There's Nothing Like A Good Liquor Store

There are many times when one can lament the mom-and-pop nature of much of Queens. Places close early, everything is 'cheap' and by which I mean cheap-ass. You frequently can't get what you want when you want it and must resort to driving further into Queens for the suburban answer, or trudging into Manhattan for the expensive answer. There are some blessed exceptions. Fortunately for Claire and I, our local liquor store is the supreme example of the exception.

Located right on Queens Blvd, you can spot Lowery Liquors either by the large yellow sign or the double parked cars blocking traffic. (Why is it always the SUVs? Are they reall ALL complete jerks?) Inside, there's plenty of room for you and the jerks to find what you're looking for. There are aisles and aisles of unopened fun from every corner of the globe. A truely Queensian approach to stocking nearly perfected here. Something for everyone and something really cheap for most of us.

Claire loves the Reds and I love the corn liquor. Oh, the trouble we've seen from those two damned liquids of such discenible color. Nothing will ever glisten like a glass of bourbon under a street lamp. Nothing catches the white hot fluorescent light of a Chinese restaurant like a glass of cheap red wine.

And here they abound. We have murdered case after case of Pinots, Cabernets and Syrahs all at less than 9 dollars a bottle.

And the stories I could tell you about Maker's Mark, if I could remember them beyond the just-the-facts approach of a police report from the stodgy bastards at the 108th precinct. Very little humor there. But, I digress.

Mom and Pop make good here. The woman behind the counter is one owner, and the man helping you carry the case to the register is another. There's always a bottle you can get for a tener and guaranteed it's drinkable with a good, cheap dish of General Tso's chicken.

Cheers.