Plaza Liquors & Fine Wine

cbros

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -22.6%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Came here after searching Beerfly. As you walk in there is a cooler to your left that has all the bombers available. If you go towards the back of the store there are 6 packs and singles that are out plus along the right hand side are a series of coolers that house singles and 6 packs. They had a pretty good selection of cooler stuff and room temp stuff. Even though I didn't ask anyt questions while I was there I did call them before coming and the girl on the phone gave me correct directions.
The negatives are that this place is mostly a wine and liquor store(hence the name) so the beer they do have is not equal in selection to the other two. Also the store is very tiny and crowded. I had my son with me and I had to put him in a cart so that he wouldn't be able to run around. Being that it was the day before Xmas it was very crowded so manuvering him around was not easy.
Overall from my research this was the best place to go to get beer in Tucson. Nice little place that on my next trip to AZ I will certainly visit again.

01-02-2009 18:58:24 | More by cbros

tchaos

Florida

3.66/5  rDev -19%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

I was really looking to get here on a recent trip to Tucson.

True to other reviews, there is a small amount of parking, and you are probably luck to stand two people side-by-side in any row inside.

Best thing i liked about the store was, although shelves are stocked with 4 and 6-packs of bottles and cans, everything is priced and available as a single.

Bomber selection seems reasonable for the size of the store, but it was much smaller than I expected, save for the Uinta brews.

I may have come on a bad day, but the staff seemed more interested in talking to each other than in assisting me with my purchase. A few specific items I asked about were noted to be in stock, but then turned out to be missing. They have also recently dropped Allagash (rightly) for repeated past-date beer.
That said, I did pick up 5 things I can't get in FL to toss in the suitcase for the return trip home.

I am glad that the store has a loyal local following -- I fear that having Trader Joes, Whole Foods, BevMo, and TotalWine, all within a couple of miles may convince many people to purchase craft elsewhere.

10-01-2011 21:40:23 | More by tchaos

Reagan1984

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -11.5%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Visited this location based upon Beerfly. Nice little store.
Overall they had a nice selection, I didn't find too many exciting offerings, but that may be more of a comment of the fine stores back in Boston. The help was very friendly and most imformative.

I was a little concerned that I saw some dated beers on the shelves.. I saw Deshutes Hop Trip on the shelf which is a wet hop fall release that is supposed to be consumed shortly after release. Once I commented, the staff said...."yeah, that's long in the tooth"
Frankly, they need to handle this before the beer gets this old. I also saw a couple IPA's that were bottled in March of '08. That's not good.

On the other hand their pricing is excellent. All single bottles are the price of a six pack divided by 6. Very reasonable.

When I visit Tucson again, I will certainly return to this location.

03-31-2009 15:02:16 | More by Reagan1984

bbothen

California

4.15/5  rDev -8.2%
quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

First stop while in town for business. Had to stock up the fridge.

10 or so 2 door coolers filled with a nice selection of west cost goodness. 6 doors of singles, which is nice, all priced nicely. Other coolers filled with 6 packs, bombers, and 750 ML bottles. Lots of Stone, Great Divide, Ska Brewing, Deschutes, Left Coast, Moylans, Dogfish, Rogue, etc.

Young lady at the counter was nice and friendly. Offered suggestion between Nimbus Brewery and Gentle Ben's on what they have to offer.

Seems to be the go to shop in town and the place I'll go to stock up next time I'm there.

07-26-2009 23:59:25 | More by bbothen

DonDirkA

Arizona

4.16/5  rDev -8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

The service here seems nice... if you're a regular. If you're a guy like me who only stops in every few months because he lives too far away, they could care less. When they finally ask if I need help it has more of that "We're watching you" vibe than that "I'm here to help" vibe.

The selection is pretty awesome, the bombers need more rotation since about half of what I saw here the other day was the same as what I saw when I was last here like.. 6 months ago?

I still really want to like this place though. Their true selection lies in the singles they have in the back of the store where you can make your own six pack. That's some good stuff.

I said they're reasonable because they basically compare to other craft beer places. A little more expensive than a Total Wine or BevMo, but that is expected if you want to shop local. And honestly, that doesn't bother me. They are close to the same prices as my usual store (Magee Road Liquors), but they have a different type of selection. Its cool, so if you're in town or in the area, its worth checking out.

06-13-2012 05:37:10 | More by DonDirkA

t0rin0

California

4.28/5  rDev -5.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Visited 3/3/2011 during Ratebeer Winter Gathering.

Located in a small dusty shopping center next to a planned parenthood (or some such place). I got a kick out of that.

The majority of the floor space is liquor and wine but the back wall and the whole row of fridges are full of beer. One set of shelves is dedicated to Bells. A couple of the fridges are full of AZ and NM beer. The rest is an interesting mix of imported beer and random breweries that distribute to AZ. I found most of the Crooked Line series from Uinta on the shelf but only picked up the barleywine.

The service was nice and very grateful to us for bringing in a dozen customers, though I suspect it had something to do with knowing that they'd be getting rated. Either way, they are nice people.

Prices were good on most items ($1-$2 for single 12 oz's) and not so good on other items ($12-$15 for the Crooked Line beers). For what ever reason there was a 10% off for beer that day.

Would definitely go back for some new ticks, or for some Bell's.

03-08-2011 22:22:57 | More by t0rin0

DrinkSlurm

Connecticut

4.3/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped by this place on a business trip after reading reviews here on BA.
Its in a small plaza...kind of hidden, but good parking and somewhat easy to find.
Atmosphere - its a liquor store...cool beerk geeks behind the counter
Nice selection of brews...lots of odell, New Belgium, local Arizona, epic, left hand, lost abbey, and rogue. I bought a Fantome Boo! - $15, an odell Mountain Standard single, and a Bells New Coast Old Ale ~ $2.50 each. You can mix singles (awesome for travellers) and apparently you get a discount if you pick up anything over a case...
So nice selecton, not huge, but well stocked and thoughtful, good nice service, and somewhat reasonable/average prices. Nice spot.

12-10-2012 05:10:23 | More by DrinkSlurm

gregshead

California

4.34/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

A: Typical liquor store but more beer sections and good craft brews in the fridges than most places I've seen in my travels.

Q: Lots to like with all of the beer in the fridge. Bummer that some beers like IPAs are left out but I guess there is only so much fridge space.

Service: People are super helpful. I've done phone orders for my father in law to pick up on his trip out and they have been super helpful.

Selection: This is where thie place really shines. Bell's, Odells, Left Hand, Bison plus a good amount of CA stuff too. This place really tries

Value: Some things are cheaper than in CA other things are a dollar or two more than you might want. However, buy 4 6-packs, get 10% off your order. Pulls it back into the reasonable range.

07-05-2011 00:44:49 | More by gregshead

TXHops

Texas

4.35/5  rDev -3.8%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5

I got to stop into Plaza while on a recent trip to Tucson and I was quite impressed. The selection is massive, compared to what I can get here in Dallas, especially for a small store. If they carried any ABSABCo beers, they didn't get much shelf space. Just about all the Stone stuff was present, as well as lots of Bear Republic, Lagunitas and many other California and Arizona micros. Plaza also had a great selection of Belgians and large format bottles. Although they had lots of beer on the display shelves, it appeared to me that all of the warm bottles were those that should theoretically age well--none of the pale ales or Pilsners were out of the cooler.

The staff members who were present when I was there were friendly, though not terribly helpful. One of them did inquire as to where I was from when I mentioned that I had come a long way for all this Stone, but other than that, he didn't offer any information and only replied with a simple, "No." when I asked if they had any more Levitation or Double Bastard. Like I said, he and the other girl were very friendly and they didn't mind me breaking sixers.

My big complaint was that the store closed at 9:00 on Friday night, so I missed my chance to stop in one more time before I left. However, I don't know if this closing time was of the store's choosing, or a city/state law.

03-17-2003 14:25:19 | More by TXHops

ocelot2500

Arizona

4.41/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Saw this place on beerfly and thought I would give it a try. There is a big selection, so expect to spend a little time to find what you want. Most of what they sell are singles for a make your own six pack type deal, but they do have some bombers, 750s and six packs. That being said, the amount of singles they have are more than plenty. There were about five coolers filled various singles. Every bottle was individually priced and the prices were fairly reasonable if you extrapolate them to six pack prices. The staff was friendly, and one told me a place to find some glassware in town. The beer guy did not seem to be there, but somebody at least had knowledge of the inventory.

08-16-2009 03:02:35 | More by ocelot2500