Binny’s Beverage Depot

I go here all the time, but this one employee (guy) was very rude and made me feel uncomfortable. I asked him if they have margarita glasses and he was surprised they did not and proceeded to yell across the store (which is huge) «this girl needs a bucket for her margarita». He was just obnoxious, probably thought I was some college girl looking to celebrate her graduation big time. Everyone else is nice, I always got good advice on their wine selection, but I will highly avoid that douche next time I go there. Unfortunately there isn’t much choice is good wine/​liquor stores in CU.

Just checked out with the manager of the store and he was very rude while checking out making me (the customer) not feel welcome in the store. That’s the last time I spend money at binny’s!

A great place to stock up. The selection here is great, just like at any of their locations.

Oh My GAH. This place is enormous.
I am a woman who loves wine, but I love shopping for it and reading about it even more than I like to drink it. This was heaven! I am so sad we were on vacation, and I only popped in to buy some Chinese beer (Tsingtao) to go with our takeout in the hotel.
I sent my husband in the next day, and he was also very impressed, and wished we had more space in our vehicle, and time to spend in the store.
We will be back!

I just want to warn people that my wife was the victim of a discriminatory store policy at Binny’s today. My wife and I were waiting in line at the cash register speaking Spanish which attracted suspicious looks from the cashier. The cashier then asked both she and I for an ID even though I was the only person purchasing anything. After being denied service because she doesn’t have an ID, I asked to speak to the store manager. He told us that while it is not a law, store policy gives employees discretion to deny service to groups of people who do not all have ID’s. We have shopped here before without any problems, but the one time that we chose to speak Spanish in the store we were denied service. This is a discriminatory policy that the company should be ashamed of. I encourage people to not shop at Binny’s unless they change or clarify this policy.

Huge selection of EVERYTHING including craft beer! Friendly staff willing to help you out. You can kind of tell this is in a college town, as they have promotional items in the front like Everclear– my first time seeing that stuff in real life!
Important tip: since it is in a college town, I was carded even though I wasn’t buying anything. Be aware of that even if you’re tagging along!

Big fan of this place! It’ll have everything you want, and folks there are super helpful. What more do you need?!

A great selection, and a helpful staff. And I found a new favorite there: Alexander Valley Vineyards Dry Rosé of Sangiovese. I will return!

Short version: this is Friar Tuck on a bit of a budget.
Long version: Binny’s is a temple to alcoholic joy. The whiskey selection is pretty good, if not quite as fantastic as Friar Tuck. But the bourbons rival Kentucky liquor stores; I actually brought a couple bottles back from Kentucky, only to find that Binny’s stocked all of them. Both disappointing and incredible.
The beer selection is pretty darn good, as well. Plus (save for those ever-​elusive Strongbow tallboys) they have tons and tons of cider, including one from Michigan that I’ve only ever had at Farren’s Pub. Best part: the stuff is reasonably priced, with a lot of mid-​range bottles of whiskey going for reasonable prices.

Best prices in the area, staff are friendly and well informed, and they offer FREE seminars and FREE extensive (30+ wines) tastings once a month!

Staff here is pretty knowledgeable and helpful when I have questions. The alcohol is cheap. I have no complaints!

A big, wide open liquor store. Brand new and shiny. Complete with a tasting room and humidor. This is the first Binny’s I have been to, because I don’t get up to the Chicago area all that often. I think there is one in Bloomington now as well. So they are definitely making a presents and encroaching in on Friar Tuck land.
Service is friendly and will not hesitate to come up and chat. Which is a good thing. The selection is much the same as Friar Tuck, but the service seems more knowledgeable. The place is also much more organized than the piles of randomness that is Friar Tuck. Which I really enjoy. I got a mixed pack of Great Lakes, and there is plenty else to chose from. I like it. I will be here and at Piccadilly for my Champagin beer shopping, and probably phase out Friar Tuck now.

Great selection, great prices

I’m really glad this place is opened because it brings higher quality and better prices to Champaign, but at the same time I worry that this might take business away from my favorite temple to liquor, Friar Tuck’s. I’m impressed with this Binny’s selection of beers, as I worried they would try to cater to much to the college crowd. It was very similar to the suburban Binny’s near my house. The staff were all very friendly and offered to help, and the prices were much better compared to places like Meijer.

I got a great deal on the items I purchased. Overall, the place was neat with a wide selection. I was particularly impressed with the customer service I received. Associates were quick to ask if I needed anything, and when I had a few questions or asked for their recommendations, they were very friendly and knowledgable. One sales rep put a 6-​pack of a beer on the sample rack so I could buy one beer instead of a whole case (Pick 6 pack). I will go here again in addition to Friar Tuck’s next week to compare places.

Cheap, ½ gal. of Dewar’s White Label for the same price as a 5^th at alot of other places, great inventory including a huge choice of wine and cigars that are in a walk in humidor, and it’s in town. What more do you need to know?

Mr. Husband and I stopped by Binny’s to pick up some party supplies. As neither of us drink very often, I doubt we’ll become regulars; however, it does make a nice addition to the North Prospect area.
Pros:
1. Location — I love Friar Tuck’s, but I rarely go to Savoy. It’s nice to have a liquor store right on Prospect.
2. Prices — some things were craaaazy cheap. Yellowtail wine was $ 5 a bottle, and stuff like Barefoot or whatever other cheap wine was EVEN CHEAPER. I saw bottles of moscato for $ 4. Whaaat. My friends can go through a bottle of moscato each on dinner nights (thanks lushes!) so this will save me some $$. I also was able to pick up some Bailey’s for $ 14. Yay.
3. Selection was decent. I still think Friar Tuck’s has more variety, but Binny’s had everything I was looking for.
Cons:
1. Prices — some other things were more expensive. For a concrete example, we were buying Guinness for our St. Pat’s party. We had just passed it up at Meijer for $ 11.50 for an 8 pack of cans, thinking it would be cheaper at Binny’s. Binny’s had the same for closer to $ 14. We ended up going back to Meijer. Wine and liquor seem to be a lot cheaper, beer seems to be hit and miss.
2. Service — I hate to say it was a «con,» as our cashier was efficient — just not super friendly. If you hate making small talk, you’d be pretty happy with the service.
I’m sure we’ll be back to Binny’s — (especially since we had to sign up for the stupid store-​specific card to get the discount prices) — but probably not until our next party stock-​up.

Comparisons to Fr Tuck are inevitable, so here we go!
I mostly buy beer, so that’s what I checked first. The selection is a littlee different from Friar Tucks — they have some imported beer, in particular, that Tucks has stopped carrying lately. Examples would be Hobgoblin and Affligem. The prices seemed roughly equivalent to Friar Tucks or a little higher — some of the New Belgium Lips of Faith series were definitely at least $ 3 more here. The range of selection is fairly similar, with a beer wall, a pick-​six option, and a large refrigerated beer section. The cold beer section seemed a bit larger than Friar Tucks.
The rest of the alcohol is arranged on shorter shelves, about waist height so you can see all the way across the store. I also checked the sake selection — again, prices and variety pretty equivalent to Friar Tucks.
I don’t drink wine very much so I did not check the selection or prices. They did have a large «Wine Cellar» area.
I didn’t see any homebrewing supplies here.
I still prefer Friar Tucks, but there’s nothing wrong with Binny’s. If it’s more convenient for you, I’d stop by here. If you live closer to Savoy, I’d keep going to Friar Tucks. And hey, the competition should help keep prices low for all of us.
Edit: my wife went there and had really good, friendly service when looking for Christmas gifts, so I am adding another star.

I’ve been waiting impatiently for Binney’s to open here since it’s been announced. My family frequents Binney’s in the Chicago suburbs, and the prices are unbeatable.
Before this Binney’s opened, I would hit up Meijer, Sam’s Club, and Friar Tuck for alcohol, depending on what I wanted. Friar Tuck is notable for having a great selection, especially when it comes to some of the less common rums I use. The selection at Binney’s is fantastic as well. The prices at Binney’s range from comparable to much better than those at Friar Tuck. And that’s not even taking the weekly sales at Binney’s into consideration.
With few exceptions (I think soco is still cheaper at Sam’s, but I haven’t checked prices there in a while), I will now be doing most of my alcohol shopping at Binney’s.

If you like gambling you go to Vegas. If you like sushi you go to Japan. And if you like booze you go to Binny’s!
It’s the biggest and it’s the cheapest.
Thousands of wines, hundreds of beers and dozens of every variety of spirit.
This Binny’s location also has a large walk-​in humidor. Local cigar stores Bacca and Jon’s Pipe Shop may soon go up in smoke. They just can’t compete with the Binny’s supply chain.
This location is the first outside of Chicago. We knew the David-​ish Binny’s was a force to be reckoned with when it bought out rival Sam’s Wines and Spirits, the once Goliath of the Chicago warehouse liquor market.
The Champaign location is open in the former Borders bookstore building at Prospect and Town Center Boulevard.