Carmel Liquor Store

My go to liquor store. Especially since it’s right across the street from my house. Perfect location to pick up wine, beer or a few quick snacks.
The store isn’t that big but carries the staples.
Parking is pretty decent since its in a small shopping center.
Like i said its my go to liquor store.
Probably head there tonight! :-)

Here’s a relevant multiple-​choice question:
How to reconcile the wildly conflicting opinions of Carmel Liquor from perceptive Unilocalers Dana M (4 stars, «We hit the Euro candy jackpot!!»), and Tony G (1 star, «…musty bowels of this depressing repository of useless products.»)???
A) At least one is confused and they’re not actually describing the same store.
B) The shop, stricken with some bizarre Jekyll-​and-​Hyde affliction, looked fine when Dana arrived on a good, Dr Jekyll day, but horrible when Tony crossed the «dingy threshold» of the place on a rancid, Mr Hyde day.
C) The store used to be awful but was purchased by two friendly guys who cleaned it up and turned it into a nice, little, neighborhood convenience store.
Bingo! You’re correct if you guessed C). You win an honorary degree in Skateboard Science from Torrey Pines High School.
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I hadn’t been there in 2 – 3 years and was shocked by the transformation. If you live in the neighborhood and were repelled by its former incarnation, take another look. The dank and dusty air, the half-​stocked shelves, the weird selection of items with long-​past «best-​by» dates and the grumpy, rude former owners are all gone.
I only gave it 4 stars since I usually just zip in, grab a 6-​pack of my favorite beer and zip back out. But it’s clean, friendly and well-​stocked with beer, wine, liquor and various other convenience-​store stuff.

Whoooaah there Euro-​Cowboy, you can’t be running through the store all hurry-​scurry like, picking up every single Euro item you see. You’re trampling all over the other patrons in your excitement!
At least that’s how I felt when I walked in there. We hit the Euro candy jackpot! Kinder, Cadbury, Galaxy, all chocolates from all over the world. They weren’t cadbury bars made in the US (or Mexico), they were Cadbury bars from Euuurrrope! When I got home, I realized one chocolate bar I bought was made in Germany, one in Ireland, and one somewhere in the Arab world (it was half in Arabic). There were Maltese balls too!
Blah blah they also have alcohol selections that are priced fairly, including the Ballast Point Bloody Mary mix (mmm). The only thing I’d add would be the Ballast Point Mai Tai mix (double mmmm).
The store is impeccably clean, the guy who runs the register is nice. Who knew? Maybe this place changed ownership, or maybe they just responded to that guys Unilocal review a few years ago. Either way, this place will definitely be in my rotation!

This is a lovely little shop that stocks all sorts of unusual foods and supplies, including some nice things from England. The owners are most helpful, and will even order in a tray of foods from abroad at very reasonable price. Great little local shop.

Carmel liquor store gets 6 stars for being the only place that stayed open during the socal-​wide power outage. Even Ralphs and Riteaid down the street couldn’t wait to pull down the gates on the door to shun people away soooo terrified that looters will come ruin their store. Instead of closing their stores in the times of hardship (who knew it was going to be limited 12 hour outage), carmel liquor store stayed open in the dark serving the community. Ralphs was too worried about their own profit than helping out the community.
In the end, we are both winners. The store probably made load more money than ever and people in the area were able to stock up on food, water, ice and what else — liquor for their BBQ-​in-​the-​dark-​party.

Something is horribly wrong with Carmel Liquor Store and it hits you like a sack of doorknobs the moment you cross the dingy threshold and begin to wander around the musty bowels of this depressing repository of useless products. I would honestly think twice about sandbagging this catacomb of a liquor store and holing up as a last resort shelter in a zombie apocalypse. Explaining this weird little slice of hell is difficult so please bear with me.
Upon arriving you immediately take in the rank, musty atmosphere. It’s sort of like how I imagine unearthing an ancient Egyptian tomb and being the first person to breathe this particular air in over 2000 years would feel. The main difference is that ancient Egyptian tombs involve much less dust and the mummified cashier hunched over behind the counter at Carmel Liquor Store is still alive (physically anyway). The long narrow entryway against the front counter is no doubt a crude effort to deter shoplifters. This is exceedingly bizarre because no sane man woman or child — no matter how socially depraved — would ever steal this strange crap.
Whoever chose these products did not stop at merely four varieties of generic Vegemite or just a few heaps of grubby candy bars you’ve never heard of, they took weirdness to a whole new level. Some of the highlights of the near barren shelves include pyramids of antique energy drinks, a Pope John Paul II candle, broken clock radios, a human-​sized rusty steal cage, and Post-​it notes scrawled with the gibberish of a deranged and tortured soul affixed to most flat surfaces. There is even a decrepit wet bar and kitchenette along the back wall but I think it’s safe to say that the only entertaining done here is with inner demons.
There are mangled cardboard boxes lying around and a handful of them house expired oddities not worthy of a circus freak show concessions stand. It’s as if looters tore through this place and left only some of the foulest of condiments I have ever seen and things that could instantly be identified as worthless in their wake. There’s nothing here that you can’t find at any abandoned scrapyard and certainly nothing that you should eat and hope to digest properly.
People that live near this place seem to know better than to enter this liquor store of bad decisions and shattered dreams. The only clientele I observed were a few day laborers buying terrible beer, an inebriated teenager staggering around with his skateboard, and an aloof consumer who appeared to have both male and female secondary sexual characteristics.
One can only marvel at how any liquor store proprietor could display so few products for sale but still fit the accepted criteria of a hoarder. Questions about what could have not just sapped the entrepreneurial zeal of the Carmel Liquor Store’s owner but caused him to unequivocally stop giving a fuck are better saved for all the therapy that will undoubtedly be needed in your future if you hang around this place too long.

There are three other stores within two minutes (or less by car) of this store that I know of that sell alcohol. Some of these stores probably have great prices in comparison too. If you absolutely must avoid groceries aisles and other people, like to brown bag it or buy lottery tickets, are up in the late evening or amazingly happen upon the store and cannot wait a single moment more without alcohol running through your veins, then by all means.
Otherwise, this area is well represented by the booze purveyors with better selection and prices. All kidding aside, this place is stocked better than my own neighborhood spot and I go there semi-​regularly. Sometimes, you just want to go to the liquor sto. In these instances, any reason isn’t taken into consideration.

This liquor store has a great location. In a small strip mall with ample parking just a few feet from the front door. As they say in real estate: «Location! Location! Location!»
Their shelves are stocked with the usual convenience store items and also with a number of English and South African foods. I picked up a package mix for Yorkshire Pudding here (an impulse) but have yet to whip it up.
The employees are generally pretty good… so long as you happen in when the owner is not working. The owner can be a real little sourpuss.