Premier Gourmet

cratez

Ontario (Canada)

4.6/5  rDev +3.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

This specialty food and liquor store has an extensive range of beers from around the world, all of which are sorted by their country and, in the case of U.S. beers, state of origin. Walk through the doors, turn left, and head to the back where you’ll find hundreds of high quality craft brews.

I grabbed a Tröegs Nugget Nectar, Anchor Old Foghorn Barley Wine, Oskar Blues G’Knight Imperial Red and Ten FIDY, St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition, Hitachino Nest XH and Commemorative Ale, Kona Pipeline Porter, and Duvel Triple Hop, among many others. Compared to Village Beer Merchant, the prices are cheaper (certain beers are $3-4 less per bottle), the selection is larger, and some of the stock - like the Oskar Blues stuff - is fresher here.

Service was very good as the clerks seem to know a lot about the products they’re selling (coffee, meats, bulk food) and the cashier jammed all of my bombers into a single case in order to avoid problems at the border. We also stayed for lunch since the deli sells various gourmet soups, sandwiches, and entrees.

Overall, Premier offers a pleasant and sophisticated shopping experience with the best beer selection in the city. A mandatory stop when you come to Buffalo.

05-24-2011 19:45:01 | More by cratez

zachariaIPA

Ontario (Canada)

4.18/5  rDev -5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Coming from Toronto, this is Heaven, simply put.

You grab a shopping cart and head eagerly to the back left of the store..you quiver with anticipation. Premier has a massive selection..absolutely mind-melting. All the stuff from Great Divide, Stone, Sierra Nevada..countless regional IPAs..saisons..Belgians..World Wide Stouts, Miles Davis'..some glassware and loads of artisan cheeses. They also post their stock online fairly regularly so you can droll over the selection at work. I can't recommend this place enough. Dangerous!

05-16-2011 02:38:11 | More by zachariaIPA

DoubleSimcoe

New York

4.35/5  rDev -2%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | $$$

I love food and gourmet markets and I love beer, so Premier was a must destination for me during my trip to Buffalo.

When you go in, there is almost no hint of the amazing beer section tucked away at the end of this store. Before, you ought to walk through aisles and aisles of yummies. Olive oil, chocolate, cheese and meats... a good but not exceptional market (go to Wegman's for the food, come here for the beer).

Yes, the beer. Wow! A big cooler with beer divided by countries, and then American micros. Ithaca, Yuengling, Sierra, Smutty, Victory, Flying Bison, Great Divide, Lake Placid, Troegs... a good mixture of national and regional, all cold and in six packs. Also growlers of the local Flying Bison and Rohrbach.

The room-temp beer selection is even bigger, with a big shelf for England (including Old Ales), Belgium and Quebec, Germany and Scandinavia (nice Mikkeller and Nogne). And more shelves for American singles, bombers and six-packs from pretty much every big and small name in the US.

As with other beer stores around Western New York I have visited (including the incredible Beers of the World in Rochester) I did not find anything super rare, but the selection qualifies nonetheless as exceptional.

Service was alright, a guy offered some help, another one responded to my Vanilla Bourbon County question somewhat tersely ("it came and it was gone like that"). But I didn't need help anyway.

Prices are a bit steep, but not super outrageous like at Beers of the World.

This store is a must for a beer lover in Buffalo, definitely.

12-14-2010 23:51:26 | More by DoubleSimcoe

psycle

New York

4/5  rDev -9.9%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Quite the selection of beer tucked in the corner of this gourmet store. Organized by country and by state. Great service and knowledge from Ethan who runs the beer department here, if you can find him. Nearly all brews are available as single bottles and in some cases, even cans. Large cooler along the back wall as well as an area for chilled singles. You can check their inventory via their website which is updated about every two weeks.
For one-stop shopping, this store also has its own deli, gourmet food and cookware, and a liquor store next door.
Probably the best place to go for beer in the Buffalo area.

11-29-2010 04:51:23 | More by psycle

heebes

Ontario (Canada)

4.65/5  rDev +4.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Made the trek into the great USA via Canada on a craft beer run and this was the main destination. Heard alot about it and was excited to visit.
The first impression was that this is alot more than a place to grab quality craft beer. Next time i'll browse the rest of the store a little more as theres cheese, coffee a bakery and more to explore.
The quality was pretty overwealming for a Ontario resident who's used to pretty bland offerings at the local LCBOs. ALOT to choose from and almost everything you could want.
(No luck on Bell's or Founders unfortunately yet, but thats the breweries distribution not PG). I got carried away with what to choose from and am looking forward to more visits.
Help was very friendly if you needed it and otherwise left you to browse at your leisure.
Premier Gourmet was a great visit, and I plan to revisit as often as i can. Go out of your way to stop in.

10-11-2010 19:18:38 | More by heebes

Mancer

New York

4.65/5  rDev +4.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A buddy of mine came across this place. After checking out their selection on the internet, we decided to make a visit. We were greeted by a Halloween display, as well as craft brews lining the table's floor. As we made our way to the rear of the store, we came across three aisles fully stocked with a wide assortment of beers. This place seems to have anything your heart desires. There was a nice selection of Belgian's and english brews as well as some other infrequent brews from Europe.

There was a nice mix of prices, so anyone's budget seems to work there, but for the most part, we're looking at B and above rated beers, which means $10 and up for the 6 or 4-pack. The prices on the 22oz bottles is also pretty good and they have nice variety of Southern Tier 22's, as well as Stone and Great Divide. Their prices seem cheaper than Consumer's, as a bottle of Old Guardian ran for around $6.50 as opposed to Consumers' above $7 price tag.

Something that I found interesting was that these guys have Sierra Nevada's Big foot Ales. Yes, I said ales. They had 2007, 2008, and 2010 Big Foot Ale. Another rarity that I have found nowhere else was the Oaked Arrogant Bastard. Now If you're overwhelmed by such a great selection of top brews and don't know what to pick, you have the ability to make your own six pack. You can buy most of the beers offered individually. This is great if you haven't tasted a brew and don't want the huge investment into a 4 or 6er of it. However, a word of caution to this method, you are guaranteed to spend around $20 for your custom 6-pack.

Overall this place is great and the prices seem spot on.

09-25-2010 19:29:46 | More by Mancer

TurdFurgison

Ohio

4.5/5  rDev +1.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I stopped here on a drive to Toronto, what an incredible store. This is one of the best reasons to check BA before a drive, you never know what you might just drive past.

There have to be 300-400 beers to choose from here, all available as singles or in their normal packing quantities. I was happy to find Victory Lager (which isn't distributed to OH), and was given a 10% discount on a case. Apparently this is the standard discount for any case, so don't forget to remind the cashier if you get one.

There were tons of great beers, strong on NY-area selections but also strong on Belgian, German, and UK offerings. Definitely worth a stop if you're in Buffalo.

09-05-2010 23:08:53 | More by TurdFurgison

korguy123

Ontario (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +1.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Found this place through beerfly and I'm really glad I did. Took the Mrs on our last trip to Buffalo. We were there for about an hour while I slowly walked up and down the aisles looking at everything. Never in my life have I seen such a wide range of selection, and staff that actually approach you and ask if you need help. I actually talked to the one guy about Dogfish Head beers for a couple minutes. His knowledge was very good.

Prices were good, and I love the fact that they don't mind if you mix and match six packs. The prices are even seperate (ie $6.99 for a 4pk or $1.75 each) In Ontario something like that would be just unheard of.

I also really like the fact that the selection was not only sorted by country but also state. Looking for Sierra Nevada? Go to Cali. Dogfish Head? There's Delaware. It's a wonderful system! Unlike Consumer's Beverages where I think things are just put where there's space (except the Bombers they have their own shelf)

In a nutshell this place is great! So glad I found it. A must when in Buffalo / Niagara Falls area. Will go from no on every time I make a beer run!

08-26-2010 20:54:52 | More by korguy123

dogfishandi

New York

4.7/5  rDev +5.9%
quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

i just recently discovered this place and it is now one of my favorite beer stores, although a little bit of a drive for me, its definatly worth it. you can find beers here that you cant get at any other store around buffalo, not even at merchant village.

they have tons of locals, imports and many popular craft breweries. singles for almost all the beers they have in sixers and lots of bombers. plenty of big boxes on the top of the shelves so you wont be struggling if you make a big purchase which is definatly helpful. they also carry some vintage beers, such as bigfoot and some stone beers to name a few. i didnt really notice any employees offering help, but im sure if you asked they would be helpful.

this place is pretty much a gourmet super market. they also carry tons of gourmet cheeses, coffees, plenty of glassware, every kind of cooking utensil and everything else gourmet.

when walking in, dont confuse with the place right next door which is also called premier, but only offers, wine and liquor, two completely different stores. definatly a must stop place if your in buffalo and is very close to niagara home brew, the citys best homebrew store.

05-26-2010 01:19:43 | More by dogfishandi

mgbickel

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +1.4%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

Decided to stop in here on my way through Buffalo. Man...what a good choice!

The place is split into two stores...one seems to be dedicated to wine and hard alcohol and the other is beer and specialty foods.

The beer section is nestled in the rear corner. Tall shelves are organized by country and state (from what I could tell). They have a very wide selection of imports, domestic craft and a huge selection of NY locals. There are also coolers running along the back wall that house singles and sixers.

This place ranks right up there with some of the best bottle shops...a must stop if you are in the area!

05-19-2010 20:58:40 | More by mgbickel