Friar Tuck - Springfield (Constitution Drive)

No Longer In Business

This a chain of liquor stores but this one is small with lots of beer on the floor. They do have selections you can’t get in the Missouri satires which is nice. They are moving to new location this month (October 2014) so hopefully they’ll get a bigger venue. Mix-a-six was pretty much junk and a lot of beer was already past the best by date.

Not much to add to the earlier reviews. Mix-a-six selection was quite limited but I was able to find enough new beers for 2 6-packs. Service was good and the store was easy to find. Good selection.

Stopped in on our way back from Chicago. It is located a little ways off the highway, about 5-6 miles. It was worth the trip. From reading previous reviews, I asked the clerk in the beer aisle what was new. He pointed to several of the beers closest to the front of the store. I was able to pick up several items that are not in the St. Louis market. The nice thing about all the Friar Tucks, the layouts are very similar, so it makes getting in and out easy. Was not impressed with their build-a-six selection. Otherwise, quantity of beers was not a problem.

The best place in the Springfield-area for beer (however, the Peoria Friar Tuck has a much wider selection). Much of it is mediocre, but there are many hard to find midwest locals and foreign brews to choose from. BEWARE OF OLD BEER. Dust on the caps/neck of the bottle is a giveaway that some items don’t turnover very quickly. Check bottled on dates - if they don’t have them, you very well could be buying an IPA that is nearly 2 years old. Friar Tuck’s offers "Mix-a-Sixes" -- build your own 6-packs from an available wall of beer. Finding someone knowledgeable in beer is a crap shoot.

Was passing through and wanted to pick up a few beers. They had a decent selection, thought the layout didn't make sense. Nice selection of pick a six.

Nice sized store with good selection for area. Decent selection for mixed six, but lots and swill mixed in. Prices seemed a little high. Nothing rare or hard to find, but I feel they did the best they could for what is available to them. Only place worth a stop in the area. Kind of like the Binny’s of central IL.

Hit this shop in February when I was in town for a convention. Very nice clean store in a safe part of town. They had a great selection of staples, and seasonal’s. Being in a smaller market they also had a number of breweries that are to small to support the Chicago market. Might have been the best part of the trip to Springfield.

Warehouse of booze. Not very friendly. Not a great selection. The prices are reasonable.

(Visited 05/2010): Visited this Friar Tuck on every visit to Springfield thus far. It is located on the southwest side of Springfield off Veterans Parkway and I-72. There is a fairly large lot out front. The interior is segmented by type of drink, with beer being in the rear of the store. There are coolers all along the back wall, and along the left side are singles, 4 and 6-packs, bombers etc. The store layout kind of reminds me of a smaller Bevmo. The beer selection is solid regardless. Lots of beers from the western part of the US including Lost Abbey, Stone, Rogue, Port, Ballast Point etc. In addition there are a lot of beers from closer to home (for me) like Three Floyds, Bell’s, Hoppin’ Frog etc. Imports from Belgium, Germany, Finland, UK etc are fairly abundant as well. The mix and match singles are pretty extensive and there is a good amount of cold beer available. FriarTuck also carries some homebrew supplies. Service has been pretty good on my visits. Someone will typically stop by and see if you need anything, and the people working the checkout are friendly. Overall having this place in walking distance of my hotel means I am always going to have something good on future visits and will need to remember to bring bubble wrap for goodies to share back home that I can’t find there.

Stopped in the Springfield Friar Tuck on the back from Chicago, and unsurprisingly, it looked exactly like the other Friar Tuck stores I’ve been to so far. The beer aisle made up the long aisle along the left wall, and the whole back cooler, with some end displays as well. So quantity is not an issue, nor is selection- I found a couple nice bottles I didn’t see in STL or Chicago- but inventory turnover is questionable. I can only wonder how long some of the beers have been on shelves here. As long as you’re not buying IPAs or other particularly time-sensitive beers, you should be able to find some unexpected things here. If nothing else, Friar Tuck is consistent in selection, service, and atmosphere in all of its stores.