Friar Tuck Wines, Spirits, and Beverages (Savoy)

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.

August 9, 2005 [ Updated July 23, 2007 ]
This is certainly better than your average store in terms of number of bottles, but the service is atrocious. Only once have I been asked if I need any help finding anything, despite having been in the store at least 20 times. The employees somehow manage to make you feel as if you’re unwanted in the store (you get the "you’re evil" glare). No one seems to be very knowledge in the ways of beer or wine. To be somewhat fair, the beer selection is one of the best in town, although prices are generally higher. A very good selection of Belgian Lambics, although most have been sitting on the shelf for awhile. (Lou Pepe series, some Drie Fonteinen) On the whole, this is usually my "last resort" stop unless I need hard liquor, of which they have the largest variety of in town. *******UPDATE 3/15/06: I’ve been buying quite a bit of the Bells Wheat Series here lately, given that they seem to make their way to the Mix-N-Match 6-pack area for the price of 7.99. It cracks me up that I can buy 6 single bottles of Wheat Love for 7.99, but if I wanted six-pack from the shelves, it would 9.99. Not sure how long this deal will continue, but its been a good bet for the last 2 months *****UPDATE 2007: Selection has improved markedly with Hoppin Frog, more 3 Fonteinien, Barrel Aged Gonzo, and some other great beers.

June 29, 2005
Well, this place is gigantic. Selection is pretty huge but lacking in some respects. A lot of foreign beer but i noticed there weren’t really awesome ones there that i’ve seen at other local place, eg. rochefort 10. Prices are pretty reasonable. Build your own six pack is kind of limited from the full six pack collection, but it’s $7.99 for any six combination. I am a little skeptical because they had singles of Victory storm king, so you could buy 6 for $8 when a real six pack is $11. I have to wonder how expired it is. They have a lot of domestics none that really spark an interest. Like a bunch of Tommy Knocker and the full line of Sprecher. Tons and tons of liquor and wine too. Oh yeah, and like 2 employees walked past me during my 30 minutes there and never asked if i need help.

May 23, 2005
was in on May 19, 2005. Nice place, basically same selection as the other locations in Springfield and Peoria. had no interaction with the employees other than checkout. pretty decent selection of midwestern beers. seems to me they had a few less belgians than the other locations.