Joe’s Liquors

Nice neighborhood liquor store on lower Broadway, East Somerville. A family operation for sure. A decent selection of all types of beer, wine and liquor. The wine selection could use a little curation. The location seems new, a bigger space. Here’s hoping they fill it in and up a little with some more upscale wine.

I do love Joe’s. It’s my neighborhood beer store, although they do have wine and liquor. It’s old school East Somerville, super friendly, good prices, and just gritty enough. I only wish they had more cooler space and a colder cooler. Nothing that 10 minutes in my freezer will not correct. Also some more local brews would be nice to see. I’m sure this will happen as the neighborhood is changing to more of a hipsterish vibe.

Just came back from a really lovely beer tasting at Joe’s. I haven’t really ever been in, but that’s going to change now that I checked it out. First off, they’ve been restocking and based on the windows, the shelves are better stocked than they have been in the past. Also, nice beer and wine selection! I’ll be popping back in for Thanksgiving wine and beer, and the pricing on the things I was looking at were really good. The prices for the big bottles of Berkshire Brewing Company beers were a solid $ 2 cheaper than where I typically buy them in Boston. Pretty awesome.
Staff was really friendly during the tasting, and Suzanne, who was running the tasting, took the time to walk us through some other beer options in the fridge, and the folks working the register were also lovely and helpful.
Also, nips are refrigerated. I mean, if you need booze to go, clearly it should be cold, right? Bonus points for that in my book. I’ll be doing all my alcohol shopping here from now on, so easy and a nice experience.

So, I’m a bit spoiled. I lived between Ball Sq and Davis. Between Downtown and the Tasting Station I had all the obscure booze one old ver want. Fast forward a year. I’m living in the states (East Somerville) trying not to miss my gentrified former ‘hood. While Joe’s is close, its selection leaves something to be desired. Not expecting the fancy frills of Davis, it’s certainly a different clientele. It does however have a strange assortment of very expensive wine in a case. The beer selection is adequate, the wine ok and the liquor has most of the staples. The folks who run this place are always pleasant and eager to accommodate. The owner has offered to order any specialty items. While the shelves aren’t as full as the fancier stores I frequent, I am happy to support this friendly local shop.