Royal Liquors

emerge077

Illinois

3.41/5  rDev -17%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

12-2010 re-visit: Wow, things have gone downhill here...not quite the excellent selection as before, but there are still remnants of it. Sadly the beer aisles are in full sunlight. Some obscure quality imports still (no more drie fonteinen or uerige), maybe more than Lukas in KCK, but not worth the risk here of light-struck bottles, imho. Spirits were 20-25% more here than in KCK for the same stuff. No staff on the floor. Left empty-handed. Wondering if they are transitioning to a smaller selection, or just in between beer buyers.

12-2006: 4.2/A
From the minute I entered the store and started admiring the open case display of La Folie, someone was there to assist and talk about beer. This guy was beyond helpful, and friendly too. After visiting a second time, without the beer guy, service was just ok.

The selection was very nice, great Belgian, German, and other Euro imports. St. Bernardus Abt 12 Special Edition was there, Drie Fontienen, Caracole, Rochefort, De Dolle, as well as Uerige Sticke, and other harder to find goodies. There was a great selection of US craft too, including most Bell's varieties, Schlafly (found 2 reserve varieties), Boulevard, New Belgium, Avery, Great Divide, etc.

Prices were reasonable, even on the limited release stuff. A discount was received for buying 6 import singles. If I lived here, this would be my go-to store!

12-24-2010 04:47:40 | More by emerge077

Billolick

New York

4.15/5  rDev +1%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Larger booze, wine and beer distribution spot the beer is to the right and up front as you enter the store, as well as in several cooler units along the back wall. Nice selection of the expected locals, regionals and then a better then average for what I saw in the area imports. Founders, New Belgium, Boulevard, O'Dells, Great Divide come to mind for some interesting stuff, but they had a lot more...Pleasant and informative dude helped me find the Saison Brett bombers from Boulevard and guided me around the place for a quick tour. Quite decent if not amazing place, worth a visit if in the area.

08-07-2009 23:03:50 | More by Billolick

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.75/5  rDev -8.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 1.5 | selection: 5 | $

The wife and I drove by this place while en route to our friends' house in nearby Mission, Kansas. I remembered seeing a listing for this joint here on BA so I decided to check it out...

The location/atmosphere is quite crazy, what with a massive liquor store being part of a gas station! A little dumpy in its surroundings and looks, but once you're inside it's all good. Literally a TON of beer!

First you stumble upon a large bomber shelf, with Chimay, Ommegang, Duvel, all of the Boulevard Smokestacks, Avery, Grand Teton, Southern Tier, New Holland, Stone, Jolly Pumpkin, Mikkeller... plus a lot of locals from Missouri/Kansas like Doodle Brew, Cathedral Square, Weston Brewing.

Keep going past the bombers and find the six-pack section, with Lagunitas, Breckenridge, Odell, Arcadia, Bells (five different ones), Founders, New Belgium, Southern Tier. Widner Bros and Bridgeport from Oregon, which I have not seen around the Midwest. All COLD! Now this is rare, and I sure do love it...

The Mikkeller shelf is amazing, with pretty much every single variety of the Barrel-Aged Black Hole series, including Tequila and Cognac and the works. Also the Single Hop series.

Some strange beers from abroad, like 8 Wired from New Zealand, Hel&Verdoemenis and other obscure Euros, plus a ton of Belgians (a whole aisle, in fact).

Last but not least, there is an extra aisle for warm American craft six-packs and bombers, where I saw Moylan's and Jolly Pumpkin.

You can tell by now the selection here is OUTSTANDING. The only thing I didn't like about Royal Liquors was the service. Nonexistent, cold, indifferent. The cashier couldn't even say "hello" and simply uttered the amount of my beer. Whatever. Other than that, this is a must stop in the KC area.

09-24-2011 01:00:06 | More by DoubleSimcoe

bditty187

Nebraska

3.85/5  rDev -6.3%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

Update: The widow problem as been largely fixed. The service has been hit or miss but I know they have at least on guy there that knows beer. The selection is better than Gomer’s but the Belgian section really hasn’t "wowed" me lately but they have added a few better domestic craft beers. Some of the prices seem high. This still seems to be the beer store to beat in KC.


Old review from 05-23-05:

(Old scores: Quality: 4; Service: 3; Selection: 4.5)

Impressive… most impressive. Better then Gomer’s on Holmes. Best beer store in Kansas City… that I’ve been too.

I was a bit worried when I pulled up on a busy Friday night. The large white building with gas pumps in front didn’t exude the image of a place to buy good beer. Nor did all the Cardinal (baseball) fans leaving with Bud or Michelob Ultra… I guess they couldn’t cut the umbilical cord!

Once inside I noticed most of the store was devoted to wine and hard liquor. Once I found the beer, to the left and left-back coolers I was quite happy. But I didn’t like the big windows exposing the beer to sunlight. At least the window is facing north. Still this is something they should look into…

For American micros, Royal had a good selection from Bell’s, Berghoff, Rouge, a couple from Bridgeport, many from St. Louis Brewery, Boulevard, Goose Island, Great Divide, SA, SN, Anchor, Pony Express, Otter Creek and more.

Overall, the import section was good with a modest row devoted to English and German beer; I didn’t pay much attention to these but I did notice many quality beers. The Belgians looked good though! They had offerings from Unibroue, Cantillon, Chouffe, Duvel, Orval, Rochefort, Dupont, Caracole, and many more. There was a couple Bière de Garde I had not seen before. I wish I had taken some notes because the selection was very good. There were at least a dozen Belgian/French beers that I had not even seen before… plus there was another dozen or so I had not sampled.

How was the help you ask? Well they were busy when I was there. I didn’t see any employee “beer guy” or anything so I can’t really comment on the service. The checkout ladies were pleasant tough.

I will be back.

Recommended.

04-16-2006 14:33:38 | More by bditty187

zeff80

Missouri

4.08/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Located right off I-435 is a huge plus. It may be one of the easier stores to get to on my way through the south side of the city. It is a gas station/convenience store which surprised me. Great selection of beers with good organization. I've never seen so many varieties of the Mikkeller single hop series. Rows are organized by country. A very small and limited mix a six section is there, too. They have some good glassware, too. They had a deal on the glassware if you a beer from the same brewery. Staff wasn't very helpful but it is a gas station. They did hook me up with a Deschutes sticker when I asked a question about their Deschutes selection. This is a really good beer store in the KC area.

01-12-2012 03:31:30 | More by zeff80

hwwty4

Missouri

3.7/5  rDev -10%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Edit 05-09-08
Both Sam and Chris no longer work there. They don't know what they have in stock or what they are getting in. It's kind of depressing. The people there don't know much about beer.

I have to say that Chris is still working there. I talked to him about finding some Chocolate Indulgence about a week ago. He is absolutely brilliant when it comes to talking about beer. I also have to extol the qualities of the rest of the people that work there. Sam is one of my favorite beer guys. If you ask him for a beer that they don't carry, within seconds he has called half of his distributors trying to find out who carries it, if he can get it in MO, and when it will be available. No matter how many annoying questions I ask them, they never tell me to go away. They have the best beer selection of all the small-medium sized liquor stores in KC. This is my go to liquor store. While they don't have the selection of other larger stores in KC, the people make up for it. Their staff is great. I will continue to make Royal my number 1 liquor store

12-15-2007 05:09:43 | More by hwwty4

udubdawg

Kansas

3.65/5  rDev -11.2%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Nice selection. Lots of Schlafly and some O'Fallon, (but the 5-day IPA hadn't made it there yet when I visited.) Surprisingly good selection of imports, especially Belgians. Some really high quality stuff here. Some helpful Rate Beer shelftags for the forgetful.

Found a couple bottles that were on the old side, but have generally been pleased with the quality. Decent selection of singles in the mix-a-six section.
*edit* - (less of a selection in the mix-a-six section this time, but not too bad - basically mixed a 6 with 3 each of two seasonal beers I missed out on - all were still fine despite a month or two past prime drinking age. Also note that although I often see several beers past their dates in here, I've had good luck buying them anyway and wishing for the best - had some great London Pride that was well past it's drink-by date just last weekend)

A little disappointed in the service, or lack thereof, I received on both visits...but then one was pretty late at night, and the other was on a Sunday. I'll be by again, hopefully soon, to give them another shot.

03-31-2007 22:51:29 | More by udubdawg

Quaffer

Nevada

4.15/5  rDev +1%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Royal Liquors is, in my opinion, on equal footing with Gomer's when it comes to beer stores in Kansas City. While the selection might be a bit smaller (not to imply that it is small, because it is not), there are things there that I cannot get at Gomer's. For instance, I picked up four consecutive vintages of Lee's Harvest Ale at Royal. Plus, they have Lindeman's Cuvee Rene. That alone makes me stop by each time that I make a trip to KC.

As I stated, the selection is amazing. Don't be fooled by the weak cooler section. Go check out what they have on the shelves.

The employees were great each time I have been in. Some of the newbies have been a little inexperienced about all the brews, but they were excited about the world of beer and on the path to becomes true BAs.

It's just a short trip on I-435 from Holmes to State Line, so you might as well hit Royal the next time you visit Gomer's. I'm pretty sure that you will go back.

01-13-2005 00:35:44 | More by Quaffer

homebrewhawk

Kansas

3.85/5  rDev -6.3%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

This is one of the better liquor stores for beer on the South side of KC. Pretty good selection of micros. Lots of European beers. Nice line up of Belgian, German, and British beers. They also have some pretty obscure Baltic and Russian beers. They allow you to build your own six pack from a selection of beers.
A good amount of cooler space is devoted to good beer. They seem to have upgraded their beer selection in the past year or so.

A lot of the beer is located near a north facing window, which has always bothered me a little. It has a screen on it however. Prices are not the best in town, but the selection is pretty solid. Service on the beer side of the store seems a little spotty.

This is also a good store for wine, they have a very extensive selection.

It is right off of 435, so it would be a quick stop for someone travelling through town.

11-13-2006 00:08:33 | More by homebrewhawk

HOPPYKC

Kansas

4.7/5  rDev +14.4%
quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

I was going atround place to place to find the Hopslam Ale that Bells brewery had released just recently. This place is amazing. They have almost everything you could ask for. They sell microbrews that are extremely hard to find. The guy i was talking to actually sold me one of his 2 mini kegs of hopslam that he had. THANKS!!! Overall this place has alot in the cooler and has alot to offer in single bottles. If you live in the Knasas City area it would benifit you to go to this place. You would be amazing to see what Missouri can sell but Kansas connot. Once again thanks to the people at Royal for giving me the Hopslam.

01-24-2011 01:47:30 | More by HOPPYKC