Bacchus Wines and Spirits

Get your wine, beer, liquor and house smoked pulled pork here! Wow, this place is a joy. I love perusing the imported goods and chocolate section while my husband tries to decide which beer to try next. Need to bring food or wine to a party? Stop at Bacchus! Grab a block of good cheese, fresh bread, and a bottle of vintage wine. Oh and I’d add in a bar of chocolate for the host. Love this place!

It is sad to see Bacchus in the condition it is in. The new owners have been there for a few years now. They tried to improve the floor layout and did some construction, but nothing has worked. The store is half empty. When a wine is sold out it is not replaced. Hard liquor is almost gone. The isn’t any reason to go there. Tiffany’s has a 5 star wine, spirits and gourmet food, fun, and everybody knows wine.
Last week I was in Bacchus for the last time. I told the young cashier that it looked like they were downsizing, and he said what do you mean. I mentioned the empty shelfs, even the chip shelf is empty. He said the owners are on a new year budget. There isn’t anything in there to buy. And if you do go in there aren’t any other customers. Not fun!

It weighs on my heart to only give this store 2 stars — but when you have been going to the same store for at least 24 years of your life and you have seen all the changes with new ownership-​it just happens.
I am not sure if the German population has gone down in Kzoo or people just don’t stick to their heritage anymore or if the new owners decided to skimp on lots of German/​European Products to save money.
This store used to be FILLED with everything you can imagine for people from the Europe area-​specifically Germany-​now you are lucky to find one aisle that has anything legit from overseas.
We can still get our shinken and liverwurst there but that’s the extent really-​they have a decent cheese selection. I can’t even find enough true German food to send to my Uncle anymore in the Keys.
This store has become more of a specialty beer store and liquor store. So sad to see it comes to that…
Access to this store is not the easiest-​parking lot is large.
They do offer a sandwich shop-​I have no idea how good/​bad they are since I cannot eat the bread. I do know their meats are higher quality which should mean the sandwich is.

Almost every liquor store option in town is better, in my opinion. We live very close by, so have gone many times. It seems to get more and more poorly stocked each time we go in, and many have been the times we leave empty handed because they simply did not have anything close to what we wanted.
Last time sealed their fate with us: we waited at the register for 5 solid minutes while the manager (!) followed and basically harassed a group of women of color. When he finally scared them out of the store, he had the nerve to say to us, «sorry, they looked like they were going to steal something.». No dude, they didn’t, you’re just a racist. We left our items and took our business to nearby Beer and Skittles instead, and will never be back.
Worth noting that this was after the recent remodel, but they may have been still finishing up, possibly accounting for (though not excusing) the empty shelves.

Beer selection isn’t great considering other options in town. The customer service at the deli is awful considering the prices for mortadella and soppresatta. Tiffany’s has better everything, steer clear…

This place has a large selection of beer, liquor, and wine as well as specialty mixers. I should say this place SEEMS to have a large selection. Every time I stop in, there are empty spots on the shelves – often the products I am looking for. There is a deli section up front that I have never checked out.

New owners… Updated everything.
Pretty good customer service. And a fantastic selection.
Consider this business redeemed!

We assumed Bacchus wouldn’t be our kind of sandwich shop because I don’t like the complicated types of sandwiches they have on their deli menu, but we decided to live dangerously and try them anyway. Mr. MVP had a Corned Beef Reuben (#3) and I had an Italian Torpedo (#4) without onions. I also had a Blackberry Izze and Mr. MVP had a San Pellegrino.
We were awfully impressed with these sandwiches. They are special. All the meats are locally (Michigan) sourced as well as the bread and condiments. Even the pickle was homemade! With our preservative free way of life, we were in sandwich heaven :) Our sandwiches were big too! I could only eat half of mine, so the other half was wrapped to go.
The staff was polite and helpful, but did not fall over us, which is the way we like it. If you’re looking for someone to fawn over you Bacchus is not your spot. The young man who made our sandwiches was very polite, but in a quiet reserved way (Mr. MVP said he had a «cool way about him») and the young lady who was working the register was cheerful, but again, not chatty, which is just fine with the VPs.
If you go, don’t forget to ask for a frequent visitor sandwich card so every so often one of those delicious creations is free!

I recently decided to give The Deli at Bacchus a try for lunch takeout, and I’m glad I did.
I’m picky about Reuben sandwiches, and Bacchus’s attempt is the best I’ve found in town: hot corned beef (from United Meat in Detroit) on Zingerman’s rye with homemade Russian dressing. The dressing is different from the jarred stuff I’m used to, but it’s quite nice, and a gorgeous pink color.
Their sandwich offerings are a bit pricier than you might expect ($ 8.95, and they’re not huge), but remember that they’re using higher-​quality ingredients. Their breads seem all to be from Zingerman’s or MacKenzie’s, and their cold cuts are all top-​shelf stuff. Consequently, their Italian Torpedo Sandwich (Capicola, genoa, and smoked ham on a Mackenzie’s sub bun with provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, and oil and vinegar dressing) is a whole different animal from what you’d find at a chain store.
If you’re in the mood for a classic deli sandwich a cut above the rest, Bacchus is the place to go.
(Note: the seating area is miniscule, with seating for six.)

This place has more to offer than one would expect. The selection that they have is not huge, but every item that they sell is quality. Great sandwiches in the deli, and a pretty good selection of wines and beers. Not to mention, they may have the best ribs in town… Delicious.

Some of the finer things in life. They don’t have it all, but a better selection of booze and gourmet foods than most other places in town.