I wouldn't say a hole in the wall, but definitely can be missed if you weren't looking for it.
With the plethora of specialty liquor and wine shops I have been discovering recently, this mom and pop retail liquor store feels like it's just that. It's a small store, smaller than a typical 7-Eleven! Like a crowded book store, this place has a sampling of most, if not all, most of the important wines, spirits, and beer that's the popular ones that everyone knows about. The pinot noirs, to the cabernets, to the fine assortment of beers in their in-house refrigerators located in the back, Salt Lake Wines and Spirits seems to have their investments well in hand. The ambiance reminded me that I was shopping in Chinatown somewhere, especially with the close knit quarters. It's the company you keep, as they say, and this place has a certain charismatic feel to it. It's almost like stepping into someone's bedroom and seeing all this wine bottles, as if it's like someone's private collection stash. The set up was nice and I could walk through and see what I needed. The staff was friendly and answered some questions I had about the wines they were carrying. Sometimes, the "I don't know" answer was honest and acceptable.
Yes, the store itself is quite small, but you get that personal touch, where the Safeway's and Long's Drugs stores, which carry liquor as well, doesn't usually offer. While going to a specialty liquor store such as Tamura's would be more palatable, but such an alternative like the Salt Lake Wine and Spirits can be a valuable gem, if you were in the area and needed wine or beer to keep you happy. The Salt Lake Wine and Spirits is located within the cozy confines of the Salt Lake Shopping Center, which has plenty of parking. Depending on whether or not you get there during peak hours, you can get a prime parking spot closest to the mall. If you are like me, The Bus route #3 runs from downtown Honolulu and east Oahu @ Kapiolani Community College and arrives near the Salt Lake Shopping Center. Too far to travel for booze, I'm sure, but just saying if you were in the area, and needed to travel by bus to do so, it's an option for y'all who need it - if you weren't driving that day.
The prices here are reasonable. Not too pricey, but there is a good deal to be had. I did find some moonshine here, which made me smile. I had been in West Virginia in 2013, and they were big on moonshine out there. While I made a mental note to buy it sometime in the future, I picked up a couple of bottles of pinot noir and cabernet (1 each) to kick off my 35th year on this earth. My saving grace on this place was that they accept credit cards. Had it been cash only, I would have really surprised, since it would have been a wicked challenge to pull that off, especially with the amount of traffic devoted to just selling liquor. So, that's great that they do accept credit cards - Visa and Master card accepted, although I didn't ask about American Express. Maybe they do. For now, the experience was decent and positive. It's a small mom and pop operation, which is refreshing to see when you can go to other places and get the same product for the same range of price. Shop here and you'll experience the difference.
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