Smitty’s Specialty Beverage

Stopped in to get a gift for a friend on the way home.
Good selection of beer and liquor. They are also happy to order something if you can’t find it on the shelves.
I found the staff to be pretty friendly and attentive as well.
Great place to shop for craft beer or liquor in Eastown GR.

They have a decent selection of craft brews mainly in the back cooler but not as many as the likes of their competitors. They also get rare brews that are easily accessible even with the hoards of rabid rare brew seekers galavanting around the greater Grand Rapids area.

I live in Eastown and I feel like I’m here most everyday. This is definitely the place to go to if you’re going to party. Great selection, and very awesome staff. I just wouldn’t recommend buying cigarettes here, because they are a tad bit more expensive than picking them up from the BP across the street. (No big deal though!) I also wish they had a better wine selection.

I just wanted to update… Since they’ve updated, I like it a lot more and thusly visit more often!

Smitty’s is the quite the liquor store. They have a massive selection of liquor and have an impressive beer fridge. They also have a nice selection of mix and match beers. The staff is super friendly and are willing to help.

Great selection of beer in their backroom beer cooler, including lots of local and specialty stuff. The staff was so friendly and helpful and made great suggestions.
This places also has a fountain drink station, snack foods and some wine/​beer related gift items. It’s a one stop shop if you are on the way to a party or if you are looking for something new and tasty to try.

Smitty’s is a decent place to pick up a six-​pack when I don’t feel like driving to Martha’s Vineyard. They have a good selection microbrews for such a small place and score extra points for stocking Unibroue four-​packs. Recently they’ve begun offering a wider variety of single bottles, which is a big plus. Like the other reviewers have noted, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and select a few «staff picks» in the single beer cooler.
On the downside, most of Smitty’s inventory is fairly overpriced. Microbrew six-​packs are consistently about a dollar or two more than what you would pay at Russo’s or Martha’s. This wouldn’t be such a problem if it wasn’t for their ridiculous credit card policy.
A while back these guys charged a 50 cent surcharge for every credit card transaction. This violates the service agreement that businesses sign with credit card companies, and somebody reported them for it. As a result, they put up a sign offering a 50 cent «discount» for all cash purchases. In reality they are still just adding the upcharge for credit cards and charging the normal amount for cash purchases. Look, if you’re going to be complete cheapskates, please just be honest with yourselves and go to cash-​only. I realize that credit card processing fees are expensive, but there are ways of dealing with this that don’t include willfully deceiving your customers.
On a side note, Smitty’s has recently put up really tacky marble siding on the exterior of the building, over the previous wood paneling. It gives the place a weird, coked out, Vegas-​y vibe that really undercuts the «local business serving the community» image they’re trying to cultivate.
All in all, decent inventory with helpful staff and the creeping feeling that the owners are drunk with power.

I agree with Kiaresh, the staff here is awesome. They always know what I want and have it on the counter before I get there to pay.
Also, while their wine selection isn’t great, they carry some great beers and the staff has yet to give me a bad recommendation (they know their products!)

You know those liquor-​store employees who are so cool you wish you could take them to the party with you? Smitty’s has those.
It also has smokes, juices and pint bottles of hard liquor — all you need to pregame.