September 29, 2009
ive went there several times and have never had a bad experience. the few employees i did talk too were very friendly and did ask if there was anything in particular i was looking for. the selection is prob the best in our area, while thats not saying alot cause our area is poor and ghetto, it is a nice place to go to get stuff you will not find anywhere else. being most of the ppl in my area drink natty lite, cheap malt liquor or 40ozers its nice to have at least one store to go to for a better selection of beers. some of the prices are high, esp goose island bourbon county stout at 21 dollars a 4 pack but overall a nice store

April 21, 2009
I must comment on the service in Friar Tucks. I have been there many times and I have never had bad service. Sure they only have one guy that seems to know his beers but he seems to enjoy his job and is very eager to help me every time I’m in there. He remembers what I like and he always has something new he wants to recommend.(I know it’s his job) but he has introduced me to some very good beers that I would never have thought to pick out. As for the other employs some of them have very little to no beer knowledge at all. The beer selection at Friar Tucks it very appealing the first few times you go into the place. But afterr a few stop in’s you start to see that alot of what they have is alot of the same styles of beer. It starts to seem alot more unimpressive every time you go in there. It maybe because you know more about what you want and what you are looking for after a while IDK. FT is a good place to go to get them beers you like that they just don’t sell at your local stores or gas stations

April 12, 2009
Friar Tuck doesn’t have the best staff when it comes to beer knowledge. But Blaine (the beer guy) has a decent amount of knowledge and is buying great beer! He’s carrying the Lost Abbey & Port Brewing bottles that Piccadilly and Corkscrew haven’t bothered to pick-up yet. He also got the Victory At Sea & Dorado in recently from Ballast Point. Probably 2nd best beer store in the Champaign area. Definitely above Piccadilly now. My only gripe is that their prices can be a bit high. Especially on Founders beers.

October 12, 2007
A big selection, but not really too adventurous, unfortunately. And they won’t let you buy singles of 12 oz bottles, except a few that can be made into a mixed six pack, and those are only the beers that are about $8/six pack.

July 17, 2007
This seems to have less of a selection than the Tucks that I’ve been to in Peoria, Bloomington, and Springfield. Lots of empty shelf space in the beer aisle. Still, I wandered out with a few beers that I haven’t had before, so I’m happy. I’d stop back again when in the area.

January 7, 2007
Nice big wall of beer with lots of six-packs and plenty of bombers as well. Main thing I like about this store is the $7.99 mix-a-six. Not for myself so much, but so I can pick out some good starter beers to introduce my friends to the wonderful world of craft and micro brews. Service usually sucks, but theres always exceptions no matter where you go and I’ve run into one or two very helpful (but not necessarily knowledgeable) employees. Oh, this is the only place in CU that I’ve found that stocks FFF Alpha King, Robert the Bruce, and Pride&Joy on the shelves.

May 31, 2006
Located blocks away from where I grew up. I visit every time I come home, and when mom comes to visit me, I send her by to pick up beer for me. I know others complain about service. My mom prints out my request from email and hands it to staff up front... and they go back and pull the order for her. I say that’s good service. Sometimes you just have to ask. Do they have a lot of beer knowledge? Not really. But this is typical of MOST liquor stores. Besides, I know what to look for. I like the 7.99 mix a six, but you do need to check dates on the relevant bottles. They also do a mediocre job of keeping the shelves stocked. They were out of Alpha King during my mom’s last visit. WTF?

March 26, 2006
very similar to the Peoria Location in terms of layout. The beer selection was pretty good-three floyds, bells, great divide founders, and alot of good belgians (fantome black ghost). Service was pretty good, at least they were friendly. I wish i would have hit this place earlier in the week. It was a saturday and the place was pretty cleaned out from all the U of I partiers. Pretty good nonetheless!

January 25, 2006 [ Updated July 31, 2006 ]
The forte of this store is selection, not service. The Belgian selection could be better, but they have a very good micro and import selection. The German and U.K. sections is better than anywhere in the C-U area. I would be very careful about buying homebrewing supplies here, check for age and broken packets. Service is hands off and only the store manager is beer knowledgeable, so you’re on your own. Like at any of the four Friar Tuck stores, CHECK the best before dates on anything you wanting purchase, especially in the import and singles/mix-a-six sections.

September 30, 2005
Stopped in here about 6 weeks ago and forgot to post the rating. Cavernous store with a long wall of micro beer. As some of the other raters before me have mentioned, the service was non existent. It almost seemed as if whenever I spotted an employee, they would instintively walk away! Never did find what I was looking for, but went to Piccadilly’s on Neil and there it was, front and center.