LCBO – Gerrard and Pape

Located next to a crack bar and Gerrard Square. If Ontario would finally let corner stores sell beer you would definitely dilute the hobo to lcbo/​beer store ratio and make this a bit easier to walk by everyday. Total trash.

If I can avoid it, I don’t come to this location. It is super depressing even before you enter. The entrance regularly smells like stale pee. I won’t elaborate. Inside the selection is equally depressing. It has a really rundown vibe that is very off-​putting. This location could most definitely use a face lift!

Not quite sure what makes this store so ‘special’ from others. They close an hour early on Sundays (5:00 pm) & Fridays (8:00 pm). Could’ve sworn the LCBO was against ‘privatization’. Why aren’t the stores the same then as far as hours go? I also find the staff a bit on the slobbish side & they don’t hold back on talking to each other loudly. Use your ‘indoor’ voice, yeah?

This used to be a terrible store, but the selection has really improved. The area’s changed a lot since I first lived here, and so has this store. Lots more to choose from, and there’s a decent amount of microbrews on hand now.
ACCESSIBILITY: Flat entrance, automatic door.

so as drab as this lcbo looks from the outside, it still pack a decent punch. they have a large selection of canadian wine and spirits and sections for france, south america, california, italy and greece i think.
youd think thered be a chinese section, but alas, no.
everyone here is very helpful. ive got some good recommendations before. its never too packed. ummmm, there is always someone outside asking for change. (i think thats a requirement now.)
finally, like those strange yet fun bus drivers you get wholl give their passengers a rolling tour or running commentary on their streetcar rides, there is a woman who works at the cash who loves to talk.
often to herself.
and to the customers. shes very bright and bubbly. she adorns every interaction with a flourish of niceties, like «OOOOH THE ROSEMOUNT, GREAT CHOICE» and «HOWS EVERYONE DOING TODAY». its not even what she says; they are pretty mundane sentiments, but she says them with so much pizazz that in actuality it makes you feel the exact opposite of what is intended by the words used. you get the vibe that shes piping up like this to help counteract the boiling impulse to reach across the counter and stab you in the eye with a corkscrew.
but hey shes a great character study.