Nikki's Liquors

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -14%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Transcribed from notes dtd Sa, 15 Jan 2011.

Located in the back right corner of the North Providence Marketplace, the checkout counter was just inside the door on the left, followed by a short bank of coolers down the left wall and another cooler against the back wall. The impressive point was that half to two-thirds of their space was dedicated to beer! The depth and breadth of their selection was astounding, but I found myself wishing that there were more beers from the New England area, vice focusing on domestic craft beers and imports. I realize that mine may be a dissenting opinion, but when I travel, especially to shop for beer, I want local or regional beers that I do not have access to normally. It was a clean, well-lighted place for beer, but just not quite what I was after.

06-14-2011 19:40:49 | More by woodychandler

Billolick

New York

4.3/5  rDev -7.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I stopped in here on the way home from the BA Belgian fest in Boston, about 7-10 minutes off of route 95, just north of Providence, this is a medium sized wine, booze and beer spot in a typical large shopping plaza. The beer is in the rear 1/2 of the store. The clearly respect beer and are doing a fine job getting a very nice range of all the imported Belgians, Germans, British offerings as well as the domestic good stuff. Plenty of worthy beer to be had. I especially liked their friendliness to singles and their mark downs on several choices. Not sure why but they had Mikkeller bottles marked down from $8.99 to $3.99...so they were a no brainer to try. No growlers or growler filling options. They did have some glassware and a friendly person behind the counter. I'd be here often if I was local

10-04-2008 15:50:48 | More by Billolick

morebeergood

Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev -10.8%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped in here this past Sunday afternoon with my wife and my brother. We have wanted to check this place out ever since we found out it's right up the street from my grandparents' house. Looks small when you first walk in. I was expecting more of a warehouse look. There are three shelves of beer to choose from for the mix-a-six deal, which is why we came. There is a whole section fro American, then a whole shelf for Belgian, and a third side for German and others. Selection was pretty good, but not as mind blowing as some of the reviews on BA make it sound. We each picked out a six pack of randoms and were given a 10% discount at checkout, which was cool. Prices were decent, as most US bottles were $2 give or take 25 cents. Good place to check out if you like the mix packs, as I do. It's a great way to try loads of different beers without investing in a whole sixer. I wish more places offered a deal like Nikki's.

06-21-2010 15:54:26 | More by morebeergood

GJ40

North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev -9.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

Nikki's is my regular stop when in RI on business. It's not far from where I grew up.

They have a good craft beer selection that's well organized and well presented. They have BA labels in front of many of the beers with description, rating, etc. It can be very helpful in trying new things. They used to have them for just about everything but they don't seem to be keeping up with it.

My opinion of Nikki's has dropped a bit over the past year or so. My first concern (and this isn't something they have any control over) is that RI just doesn't distribute some of the beers you can get a few miles away in MA. My second concern is that Nikki's seems to be struggling with turnover on some of their products. Some beers just don't seem to move (even when with their attempts at price reduction for some) and that seems to limit what's coming in.

When the owner is there, the service is very good. He's very outgoing and helpful and seems to have a genuine passion for beer. When he's out, there's no beer knowledge. The prices are reasonable but not necessarily low.

So Nikki's is as good as you'll find in RI but if you really want a great selection, you have to cross the border to MA.

05-31-2009 19:41:22 | More by GJ40

Deuane

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -14%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Their motto should be "The small shop with the BIG selection"!

A nicely stocked and interesting store. I had a pleasure combing the aisle looking for hidden treasure.

They also have many bottles marked with BA ratings. In addition beers are separated geographically with sections for USA, Germans, Asians (a surprisingly varied selection), Belgian and UK. Another area highlights feature and seasonal beers.

Service was polite...I think I was asked if I needed help but it wasnt very forceful. The cashier was pleasant upon checkout. She did help my wife find a wine she was looking for.

All in all a nice little store well worth hitting up if in the area. Prices were in line and on some items seemed discounted.

07-18-2009 12:09:30 | More by Deuane

indiapaleale

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev -7.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $

I went to Nikki's for the first time today. I was astonished as to what I found...

Nikki's is very innocent looking from a distance. When you get a little closer you'll notice a lot of micro brew posters on the windows and a sign about mixing a six pack. Very inviting.

Walking in I immediately noticed those brightly colored stickers that indicate an item is on sale. The more I looked around the more I saw them...holy crap...a ton of this beer is on sale!

I mixed a six pack from the huge array of micros. I also grabbed an Otter Creek World Tour gift pack from a couple years back at $6.99 (Three World Tour bombers and an awesome glass for $6.99!!!). They had a ton of Belgians, Germans, Scandinavian imports as well.

When I was there on February 11th they were also selling Oskar Blues Ten Fidy for $5.99 a 4-pack. I kid you not, they had cases of it as well.

I've never been to a place with so much beer at discounted prices, granted some of it is old and might be bad but its still a bargain beer hunters dream.

Not much help from the one person working but thats okay, I enjoyed the treasure hunt.

Cool little place, check it out if you're passing through Rhode Island.

02-11-2009 02:12:33 | More by indiapaleale

tigg924

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Visited this past Saturday. Nikki's Liquors is an excellent beer store and one I would frequent often if I lived in Rhode Island. Nikki's has arguably one of the best foreign beer stocks I have ever seen. They have six shelves plus of singles/bombers to choose from. If you choose six, they will give you a ten percent discount on up to 23 bottles. On top of this the prices were already reasonable. The staff was friendly and knowledgable. Not sure how this compares to other RI stores, but I did notice they had a great selection of St. Somewhere beers and several Jolly Pumpkin that I have had a hard time finding in Massachusetts. If I am ever passing through the area, this is a stop worth making.

05-03-2010 16:31:46 | More by tigg924

dsa7783

New Jersey

4.35/5  rDev -6.5%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

Saturday, September 20, 2008:

Although from what I heard technically located in North Providence, this is an all-out, amazing liquor store and one of the best in the area to cop hard-to-find, exclusive brews...
Nice selection of Micros, Germans, English varieties as well as Belgians...
Mix-a-six program with 10% off mixed single six packs...
Lots of hard-to-find stuff...
Great samples from Left Hand, Speakeasy, Rogue, as well as other micros...
Good service... Small store yet well-organized with a personable staff willing to help...
Loved the overall inexpensive prices...
Would definitely go there again if I were in the area...
Recommended...

09-22-2008 00:23:26 | More by dsa7783

Jwale73

Rhode Island

4.5/5  rDev -3.2%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

I discovered Nikki's on Beeradvocate and figured I'd give it a go. If you're not familiar with the area, definitely keep the store's number handy because it is easy to get lost since it is tucked in the corner of a larger shopping plaza. Anyway, once I found it, it was definitely worth the drive. The store is deceivingly small and I was surprised at all the hype until I hit the beer racks. Extremely well organized and large selection. A huge selection of belgians, and some difficult to find brews. Pricing was reasonable and the mix-a-six was the reason I sought the place out. I was also happy to find some of the Harpoon 100 barrel series that had disappeared. Very well rotated selection; didn't see too much old stock, and no dusty bottles (always a plus). I only rated the service as average because I didn't really utilize it (wish their was an N/A) option. The only negative was that I was hoping to find a selection of beer-appropriate glassware, considering the wide range of brews; unfortunately, just the odd pint glass and occasional boxed set. This is definitely the go-to store if you live in or are in the RI area.

Update: 1/10/2008
Finally met Mike the owner for the first time (I tend to hit Nikki's at off-hours). Really nice guy and spent some time making recommendations while also hosting a tasting. I really appreciated the quality of the service.

10-01-2007 00:25:15 | More by Jwale73

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

4.65/5  rDev 0%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Small, clean store with an excellent selection. A bit cramped but not a big deal, however I was there when the A-B truck was delivering and dropped their cases in front of the micro section while I was trying to browse.
They plaster the shelves with the BA Shelf Talkers for every beer and there's a list of beers posted on the wall, sorted by style. Both which were extremely helpful and the person at the register was pleasant.
They stocked several highly rated beers that you normally don’t see in this area. It’s one of the few places around here that carries Three Floyds, Ayinger, Southampton & Victory and for some other breweries like Rogue & Smuttynose that I usually see, they had particular brews that aren’t typically carried.
The prices were reasonable, but there were a few beers that I thought were a bit over-priced. They also have a mix-a-six promo which is very convenient.

05-04-2006 02:18:50 | More by TheManiacalOne