts out into the middle of the store, which essentially allows for twice as much rack space since there are doors on both sides, approximately one third of which contain micros. The craft section is in the very front of the store; however, that portion is very cramped. The cases have six packs on top of them and are all stacked in front of the shelves, with barely enough room for you to get through to the shelves. There's one rack of bombers & 750ml bottles and then to the right some shelves with 12oz singles arranged in no apparent order and jumbled in with a bunch of other items like glasses and so forth. Despite the set-up, you can tell that the effort is there to get as much product out there as possible, which is commendable and to me makes the appearance secondary.

I really don't have anything negative to mention about the service, while I wasn't approached during my browsing, as long as I know there's someone available to ask if I need to and the person cashing me out is pleasant (which they were), that's fine with me.

While the selection wasn't the absolute greatest, it was still pretty good. There was plenty of Unibroue, Boulder, Smuttynose, Schmaltz, A'Chouffe, Oskar Blues and many others. I saw a little bit of Stone IPA as well. The prices seemed about on-target for the area, nothing seemed exorbitantly expensive from what I saw. For me it was definitely worth stopping by while I was in the area to try getting something that might not make it far enough south of the Boston area to get to RI.

05-11-2007 15:21:05 | More by TheManiacalOne

rousee

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -9.3%
quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Pretty nice liquor store in Waltham on Main street about a mile from the highway. The place is big so you would hope that they have a decent selection of better/craft beer and sure enough they do. A tremendous selection and very good pricing on Rochefort, Westmalle, etc. For American beers, they had a very good selection also. Here are some I remember: better than avg selection of Boulder beers, all the DFH, Smuttynose, Long Trail, Paper City, all the Berkshire brewing offerings. Plenty of Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, and some of the more readily available craft brands. Also a decent selection of German beers too like Ayinger, Schneider, Weihanstephaner, etc. Overall, an excellent selection especially for a suburban location.

The staff were not able to handle the line that formed while I was there very efficiently and thats why I am scoring that low. Overall, quite a good store if you are nearby.

07-04-2006 21:53:46 | More by rousee

Lnedrive14

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

I was stuck in Waltham for 4 miserable years and this was about the only place to get a beer. Well, luckily it doesn't horribly suck, but it isn't Bauer Wines either. They actually have quite a large beer selection, but they just don't have anything terribly interesting! They don't really rotate their beers. It's the same stuff, day in, day out. They have all the major micros from the area, but only their standard brews (e.g. Smuttynose Pale, Magic Hat 9, Ipswich Brown). Very little in the way of singles, basically nothing. They have quite a large import selection, but again, it is all pretty much the standard stuff. Chimay Blue is about the best thing you'll find.

N.B. The kegs are really expensive. Go down main street another half mile towards Watertown and hit up "Skechy" Steve's for your keg needs. They dont really have much of a selection (bud light, that's about it) but you'll save a good $15 over the same thing at Gordon's (although Gordon's does have a selection of better kegs).

10-21-2005 22:14:22 | More by Lnedrive14

pikemark

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -2%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5

Probably the best place in Waltham to pick up quality beer believe it or not, even though it is a chain.

They do sell singles which is cool and they have a fridge of just growlers which is also cool. Alot of local stuff, Sam Adams Chocolate Bock, Harpoon 100 Barrel Series, Paper City.

This Gordons had a nice range of everything from unibroue to Hi.P.A to Big Foot Ale.

They have wine tastings some days and there is always someone around to make suggestions. Actually one time a guy suggested Erdinger for a good Hefe and it turned out to suck. Next time Im sticking to BA for advice.

04-18-2005 09:38:58 | More by pikemark