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Downtown Toronto LCBO’s

This forum is for discussing everything beer retail: LCBO, Beer Store, Grocery Stores and Indie Stores.

Moderators: Craig, Cass

BeerIsGood
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Downtown Toronto LCBO’s

Post by BeerIsGood »

Hey all: Due to five years out of the country, I’m out of the loop regarding selection at various LCBO’s. Will be in town on August 18th for the day. Is Summerhill the best bet for quality selection, or is there a better option within the area between Eglinton and Front and a few blocks in either direction. Thanks.

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

Summerhill is still your best bet, but the beer selection has gotten better in most LCBOs to the point where you might not really care. Inventories are online, so you could just look ahead and see if a closer one has what you're looking for.

Heck, you could order online in advance and have it shipped to whichever LCBO you want for free, then just waltz in and pick it up.

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jp_jkl
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Post by jp_jkl »

BeerIsGood wrote:Hey all: Due to five years out of the country, I’m out of the loop regarding selection at various LCBO’s. Will be in town on August 18th for the day. Is Summerhill the best bet for quality selection, or is there a better option within the area between Eglinton and Front and a few blocks in either direction. Thanks.
King and Spadina has a larger than average selection of beer as well. If you're already downtown, it'd be worth it to check in here.

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JerCraigs
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Post by JerCraigs »

Check out drinkvine.com if you are looking for something specific. otherwise Summerhill is where I do most of my shopping.

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lister
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Post by lister »

Summerhill, King & Spadina and Queen's Quay is good too.
lister

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

lister wrote:Summerhill, King & Spadina and Queen's Quay is good too.
King-Spadina turned out well, you're lucky it dropped right by you guys.

It's also a LC store that's not closed up at 9pm sharp like the 'service' so many offer. 11 PM!!
In Beerum Veritas

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lister
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Post by lister »

Belgian wrote:
lister wrote:Summerhill, King & Spadina and Queen's Quay is good too.
King-Spadina turned out well, you're lucky it dropped right by you guys.

It's also a LC store that's not closed up at 9pm sharp like the 'service' so many offer. 11 PM!!
Yes it has been very handy. The late hours are nice too. It'll be going away for a while once construction starts on the condo slated to go in there. That'll suck. I believe it'll be a tenant in the condo.
lister

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

lister wrote:
Belgian wrote:
lister wrote:Summerhill, King & Spadina and Queen's Quay is good too.
King-Spadina turned out well, you're lucky it dropped right by you guys.

It's also a LC store that's not closed up at 9pm sharp like the 'service' so many offer. 11 PM!!
Yes it has been very handy. The late hours are nice too. It'll be going away for a while once construction starts on the condo slated to go in there. That'll suck. I believe it'll be a tenant in the condo.
Would be great to leave behind the construction noise! I'm near the Beach and I can't go away for the two years they are building condos down the street.

I don't see any good LC stores here in the future but we did just get a new Big Carrot store.
In Beerum Veritas

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

Didn't the Beach get a nice LCBO just a couple of years ago? I haven't been in, but it looks.... Shiny.

seangm
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Post by seangm »

Craig wrote:Didn't the Beach get a nice LCBO just a couple of years ago? I haven't been in, but it looks.... Shiny.
It is pretty sleek, although I find it a bit more wine/spirit centric. Best selection around there is the Queen/Coxwell LCBO, although they don't have a walk-in cooler so a lot of the stuff is out on the shelves. Last time I popped by there though they had all the stuff you'd expect, along with Rainhard, Elora, Anderson, Left Field and tons of stuff that typically doesn't have widespread distribution.

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Belgian
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Post by Belgian »

seangm wrote:
Craig wrote:Didn't the Beach get a nice LCBO just a couple of years ago? I haven't been in, but it looks.... Shiny.
It is pretty sleek, although I find it a bit more wine/spirit centric. Best selection around there is the Queen/Coxwell LCBO, although they don't have a walk-in cooler so a lot of the stuff is out on the shelves. Last time I popped by there though they had all the stuff you'd expect, along with Rainhard, Elora, Anderson, Left Field and tons of stuff that typically doesn't have widespread distribution.
The Queen / Coxwell store is the good one for beer, yes. Some serious initiative and they will hook you up with what you need, well most of the time. The Vintages in there is good too.

The Queen / Waverly store is showy and capacious but the beer selection is a bit incidental to the good stocks of wines. No great IPAs normally found there, more boring stuff. It's a wine store primarily. They surveyed the (presumably tepid) locals and this is what they wanted. Yet the Coxwell store still does brisk sales in more esoteric beers. Coxwell is a true 'A' store.
In Beerum Veritas

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Craig
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Post by Craig »

Yeah, Coxwell is my local. I wonder sometimes if they're right to get as much beer in as they do. KBS, for example, has been sitting on the shelves there for ages.

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admviolin
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Post by admviolin »

Front and Sherborne is also decent downtown.

seangm
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Post by seangm »

Craig wrote:Yeah, Coxwell is my local. I wonder sometimes if they're right to get as much beer in as they do. KBS, for example, has been sitting on the shelves there for ages.
I think in the case of KBS there was a flurry of people who wanted to try it the first time, being new and novel for Ontario. However most of us fanatics have tried it by this point and now it's a harder sell at 8 or so bucks for 355 ml. For the more casual craft drinkers it's probably a bit too much.

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jeremyg
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Post by jeremyg »

the lcbo by bellwoods (ossington) always has a great selection. plus you're near bellwoods. Win win.

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