Total Wine & More

BeerLover99

New Jersey

3.66/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

A: Very crowded/cramped liquor store. Craft beer and
imports are on the back left.

Q: Solid selection, but not huge. Chilled, 6 packs, and
1 aisle of single bottles organized by region and style.

S: The staff were available for questions, but also
not hovering either. When I find a good or regular,
beer place, like to put a name to a place (get
a beer guy) don't see it happening here.

S: Same as the quality. If someone is looking for
a quick stop in the neighborhood to grab
respectable beer for a party, this is a great place.
If you are not a newbie to the scene, you may grow
tired of it quickly. Lots of East Coast breweries, but
also some fine US national standards: Stone, Founders,
etc.

F: N/A

Value + Overall: Solid prices and selection;
would recommend.

10-04-2011 13:37:23 | More by BeerLover99

bogus564

New Jersey

4.06/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

This location is 4 miles from my home, so it's the liquor store that I visit with the most frequency.

When you walk in, it does not seem as big as the view from outside leads you to believe it is. I have never been there when it's not chock full of customers, and I visit a lot and at a lot of different times.

There is a rather large and impressive wine selection, multitudes of styles, from many different countries. Reds, whites, roses, the whole shebang. The same applies for their whiskeys and spirits.

To the beer section, located in the back left - is that what liquor stores do? Put their beer sections in the back left? - there's one aisle devoted to beer. Nearest the registers are packs and cases, and the NASCAR beers are mixed in with the craft beers. The refrigerators have packs and cases only, no singles, unless a pack was dropped.

Near the back wall, you find your craft beers in singles. I was surprised to find how many styles and countries and states were represented; they don't have a whole lot, but they do have a lot of my favorites, like Laughing Dog's The Dogfather, Great Divide Yeti, Stone Ruination IPA, Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA, Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, Southern Tier 2XIPA - the list goes on.

The staff is polite, albeit not that helpful when it comes to beer. If you want to talk wine, though, they're all over it. Interesting.

The cashiers are friendly, and quick to grab empty cases to put your supplies in if you need.

Overall, a good shopping experience. I'm lucky to have it as a local haunt.

10-03-2011 00:42:25 | More by bogus564

kennylopez

New Jersey

4.03/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This place is a good stop and I have found quite a few good brew here. They have a larger uncool selection then cool but that's cool with me :) About half of one aisle is devoted to singles and bombers. They have some good stuff at reasonable prices, but it seems like the local brews are more expensive than other stores, but whats a buck when your buying good beer. There are a few of guys there who drink good beer that they sell, but only a few. Its kind of a place where you go for what you know you want and you end up walking out with more because they always are rotating their stock.

09-24-2011 15:02:51 | More by kennylopez

jmdrpi

Pennsylvania

3.66/5  rDev -6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $

the last aisle in the back was dedicated to beer. first section is six packs, then singles. empty six pack holders to make your own six packs.

Organized in a logical manner, with beers grouped by region or country. pretty decent selection, and really good prices. Some of the singles were the lowest for a single bottle I've seen anywhere else in PA/NJ/NY/DE.

I wasn't asked if I needed help, but I was also only in the store about 10 minutes as I was in a hurry. But the cashier was friendly and polite.

04-06-2011 02:36:40 | More by jmdrpi

richbrew

New Jersey

3.7/5  rDev -5.1%
quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | $$

Stopped in over a dozen times on the way to the inlaws. Last complete aisle is all beer. Fairly decent selection overall. From 4/6 packs, Bombers/750's and 12oz singles. They have the largest 12oz single selection compared to anywhere I go. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I never walk out empty handed.
If you stop in on a late Sunday afternoon, be prepared, the store tends to look like a shitstorm do to the trafficing of alcohol. Store does a crazy business.
Help is never there, unless you track down someone with a "headset" on.

12-08-2010 16:48:42 | More by richbrew

Bergenboy1981

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +2.6%
quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Been going into this place for a few years now, and as other reviewers say, it IS mostly wine and booze here, and beer has been an afterthought for a while...however since Whole Foods moved into Paramus, most of the local shops have had to step up their game to keep up and Total Wine has DEF improved.

The selection here is big and growing. You will find all of the big breweries (snore) represented, but also MANY European Brews, Local Brews and a lot of Micros/Craft brew's available.

Also, this place serves MANY of their best brews BY THE BOTTLE if you don't want to buy a whole 6 pack and risk 8-13$ when you can try it for 3$ first.
One of the downsides here is that most of the craft beer is NOT refrigerated. They have the big breweries in the fridge case and a small selections of craft.

This shop also surprises us sometimes....for example at the moment they are selling a 4-pack of St. Bernardus Whit Celis Collection....a great great brew and hard find in general...but a 4 pack?! I'd NEVER seen 1 of those before....and 13$ isn't bad for something that's usually 10$ for ONE bottle.

Prices here aren't that bad (when your comparing to whole foods)...we come to this place more and more lately.
If you live in the area, this is one of your best bets without having to drive up by Wayne or down to West New York areas to find a good micro.

12-07-2010 21:38:24 | More by Bergenboy1981

r0nyn

New York

4.35/5  rDev +11.5%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

As I was in the area, I spotted Total Wine & More right off Grand Ave, so I decided to pay this store a visit. I'm certainly glad I did!

Looks just like a regular supermarket from the outside, complete with parking lot and carts. Once inside though, it's packed to the gills with wine, liquor and most of all, great craft beer. The shelves with beer are in the back as you enter the store and are filled with some pretty good craft brews. The first row of shelves is full of six and four-packs and towards the back is where the single bottles are kept.

Quality is very good, as most bottles are well within their freshness dates and all have clean, undamaged labels. The lights are a little bit bright in the store, but most of the beer is kept out of it directly. Selection is great for the area. Lots of quality American breweries represented, including DFH, Rogue, Stone and more. Lots of good foreign stuff too, with a wide selection of Belgian brews. They had quite a few bottles that are hard to find across the border in New York, so I was suitably impressed.

Service is good, from what I experienced. I was greeted by a manager-type person when I entered the store. As I was perusing the craft brews, an associate popped his head in and asked if I needed help. It's the proper amount of service I expect from a good store and I got it, so no complaints there.

The price points are really where this store does well. The single 12 oz bottles are priced pretty cheaply and the bombers are marked down significantly from what I'm used to in New York. Plus, since it's New Jersey, there's no pesky $0.05 bottle deposit. A bomber of Stone IRS for $5.29 flat? I will take that every time, thanks!

Definitely a quality store for the beer enthusiast living in the Bergenfield/River Edge area. I was impressed by the TW stores down in Florida and this one in NJ did not disappoint either.

11-05-2010 23:03:27 | More by r0nyn

dsa7783

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev 0%
quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

August 9, 2008:

As a frequent consumer of the Total Wine and More stores both in Union and West Orange, I was very curious to see what the River Edge location had to offer...
Out of all three stores, this was the weakest in terms of overall beer selection, yet it ranked high in quality and was very reasonable with respect to price...
Picked up a brand-new, 2008 Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale here...
A neat, large store mostly devoted to wine as the name implies, yet the best thing about this place is that they allow you to mix and match your own six packs, which is always a plus...
Definitely worth a stop-in if you're in the area...

08-09-2008 20:21:19 | More by dsa7783

dherling

New Jersey

4.2/5  rDev +7.7%
quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

About 2/3 of the place is dedicated to wine, leving the last third of the store split up between hard alcohol and beer. This place is pretty big, probably around 5,000 [/]. they have a decent selection of cases and six packs, a pretty full fridge with all the mor common beers, and then half an aisle's worth of single bottles. you're not going to fin the rarer stuff here, but in a pinch this can satisfy the curiosity of most craft brew seekers. There are some staff members who know their stuff, but like the name of the store, they're here to sell wine, not beer.

08-31-2006 18:38:10 | More by dherling

yelterdow

New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev -1.3%
quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | $$

This store is primarily geared towards wine aficianados, so it's no surprise that the suds are sort of an afterthought here. Fortunately, the people who run the beer department do capitalize on our local faves, namely Victory, DFH, Troegs, Flying Fish, and Ommegang. Notable new arrivals as of June '05 include Hop Hog and Brooklyn's Monster Ale. There is almost no represention of some of the classics like Rogue and Stoudt's, however. You can purchase singles towards the back of the aisle, but your wallet will smack you for doing so.

Anytime I shop here, the ladies and gentlemen always greet me and offer help in any possible way, which is excellent and deserves high praise. I do buy all of my wine here because the price/selection ratio is extraordinary, but for beers I do have an alternate choice.

06-22-2005 14:03:51 | More by yelterdow