Riley's Wines of the World

Riley's Wines of the WorldRiley's Wines of the World
Riley's Wines of the WorldRiley's Wines of the World
Store

402 W Gorham St
Madison, Wisconsin, 53703-2004
United States

(608) 257-0400 | map
rileyswinesoftheworld.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.06
Reviews:
58
Ratings:
89
pDev:
12.07%
View: Place Reviews
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Photo of VashonGuy
Reviewed by VashonGuy from Washington

3.95/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4
As a visitor to Madison, I appreciate this place. It's got a good selection of Wisconsin and other Midwest beers, beers that I can't get in Seattle. The mix-a-six selection is quite good. It's walking distance from the hotels near the square.

It's the kind of beer store that would have seemed world class a few years ago. Now, there are a lot of excellent beer stores around, some significantly better than this. But it's still solid, and I'm happy to visit it on any Madison trip.
Apr 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.07 by SlightlyGrey from Minnesota

Aug 13, 2017
Photo of Ferretferret
Reviewed by Ferretferret from Wisconsin

2.89/5  rDev -28.8%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 2 | service: 2.25 | selection: 4.75
I'm a little shocked to see this place attain such a high score, especially when adjacent to a much better liquor store, University Liquor.

Some of the beer here is ancient! Like, years old! They've had a holiday ale in the clearance bin for over 1.5 years; $7.99, instead of $8.99! I've also seen ancient beers all over the beer section, the cream-based liquors... Please, inspect the date before buying from here!

The service is neither offensive nor anything to write home about, trending toward the negative side.

The tastings they perform here are incredible, and the selection is great, if, again, they're a brewery that posts "bottled on" dates.

Notably, they require backpacks to be held near the employees while one shops, unlike any of the adjacent liquor stores.
Apr 24, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by BarrelAgedG from California

Sep 15, 2016
Photo of mothman
Reviewed by mothman from Minnesota

1/5  rDev -75.4%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 1
Overcharged me for a clearance item. Rude employees. Not very big selection. Lots of old beer. Not impressed with this store. Can't believe that people actually shop here. Avoid.
May 13, 2016
 
Rated: 3.28 by ejimhof from Pennsylvania

Nov 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.06 by nuebs from South Dakota

Oct 21, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by UWBadgerFan4Life from Wisconsin

Jul 08, 2015
 
Rated: 4.4 by jaqo4 from Illinois

Jul 01, 2015
 
Rated: 4.12 by Hendrick24 from Wisconsin

Jun 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.14 by Duff27 from Illinois

Jun 14, 2015
 
Rated: 4.26 by kidzord from Illinois

May 09, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by twb0392 from Wisconsin

Apr 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by italianstallion from Wisconsin

Apr 13, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by RobinLee from Wisconsin

Feb 26, 2015
 
Rated: 4.57 by elkinbrown from Tennessee

Feb 15, 2015
 
Rated: 4.18 by Rilesmiles from Wisconsin

Dec 23, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by KAF from Iowa

Nov 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by spycow from Illinois

Nov 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Canada_Dan from Colorado

Oct 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by s_wit from Wisconsin

Oct 25, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by 22Blue from Kansas

Oct 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by Shluffy from Wisconsin

Sep 25, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Sunn from Iowa

Jul 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by OnWisconsin from Wisconsin

Jun 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by 510a from Washington

Jun 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by bpfrush from Wisconsin

Jun 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Gotti311 from Wisconsin

Jun 17, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jera1350 from Minnesota

Jun 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by egrace84 from Illinois

Jun 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by TX-Badger from Texas

Jun 10, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Ri0 from Wisconsin

Jun 06, 2014
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

4.08/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Nice sized store on the edge of downtown. It has it's own parking lot which is nice. Good quality beer. The have a pretty good sized mix a six selection. Friendly and helpful staff.
Jan 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by ssimpson89 from Illinois

Dec 27, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by Stevedore from Oregon

Oct 22, 2013
Photo of crossovert
Reviewed by crossovert from Illinois

4.28/5  rDev +5.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5
This is a great shop in Madison, right net to Brickhouse BBQ.

The craft is split up into singles which is great, too bad I was broke when I went in and just got 1 can of 8 Bit Pale ale.

A lot of shelton beers are represented including 14.99 bottles of Mikkeller weasel and those expensive as all fuck Italian beers.

Most of the beer was in the coolers except the big high abv brews and some seasonals. I didn't even get to the 6 pack area. This place probably has everything distributed to Madison giving it a pretty wide selection.

The service is pretty good too. A great store.
Mar 24, 2012
Photo of jegross2
Reviewed by jegross2 from Illinois

4.51/5  rDev +11.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
Riley's is great for three reasons:

1) Selection. They have almost every beer you could want to drink that is sold in the state of Wisconsin.

2) Quality. Rileys not only has a lot of beer, they have a lot of GREAT beer. Impossible not to find something new and interesting to try there.

3) Holding beer for me. I've bought a lot of beer from Rileys over the past 18 months, and a lot of it has to do with not only the helpfulness of their beer guys, but also their willingness to hold beers for me. I'd never been able to try CBS if not for the help of Rileys, and I am very excited for the Oak Aged Old Rasputin they're going to hold for me!

Riley's is the priciest of the quality beer selection places in Madison (the other two being Woodman's and Steve's), but they are not any more pricey than your average corner-liquor store. Making the trip to Riley's is certainly worth browsing their selection, getting their beer help, and most importantly, reserving those rare releases!
Nov 12, 2011
Photo of 4DAloveofSTOUT
Reviewed by 4DAloveofSTOUT from Illinois

4.14/5  rDev +2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Stopped by this store today to pick up a bottle of Founders CBS!

Looks like a fairly small store front, especially for the city of Madison. I was really surprised with how big this store was when i got into the store!

Atmosphere: Reminds me of a grocery store. Fully stocked shelves that are neat, clean and organized.

Quality: We are in Wisconsin...the quality beers are everywhere, but nothing was expecially exciting thatwas on the shelf.(except for the bottle of CBS of course!)

Service: Very friendly and laid back staff.

Selection: Wide variety of beer here. Tons of craft beer from all over the USA. Lots of popular sours and huge belgian selection to compliment the USA craft. Also lots of overseas beers. nice variety, but it definately caters to the popular beers that beer geeks love.

Value: Little pricer than I like, but we are in a big city so its to be expected.
Oct 08, 2011
Photo of Sammy
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)

4.08/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Top notch beer store. Everything they can get their hands on from the state, plus great stuff from other states. They do not concentrate on Stone and the like, just their top picks. This put me in the unique position of picking up almost everything in stock, ex the Shelton brothers stuff. Single bottles of everything. I was here well over an hour fulfilling my customs import limit from cooler after cooler. Only the very high abv are available non-cooler, and given the shelf life of most regular beers, and the heat in the state over the summer, cooling makes good sense. Service OK, mostly younger guys, and it was buzy.
Sep 05, 2011
Photo of CuriousMonk
Reviewed by CuriousMonk from District of Columbia

4.3/5  rDev +5.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
A gem in downtown Madison right off the UW campus. I heard about this place through other beer seller who suggested that I stop by this place for 3F bombers. This place sold all the New Glarus beers among the many microbreweries of Wisconsin. They also sold an arsenal of Mikkeller, 3F, Stillwater, and Dark Horse beers. This place is a little disorganized, but still you found the good stuff if you look long and hard enough. Friendly service but didn't come to you while looking at the beers. Just am glad I was able to buy a bunch of New Glarus and 3Fs here due to the extremely limited distribution!
Jun 20, 2011
Riley's Wines of the World in Madison, WI
Place rating: 4.06 out of 5 with 89 ratings