Rutgers Wines & Liquors

My boyfriend used to live in this hood, and we stop by the area at least once a year and usually hit up this liquor store. The same Asian bro has been running shop since before we’ve been together — we’re talking at least since 2006 — and he is super friendly, awesome and helpful.
The store itself isn’t crazy big but probably has what you’re looking for if you live in this area and are presumably in college or in the average college age range. I’m a gin gal myself, and there aren’t a lot of gins (hey, all liquor stores can’t be Buy Rite), but I’m guessing they are serving their demographic, which is a beer crowd.

This is my go-​to place for picking up my alcohol. Reasons why I love this place:
#1 It’s inviting, doesn’t look shady, I feel comfortable going here.
#2 It’s in the same plaza as where I get my groceries. (Convenient!)
#3 It’s in a plaza so parking is easy to find. (easy parking is always a plus!)
#4 The staff is friendly and helpful. On one trip that I bought a couple cases of beer the big asian guy helped me carry them to my car.
The prices seem reasonable to me. Not the cheapest but not overly priced either. All in all, this is a great place.

This is my favorite store to pick up my booze. My other options is a liquor store that takes me away from my usual path (i’m usually going into new brunswick to hang) or a krauzers that is open late but has jack squat when it comes to premium beers. It is conveniently located in a shopping center, so you can get your groceries at A&P and then get your booze.
Anyway, this place has a great selection of beers– they have all the standards and cheap beers and also a lot of other beers you can’t find in other local liquor store. I’m not by any means a beer connoisseur but I really enjoy something different, flavored, smaller brewery-​beers, and they happen to carry a wide variety of brooklyn brewery beers and abita beers, which are two of my favorites. They have a good selection in the fridges ready to go, and an ever wider and larger selection on the shelves for you to pop in your cooler or fridge. I once picked up a bottle of this Japanese beer just because of the cute owl on the bottle, and it was a delicious white ale. yum.
Other than beer they have a load of wine, that I can’t really tell you much about, since I don’t drink much of it. But they also have every liquor/​hard liquor brand/​type possible and a nice selection of gift sets during the holidays (for those boozy types on your list) and snacks. They also sell lottery tickets, tiny bottles, and the guys behind the counter are always very nice and the one young Asian guy who is always there (owner?) is always helpful if you need a beer recommendation– his suggestions and advice go beyond «it tastes good», which is always appreciated.