Gator Beverage

gabe

Florida

3.35/5  rDev -5.9%
quality: 3.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$

A pretty sweet spot in downtown Gville. Overall it's one of probably three places that has a good selection of brews in town. It is kind of shady looking as others have said but that shouldn't be a turnoff. It adds to the experience. You can pick up anything for your late night party needs here. Most of the good stuff can be found unrefridgerated down an aisle, with some of the more popular selections in the fridge section. Sometimes they have some good beer on sale too. Service is a detractor as I've never had anyone talk to me about the beers here. If you know what you are looking for you'll be ok, otherwise your outta luck. Though in a land of cheap swill, this is your oasis. The 'Liquor Store' of LTJ fame delivers!

11-27-2005 04:29:04 | More by gabe

movingshadow152

Florida

3.45/5  rDev -3.1%
quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5

Gator Beverage is one of only two places (that I know) in Gainesville to purchase high-quality beer. It is not a highbrow beer/wine store like their only good-beer competitor, Dorn’s. Gator Beverage is a sort of shady looking liquor store, making most of their business from selling kegs of swill, and cases of rancid piss-water. However, whoever makes the orders knows something of the kind of beers BAs drink and orders a rather sizable selection of obscure (by Gainesville standards) beers. Nearly every Rogue and Dogfish Head selection is there, including the Rogue XS series ceramic bottles. They have a pretty impressive collection of Belgians, including Abbaye Des Rocs Grand Cru, St. Bernardus, and others. The selection is quite good in my opinion.

The store is difficult to shop in however. It is commonly packed past capacity with people, and the row with the good beers is commonly obstructed with wobbly stacks of kegs. I haven’t determined whether the staff is knowledgeable about the beer they sell, but I get the impression at least a few of them are. Overall, Gator Beverage is an average to poor store to shop in, but their wide variety of beer makes the hassle well worth it. I shop there all the time.

03-28-2005 14:16:11 | More by movingshadow152

projektteg

Florida

3.4/5  rDev -4.5%
quality: 2.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5

Pretty much my favorite place in all of Gainesville. In a pretty shady part of town not too far from campus and located conveniently next to a bank. That, however, is uneccessary seeing as they have an ATM in the center of the store. They have a selection of liquor behind the counter and a few racks of wine but its what's in the coolers and shelves that really matters. A selection of beers mainly consisting of your standard bread and butter macrobrews located at the far reaches of the store, perhaps placed to entice customers to try different and better beers that they see along the way. My section of the store resides in a single cooler and a row of unrefridgerated shelves with a wide variety of imported and microbrewed beers. In the cooler you can find some nice cold Rogue's and Unibroue's along with some imports. Their shelves are filled with 4 and 6 packs of Sierra Nevada, Abita, Shipyard, Anchor, and Dogfish Head just to name a few of the majors. Along the top is a rack of 22's and other sizes of Rogue, Avery, and obscure, mostly high alc. imports. I'm in the store 20 minutes at a time just deciding what brew to try next. A definite pick for anyone interested in good or different beers in Gainesville.

11-03-2004 11:03:04 | More by projektteg

LuckySevens82

Florida

2.75/5  rDev -22.8%
quality: 2 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Located directly across the street from the University of Florida campus, for as long as I went there, Gator beverage has been a mainstay of the college diet of pizza and beer.

They mostly sell crap beer, the macros and kegs. They do have some pleasent surprises though. I was able to find St. Bernardus Abt 12 there for 2.50 a bottle and they had a lot of it. They also carry most of the Rogues as well as some other hard to find (especially in gainesville) belgians and other imports.

The store is a mess, however, and not in the best area. It looks like the kind of place (and is) where you can easily be mugged. But, if you're feeling adventurous and want some good beer in a town that lacks, this is the only place to find it.

01-06-2004 18:38:42 | More by LuckySevens82

SetarconeX

Florida

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%
quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4

Being a university town, Gainesville Florida isn't exactly known for quality beer. In fact, some would argue that every night, there's a wild 21st birthday party going on somewhere, filled with the cheapest beer the frat boys could find.

Gator beverage turns this to their advantage. Being one of the closest beer shops to campus, they thrive off selling kegs to the frat houses, but as something of a public service, they devote a fairly large chunk of their store to more obscure beers. While they're perhaps not the largest and most elaborate beer store in the world, they're practically the only game in town for those who want an alternative to Bud. They have a particularly good selection of Rogue beers.

Bravo for not giving in to economic pressure, and devoting some floor space to quality beer, in a town where such things are uncommon.

08-27-2003 03:21:35 | More by SetarconeX