Clinton Gourmet Market

This is a busy market, on a busy street in what used to be called the "Hells Kitchen" neighborhood of my little old hometown of NYC, NY.

Smaller place, with large glass windows looking out to the street scene, more of a mix between a well stocked convenience store and a bodega. Food in every space and nearly up to the ceilings ... good place for a cup of coffee, some breakfast or sand wedge all to go. But you are here for the beer..and they have plenty of that...mostly in a large cooler unit to the right and towards the back as you enter...lots of single cans and bottles including a load of fancy juice bomb kinda options from the usual cast of locals thats get more eclectic, worthy and exciting with every passing season...highlight for me was the array of cans from Other Half....not cheap, but with each can priced at about $2 more then what it would cost at the brewery, in my book it's reasonable, when you consider the location and the quality of the product....worth a visit if in the area.

Friendly guy behind the register, knew his beers and was pleasant to talk with and share a laugh.

Clinton Gourmet is very much a grocery store, with everything that entails as far as vibe and service goes.

Beer selection is very good, lots of cans that can be bought individually, even though I saw some stuff that wasn't super fresh. A lot of great breweries represented, like Industrial Arts, Lawson's, Horus, Springdale and others. The list on Beermenus seemed way longer than what I saw, but maybe I just didn't take the time to look, knowing I only had luggage room for about seven cans.

Overall, not a place to go out of the way for, but if you happen to be close by, you can score some really good beer. Just check dates...

 

Best beer shop in NYC, BA says... Yeah sorry, nope.

Other than a full door of local beers in singles, there was nothing great about this place. The selection was decent but not very extensive, and fairly disorganized. 3-4 cooler doors held 100-150 beers at most. Nothing close to the nearly 400 listed on Beermenus, which was wildly inaccurate. I asked the counter guy for some fresh local IPA recommendations and he walked over to point out Peak IPA. In no way did they offer specialized service, at least in my limited experience there. This is a bodega deli which only happens to sell beer. Nice if you happen to live around the corner and make friends with the owner, but it's far from being an all-city contender.

Highlights for me were Industrial Arts Metric IPA, Barrier Money Mad Fat, and Lawsons Sip Of Sunshine. All great beers, but with the standard bodega convenience upcharge, cans are $7 apiece, pretty steep. A good selection of NY beer, but import and national craft options were pretty slim. I didn't see any Tilquin, Plan B, or several others currently posted on Beermenus, which were still on the updated list a week later. That's just a simple fact based on my observations in the store.

From what i've read in the forum, in the past they have used social media to bait & switch customers. They tend to hype stuff that's always sold out on instagram. It sounds like they may also keep stuff in the back for the secret handshake club, so don't always trust what you see online. Just another store where you have to be a regular to get good beers, no thanks. Misrepresentation is the key issue here, it's too bad some retailers can't just be honest.

From my personal experience, the reality was far different from the astroturf reviews here from sequential burner accounts. Draw your own conclusions.

 

I would say this place has a finely curated selection. They have a decent number of locals, mostly in cans - but as a traveler to NYC, cans are dangerous in checked bags, so I opted for bottles. Picked up some rarities and hard to find beer at totally reasonable prices. The place is a vibrant deli / convenience store with beer. The staff are super friendly and helpful. After they saw what I was putting in my basket they came offer to see if they could help narrow my search and made some good recos. I left with everything o wanted, including a couple rarities pulled from the back (do I want a BCBS Coffee?? Hells ya!) #TakeMyMoney

This place consistently has the top selection anywhere in Manhattan. Super friendly and extremely helpful.

It is my go to weekly. Every week new selections and the quality cannot be matched.

Overall a winner. You want the best of the best, this is your stop if you are in the area.

Cheers

Love this place. Always a go to in midtown. Great selection, people and just love the unassuming presence. Local, hard-to-find releases, they have it. You may need to take the time to find it but this is why it's always fun to visit.

 

 

This joint is the best! Wadah and his crew are some of the friendliest folks in midtown manhattan. Terrific service, fantastic selection and convenient hours/location are just a few of the reasons to shop here! They also have a full service deli with delicious food! There's always some hard to find treasure in the coolers..

A very hospitable neighborhood, no frills, all quality craft beer shop/destination. The one thing I love about this place is I can drop in at any time of day and my visit is not met with any pretension but the contrary. The shop/deli owners greet you and walk you through new selections or give you a quick heads up on the new stock that they know is up your alley. They offer everything from the vast ever growing craft industry, ciders, to that week's rare new releases from the local breweries (personal favorite). All of this at a slightly lower margin than competitors in the general area. Can't recommend enough.

An avenue separated from the hullabaloo of Hell's Kitchen's 9th Ave., and only a short hop from Port Authority Bus Terminal, sits this hidden gem. Inconspicuously adorned but boasting a cache of reasonably priced craft brews, Clinton Gourmet is the local neighborhood's "go-to" beer shop with a little bit of everything for everyone (no, literally--not only does it have a wide variety of beers, but it also serves as a deli, grocery AND convenience store all in one). The current selection is a testament to the manager's appreciation for the rapidly expanding demographic of NYC's beer snobbery. IPAs, English ales, farmhouse ales, witbiers, lagers, stouts, goses...you name it! The manager works closely with distributors to source (within reason) locally and regionally recognized favorites--and, on occasion, even those from abroad (Cantillon's lambics are known to "stop by" every now and then...). An added bonus to Clinton Gourmet's wide selection of beer is the near-daily updates made to their social media accounts, making it easy to follow their most current offerings. If you are looking for a welcome break from the cookie-cutter gaslight-lit, chalkboarded artisanal cheese and hops bottle shops, definitely schedule a stop at Clinton Gourmet.

This place is amazing Igot my beers almost every day from Clinton gourmet market the have Grimm and Greenpoint And Single cut and Fin back and KCBC and gun hill and big A LICe and more A recommend this place for a good local craft beers

it's a deli/bodega in Hells Kitchen NYC. they have awesome selection of craft beers! deliveries 2-3x a week and always post on IG what's hitting the shelves....def worth checking out!

One of the better selections you'll find in Midtown and people probably pass it by without realizing what a good selection they have. They get all the Union and Twelve Percent distributions, and the local breweries that distribute (Greenpoint, KCBC, Finback etc..). The owner is very helpful and let's you know what he does have and what's coming in. They also update Instagram very frequently.

I stumbled onto Clinton Gourmet when Beer Menus stated that they had a beer I was looking for. When I got to the shop, I was a little hesitant from the outside that they would have it. But don't judge a book by its cover. For what is, for all intents and purposes, a deli in NYC, this place has a ton of craft. Pipeworks, Grimm, Greenpoint, Singlecut, and more. Don't expect a huge bottle shop, but I put this place in my regular rotation to land new releases from craft breweries from across the country. Stop by if you're in the area. And if not, make the trip. It's worth it.

In search of my first Urban Chestnut beer, Beer Menus pointed me to this unassuming storefront on 10th Ave. Inside was narrow and a bit cramped, but also high-ceilinged and with a warm feel. The size of the beer selection, while not amazing by the standards of a bottle shop, was very impressive for a "gourmet deli". But it was the diversity that was the real eye-opener. Beers were arrayed in cold cases along the right wall and on 2-3 racks opposite those. If I'd had the time (and an unlimited budget) I could have left with 2-3 cases worth of singles in various formats (12 & 16 oz. cans to 750 ml bottles). As it was, I found the UC Zwickel and also bought a can of Modern Times Blazing World and a 1/2 liter bottle of Jack's Abby Sibling Rye-valry. Among the beers I saw on the shelves were three of the Goose Island "sisters" (Madame Rose, Gillian, Julia), a CCB Marshall Zhukov variant, and lots of stuff from Evil Twin. While I was paying the cashier, the owner or manager walked up and asked me if I'd found what I was looking for. Definitely worth a visit if you're anywhere near the area, which isn't that long a walk from Times Square.