Albert’s Market

Albert’s is a dangerous place for craft beer enthusiasts. They have one of the best selections in the area and carry limited local releases and other hard to find brews. For the longest time I thought they were a random convenience store, but one day I was walking past the store and decided to check it out and was really impressed. If it’s local, limited, and you want to try it, check out their instagram page and you’re likely to see it there. Your wallet and fridge will hate you.
PS. They also sell wine but I have not looked at those aisles yet. The beer selection keeps me busy…

Fabulous beer selection. Weirdly good considering corner store front. White wines organized light-​medium-​big which is helpful.

Random bodega? Yep — but it’s also a random bodega hiding a stellar selection of craft beers, wines and ciders (albeit at slightly steeper prices than you might get at a larger liquor store).
I was recently on the hunt for some Artifact Cider (a micro-​cidery out of Springfield MA) in greater Boston and was pointed to Albert’s as the current sole provider in the Boston-​Cambridge-​Somerville area. As a cider freak I was pleasantly surprised to find the tremendous variety they had here — some local favorites (3 types of Bantam! Downeast!) as well as plenty I hadn’t seen before (Virtue Cider, West County).
Total hidden gem — East Cambridge locals take note!

An otherwise nondescript corner store, until you check out the beer selection.
First, wines, because wine not? Arranged from light to big, and along the spectrum, you’ll find a bottle that fills the «oh crap! I forgot to bring wine» need this backyard BBQ/​dinner party season. Because lots of people live around this part of East Cambridge, but there’s a dearth of packies. Friendship and future fête invites, preserved.
Now, the beer. Pretty much every craft, micro and experimental local brew you could imagine, in singles, packs and bombers. Backlash, Night Shift, Slumbrew, Idle Hands, Bantam, Mystic, Artifact Cider Project… if it started in a garage or a spare room around great Boston, you’ll probably find it on the shelves of Albert’s. I won’t even knock the presence of a few Brooklyn bastards and west coast invaders, simply because they’re great specialty beers. Seriously, scout the sour and smoked varieties.
On check out, the staffer outed themselves as a brew fan by peeling off a list of related product, perhaps unknown to we, the customers, should we want to run up the total a tad more.
Next time, Albert’s guy, next time.

I am not sure why there’s so many reviews about pleasantries and familiar service. The service here is good, you get a hello, please, thank you the usual, they don’t stand around chatting all day (which honestly is annoying to me because I’m rarely bored enough I want to have a discussion with a random sales person) if you ask for help they’ll help you quickly and nicely. Their prices are well so-​so but it’s a corner store for convenience so what do you expect. Can’t comment either way on their beer and win selection because I didn’t check it out! Only reason I didn’t give then 5 stars, they aren’t 24 hours, honestly that would help since it’s impossible to find any stores open late at night in this area, but at least this one is open late®

my neighborhood go-​to. best wine and beer selection hands down. wonderful people.

Wine and beer selections have improved. But don’t expect any pleasantries.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that it looks like a generic convenient store: Albert’s has the best beer selection. Check it out.

ACCEPTS CARDS.
If you are a beer nerd, wine snob, cider freak, or altogether experimenter do not hesitate to go Albert’s– the do all, end all jack of all trades of neighborhood bodegas.
Home is walking into a brightly lit convenient store, open at extremely convenient times that can offer you everything from Kraft slices to Dom Perignon. it’s convenience people– and these guys have it down pat.
The most fundamentally awesome thing about this place is the passion and palate that Fabian brings to curate the most amazingly relevant, diverse, intellectual, and unpretentious collection of pleasurable beverages in stock. Trust these people to give you the very best. Talk to them a little bit and you’ll go home with something that really gets you going.
Just go. Support this local business. Try something new… You will not regret it.

Albert’s appears to be a mediocre and lackluster mini mart, like so many others lining Cambridge St. Up until a few months ago, this would have been an accurate assessment.
After a tip from the ladies of Bantam, I was pleased to find not just the ubiquitous Colt 45s among packages of Twinkies, but a small and excellent selection of quality beers (tons of local offerings), wine, and the aforementioned cider brand. Prices may be a shade higher than a larger liquor store, but I haven’t found costs to be outrageous or offensive. And bonus points for the Cooking Channel on endless loop.

A last resort. Highly overpriced, they only take cash, and the guy behind the register is always the same grumpy bastard.

This place is yards from ma hoose. It’s a bit of a throwback and quirky with it. They don’t accept cards and the guy behind the counter is hardly Mr Entertainment (I still wince at the memory of the time I asked him what Malt soda was). But they sell these really tasty donut shaped Portuguese cookies (along with other Portuguese baked goods) that I happen to like… so crunchy and tasty.
Good for picking up staples etc if you can’t deal with the complexity of Shaw’s, e.g. if you’re hungover.
And the wine selection is reasonably priced and very well curated for a small shop, much better than 660 Liquors next door, which often has bare shelves and swathes of deserted floor space. I honestly think that place is some sort of front for money laundering or something.

I love to support local businesses & old people. Truly I do. But in this age of plastic money, I never have cash. I mean never. Unless you count that pile of change on my desk that my cat likes to push around. It’s certainly not enough change for a $ 10 six pack of beer.
And Albert’s doesn’t take credit cards. Yes there is an ATM, but I’m not gonna pay two bucks to use it and then pay the fee my bank charges as well. Suddenly my ten dollar six pack becomes a fourteen dollar six pack if I use the ATM.
When we were new to the neighborhood we tried to go in here and be friendly, chatty, etc but the man manning the register (presumably Al) was not having any of it.
I’ll go in here only if I have cash & an urgent need for some product, otherwise I find the employess at Shaw’s more personable, and that’s not saying much.

My second day in Boston, it rained.
The winds blew tirelessly as if it was the Old North Wind training his protégé to be fierce. The bitter wind and torrential rain mercilessly fought with my umbrella and caused the poor thing to flip this way and that to escape the wrath of the elements. Unfortunately, that left me drenched and cold, not to mention, lost. I was wandering around Somerville without a clue as to how to reach my destination so I just kept walking and shivering. Then I stumbled onto the doorstep of Albert’s Market.
I felt like an abandoned orphan– until, there, with its clean storefront and comforting lights, stood Albert’s Market. I walked into the store, embracing the warmth and shelter from the rain. I wandered up to the cashier and asked for directions. «Al», for it was indeed Albert at the counter, very kindly assisted me with directions and even drew me a detailed map with all the points and turns needed to navigate to my destination. Al didn’t have to help me but he did because he is a kind man.
The prices may be slightly higher than a large supermarket chain, but here, one receives personalized service and can actually meet «Al» who works hard … not just for himself but probably for his family.
He charges «fair» prices, not corporate prices, which are lower because big chains can afford to buy in massive bulk, can spread costs around with their numerous stores, and pay minimum (or slightly higher) wage salaries to their employees. Has anyone besides neighbors and corporate employees met the «Shaw» family? I doubt it.
The store was very clean. I’d go here any day over some corporate chain.

Decent in a pinch as Albert’s stocks quite the assortment of all things canned, bottled or bagged. A few years ago, I noticed they tried stocking a few fresh items, but I guess they didn’t move. Can’t fault them for that.
The staff is less than friendly — and I have been going there for years and am generally friendly. The prices are pretty high and it makes me cringe when I see the elderly from the two local high-​rises buying staple items because the walk to Shaws is a bit too far.
Most alarming to me, however, is the opinions of the other shop owners in the area including the world’s nicest laundromat elderly owner. It’s a bad sign when the local deli owner refuses to even buy milk for coffee there, but goes to the liquor store instead.
Finally, come on already and take debit or credit cards — stop bleeding people at an ATM a couple bucks at a time.

Oh Albert’s, many a time you have saved me by providing just what I need. Good selection of pretty much everything, and if they don’t have what you need, ask Al himself, he has an assortment of random junk and may be able to provide. Speaking of Al, while the business is run by the entire family, Albert is the front man. His dry personality may seem off putting at first, but he means well.
Good beer selection, sometimes better then 660 Liquors next door (which isn’t saying much). Supposedly also the coldest in town. Also of note is their slush, which is very highly praised.
Overall, good people, prices are a bit high but it makes up for the convienence. Check out Al’s if you’re in the Fulkerson area.
((Wow, truereview, just because I like Albert’s I’m racist? Maybe you’re the one with the sour attitude. Albert is from Ecuador, not Portugal. My old roomate was Black and he and Albert would have long, friendly conversations. Sure Al is a bit cold, but give him a little warmth and he’ll give it right back. Support your local businesses.))