Downtown Grocery

For what I needed they had it, and what I needed was beer, nice and cold too. I was leaving the Cinco De Mayo bash at waterfront park and I was in need of a few cold ones. For me a cold frosty cooler to store the beer is crucial and that will dictate whether I frequent a convenience store and I must say their beer fit the bill. I can’t tell you WTF lurks on the shelves but I don’t give a shit. They have what I need in the coolers and that’s all that matters. And they accept cards too so thats even cooler considering my pockets were siphoned clean at the festival.
Cheer’s!

So you’ve decided you need to read a review of a convenience store.
Perhaps the name of the place confused you. «Is it a hip restaurant called Downtown Grocery?» No. It’s a grocery store, of sorts. Downtown.
Perhaps you wanted to know how it compares to other convenience stores. Well, depending on where you are downtown, it might be closer than the others. So that’s convenient.
It has a big aisle of candy bars and sweets. A big refrigerator case with beer and sodas. A good selection of salty snacks like chips and more chips. And, like, three aisles you’ll never go down unless you find yourself in need of a overpriced, three-​year-​old can of pork ‘n’ beans and/​or laundry detergent in the middle of the day, in downtown Portland. (Trust me: this won’t happen. I’ve seen people in here who clearly need the laundry detergent, but they went straight for the beer case, anyhow.)
Myself, I get one of two things here: a candy bar or a bag of chips. As to the latter, it is either impressive or slightly off-​putting how often they have new offerings from Frito Lay. And by «new», I mean «stupid flavors I hadn’t previously heard of», as the expiration dates on some of those packages have come and gone.
I said I get one of two things, but there’s actually a third thing: entertainment. In addition to the fascinating cast of characters that can be found in this store, usually buying beer or cigarettes, this store has a rather bizarre assortment of, well, crap for sale near the front counter. The occasional Hostess item marked «not for individual retail sale» for individual retail sale? Check. Severely off-​brand perfume bottles? Check. Doo rags? Check. Novelty lighters? Check. Decks of cards featuring sexy-​ish pictures of women? Check. Glassware that probably isn’t for smoking tobacco? Check. Tacky cheap red underwear rolled up and made to appear like a rose on a cheap green plastic stem, complete with packaging that somehow implies this is a classy gift that men wearing tuxedos give to attractive ladies/​whores? Check.
But look, you’re here for the snacks or the beverages. They have that. The prices are rather more than you would pay at an actual grocery store, but there isn’t one for, what, fifteen blocks. And that’s inconvenient. The people who work here are nice, even if the only thing they’ve ever said to me in English is «yeah, one forty-​nine». Whatever, I’m a happy customer.

There did indeed seem to be a fair selection of non-​perishable groceries here, but I came for the beer and did not leave disappointed. Their prices are reasonable and the beer and wine selection is decent for such a small store.