Beer Here!

For the first three years of my New York living I resided in the East Village. I don't even want to think how much I spent at the bodega across the street over that time span. It definitely was into the thousands. Probably would have been even more if it was closer. Crossing the street is kind of annoying...

I then moved uptown and decided to be more practical with my money. I joined Costco and went a few times a year (whenever I could get hold of a car) and bought bulk supplies. I rarely bought food, just beverages and toilet paper and paper towels. Then recently my friend Eric mentioned to me about a warehouse beer distributor way uptown called "Flair Beverages". I'm not talking uptown like 125th street, I'm talking uptown like 207th street! This past week I got a friends car and ventured up to the northern tip of the city. To be completely honest with you, it literally only took 15 minutes via the Harlem River Drive. (The FDR drives turns into Harlem River Drive after 125th street, if anyone cares.)

I thought the place was going to be some sketchy warehouse with bulletproof glass and workers who didn't speak English glaring at me. I was pleasantly surprised. I mean the workers only spoke Spanish but they were very helpful as much as they could. I think this place is where some restaurants might go to get there beverages. It was a Costco on steroids! And not just beer. They had any type of drink imaginable and for dirt cheap. To paint you a picture they had a whole section just for Four Loco. A cool feature they had was you can buy the case of anything or individually. You can also mix and match flavors (ie-seltzer waters).

A few side notes if you go. They only take cash (might be shady operation, but don't ask don't tell.) Also, they have hundreds of different types of beer. The more generic ones are very cheap but the more obscure or popular ones (ie-Session) are expensive and actually more expensive than Whole Foods. So watch out. But for non-alcololic drinks and BudLight kegs who needs Costco! "Hey, I'm Retired at 29!"