Manhattan store help-mission impossible?

Clinton gourmet Market. See untappd for the list but tons of stuff. Should be maybe 10 or 15 min walk from times Square area. I assume open Easter since it's kind of a Bodega as well. Wouldn't hurt to call.

 

Seconding the rec for Clinton Gourmet, always a great selection including stuff that gets very limited distribution.

Other Half's Rockfeller Center taproom may also be doable, it's not the shortest walk from TS but hopping on the 7 train for one stop and exiting the eastern-most exit at 5th Ave will cut out the biggest chunk of that trip. If you want to bring back more than a couple cans I'd suggest that, since the markup at shops like Clinton Gourmet ends up with most highly-regarded stuff being like $8/can. But if you've already had a ton of OH and want a smattering of more under-the-radar stuff, do Clinton.

 

I would go to Bread and Honey before I would go to Clinton Gourmet. Hell, I’d go to Threes in Moynihan/Penn Station before I’d go to Clinton. I went into Clinton Gourmet back in January and left without buying anything. Lot of old stuff and no good lagers at all. Check beermenus.com, all 3 stores are active there. There was a ton of good stuff at Threes, including Carton and Schilling amongst other stuff.

 

I haven't been to Clinton in a while, but a buddy of mine did say the selection fell off. B&H is a bit more of a shlep from Times Square, but also a good option.

 

Also check Beermenus for the Food Emporium on 8th Ave and 49th Street, much better than the one on 43rd. There's a refrigerated singles section upstairs and larger department in the basement. It's a closer walk and might fit the bill.

 

Almost any bodega will have decent local options and should be open on Easter.

If you don’t mind a little travel you could hit Carmine Street Beers or Grand Delancey. Both offer great beer to go. Grand Delancey is in a food hall so could be a good option for the family for lunch.

Both Carmine and GD are taprooms that have retail cans/bottles to go and will have more limited options

 

Yeah definitely recommend GD if you are going to be with the family. Essex Hall is a great market with a lot of places to eat and shop.

 

I'm a third for Grand Delancey. I'll be in town this weekend as well and hoping to stop by there again. The food hall is excellent and you can actually have certain options delivered right to your table at Grand Delancey. The tap and to go lists are both excellent; two visits ago I sat and drank a bottle of Saint Lamvinus.

 

If you have time/desire to go back and want to get some fresh hops, I would just check out their instagram page and get whatever they have in their latest posts. I love District 96 and would recommend picking up Snake Wizard if they still have it.

https://www.instagram.com/clintongourmetcorp/?hl=en

 

Mexican Cake is pretty good, you should be happy with that pick up. Thats not a crazy price for a 22 oz, I think I paid $15 in South Carolina

 

Slightly on topic. I see that Harlem Hops opened a spot in Chelsea. Probably a dumb question but you can't (officially) take their cans/bottles to go, right? They're explicitly on site options? Have a light afternoon tomorrow so looking to duck out early and head into the city for a couple of pours somewhere and bring home some cans I can't get in Jersey (would love to finally try Deep Fried Beers!).

 

Their Harlem location you can get anything they have to-go, but not sure about Chelsea. Based on Untappd seems like the can selection there is much more limited, but maybe they don't list everything like they do uptown.

 

Ok, so my little domesticated adventure was a mixed bag today.

Both Harlem Hops and Milk and Hops Chelsea had draft menus unaligned (to put it gently) with what their branded online menus had stated (with "updated" dates as of Monday or later). That was very disappointing.

Clinton/Citra Gourmet was exactly as I remember it from my days as a Hell's Kitchen resident pre-pandemic. Absolutely love that place. I feel like people who hate on it simply don't understand that it's an authentic NYC bodega that *happens* to have a world class local beer selection. Please appreciate that, people.

Was gonna go to As Is to hopefully see some of "the gang" but it didn't open til 3 and I had a tight timeline to catch my "normal" NJT train outta Penn.

Went to OH Rockefeller. Fantastic. Grabbed a 4-pack of TDH Vapor Rings.

Was able to swing by the Three's outpost at Moynihan and grabbed a 4-pack of their 12 degree Czech Lager. Brown bagging one on the train and it's spectacular.

My first kid is coming in about a month and my extremely dry MiL will be staying with us indefinitely (for which I'm super grateful!). So, wanted one last taste of impromptu freedom before a completely helpless human dominates all of my decisions.

 

Loved the write up. I agree that Clinton being not as polished as the other NYC craft beer spots is part of its charm. Congrats on your impending little one!

 

My issue with Clinton Gourmet is that it’s been selling this kind of beer for like 7 years now. They’re no spring chicken “bodega” selling decent beer. When I was there in January, everything was old, nothing was new, and very little in the lager department, just hazy beers ranging from 2 to 6 months old.

I’m not sure if the guy who used to do the beer was still there or not, but that guy LOVED beer. It was obvious, and a natural born salesman too. The place stayed maintained for a long time, built its rep on its selection so I’m not buying this bodega stuff. I was buying Bourbon Counties, KBSs and DFH Palo Santo Marrons from rando bodegas before Clinton was doing it.

 

I've been seeing this issue all over NJ here. I basically only buy hazies from breweries. Lagers and pilsners are usually 2 to 3 months old as well, though obviously stored cold that's not an issue. They were really good, especially for new OH drops and D96. Guess maybe that's not the case, or perhaps that stuff doesn't move fast enough anymore.

 

Fair enough. For what it's worth, I got two mixed four packs of mostly hazies, all stamped at the end of March or beginning of April. But I also made sure to look at their Untappd and sort by most recently added. They definitely had a few hazies that were beyond their prime (some of the OH anniversaries, for example), but I'm pretty sure they've had them since they were fresh, and they just aren't selling like they used to. Didn't really look closely at their lager selection, but I'm sure it's not great (though I did grab a Schilling pilsner).

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree that they're a bodega first and foremost. There were probably about 10 people in there, and I was the only one looking at beers. They were all either quickly grabbing a Gatorade, ordering a chopped cheese, or grabbing some toiletries, just how I remember it a few years back. Lol

But yeah, if folks are going in with the perception that this is a beer store with a finely curated selection, they'll be disappointed. Unfortunately, perhaps that is the prevailing perception based on things like Place or Venue ratings.

If you want a place to mix and match high quality local hazies and possibly be surprised by the occasional whale randomly sitting next to potato chips, this is totally your jam.