Mickey’s Liquor

Living in North Minneapolis, I like to patronize businesses in the area, and so I decided one early evening to stop on into Mickey’s and see what was offered in the beer department. The parking lot looked mostly empty compared to a number of other times I have passed the establishment, and decided not to do so.
Inside is very simple, beer to the right in the coolers, wine in the middle, and hard liquor at the counter to prevent a grab and dash. Checking out the beer selection, I was not very impressed with the selection, nor the prices. Everything was priced 15% more than I would pay for a similar 12 pack at a number of other nearby liquor stores. The selction was horrible, with Malt Liquor as well as other cheap brands well represented, with little or no craft or local beer to choose from.
The one positive takeaway from my visit was the staff. They were very friendly, and made me feel very welcome. I may stop back in again simply for the service, with a hope that the beer selection improves sometime soon.

Another stop on our potential innocent bystander locations tour. Ah, Mickey’s — this is actually a hard review for me to write because I find the staff to be extremely friendly and helpful, while the clientele leaves something to be desired.
The beer selection is abysmal unless you enjoy Bud Light with Lime or a broke neck 40. However, they do carry Surly, Fat Tire, and a decent selection of ciders… so Brandon approves of them in a pinch. If you’re coming here hoping to find the latest seasonal brewed by the ironically mustached, flannel clad hipster gods, you will be left disappointed and wishing you had stopped at Surdyk’s or North Loop Wine & Spirits on your way home. But if it’s 9pm on a Saturday and goddammit you just need a sixer of something that tastes remotely like beer to get you through the idiotic no sale on Sunday law, Mickey’s can hook you up. Be warned though… their beer is marked up about 15−25% from most other places because they’re small and family owned.
The liquor is kept behind the counter because it’s North Minneapolis, folks. Gangster shit happens here. I assume there are plenty of stories of people shoving bottles of Ciroc down their pants and trying to waddle out the front doors. I’ve never seen it personally, but it sounds about right. They have some higher end vodkas if you’re into clear alcohol like me, but their gin selection is god awful. Hendricks or gtfo is my motto and they don’t carry Hendricks. Or Citadel. Or Farmer’s. Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire is about as top shelf as they get in the gin department. Oh well, I assume those sell well enough to justify keeping them on the shelves, I can’t really hate on that.
And now… the clientele. You can’t really fault a place for their patrons, but it’s just fucking ridiculous how many times I’ve stopped at Mickey’s and had to endure some type of shenanigans from someone waiting in line. From people jumping in front of me to customers loudly discussing mine or my boyfriend’s piercings and tattoos to someone actually insinuating Brandon might be in the brotherhood because he is pierced, tattooed, and was wearing all black everything at the time. Look. We live 2 blocks away, who would live in this neighborhood and hate everyone but white people? That would be a bad time. So it makes me really fucking angry when we get looked at like freaks while politely standing in line waiting to buy our shitty beer and 3^rd tier bottle of gin. Also, some drunk dude tried to touch my ass once… no. Just no.

Mickey’s is a pretty simple place actually. All the hard liquor is behind the counter. All the wine and beer and drink mixers are on the floor. The staff are friendly and helpful. The owner is a nice dude.
It’s not a big deal that there are people out there asking for money… Sure it is a little annoying, but all you gotta do is ignore them, or just bring a little change.
I am a fan of Mickey’s liquor because it is convenient and on the bus route. It is also pretty cool to see the crazy locals every now and then. There is strong police presence there, so you should be okay.

A neighborhood liquor store that serves a low income demographic. Selection ends at malt liquor and fruit flavored wine. Virtually no craft beer options. You will get hit up for money in the parking lot.
Fine if you need to quickly grab a domestic six pack or bottle of cheap liquor. There are better options.