Star Liquor

The store has the best selection of beer and wine I’ve ever seen in such a place.
This is wholly undercut by the rude and abrasive staff (and they have high turnover, and the new members are least informed and, while not rude, often completely disinterested and not paying attention to the customer’s needs).
I stopped shopping here long ago.

Stopped by on our way through town looking for interesting beers that we don’t get down in St. Louis, and left with a big box full. Great selection & prices & the guy who helped us (sorry didn’t get his name) was friendly & super knowledgeable. Great place.

My regular stop for good booze. Place is small but has many awesome beers and wines — knowledgeable and cool staff too. Extra points for the man behind the counter who bantered with me about the mention of the Château Latour 1929 in that 4^th season episode of Northern Exposure

While perusing the bombers of beer, the clerk behind the desk told me to get a certain beer brewed with spruce, because «it is like getting hit in the face with a forest.» Being a sadist, I try to smash my face into a pine tree at least once a year, and I thought adding an oral element to it might up the arousal effect. The beer was pretty good, but unfortunately, it did not hurt.
They don’t have any alcopops (like Mike’s), which means that to get both I’d have to go to 2 stores.

Never had a pleasant experience here in the past 6 months. Not friendly staff at all… I’m not sure what the other people that have written reviews here are talking about. I try and be friendly to people in general but these people that work here don’t seem to hold these values.

I love this little place. Honestly. It solves my problems. If you are like me and can’t be counted on to spend less than 30 minutes fucking AGONIZING over your booze selections, this is your place. The store is small, but what it lacks in variety it more than makes up for in quality. I’m a beer hound and I constantly marvel over the interesting beers they sell. Lots of cool one-​offs from Madison breweries and great stuff well beyond the borders of The People’s Republic. Star also boasts a nice wine selection. I’m not a wine guy but I do know that when I say some stupid shit to my lady it’s gonna cost me roughly one bottle of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The staff is very nice and helpful and there always seems to be a happy puppy in the store which is a total win in my book.

wine discounts the 15^th of the month!

I love this place.
Yep, it’s a bit small, but they stock nothing but quality stuff. You’re not going to find dozens of rare Belgian import beers or racks and racks of wines from every imaginable vineyard, but if you’re looking for an excellent domestic craft brew or a solid bottle of wine at a reasonable price, this is your place.
The staff has suggested many the excellent brew; I’ve yet to be disappointed. The owner is cool and chill — he’s helpful, fun, and always great to make small talk with. On a recent visit, I eavesdropped on him as he shared info about a small batch of boutique bitters with a customer. When he was done talking, I wanted to buy a bottle even though I didn’t need any bitters.
As others have stated, they’re pet friendly — bring your four-​legged friend along and they’ll always offer a little treat/​snack.
Seems like I’m always looking for a reason or making an excuse to walk over to Star. It’s a prime example of what an excellent locally owned and managed business should be like.
Star Liquor, I heart you. Big time.

Here are some things that I love:
*The knowledgeable, sweet, lovable staff
*The Friday tastings (free beer or wine!)
PS This Friday (tomorrow) is a free New Belgium tasting 4 – 7
*Pup friendly
*Craft beer selection
*Convenient parking (though I often walk)
*Wine discounts on the 15^th of every month
Always my first choice for booze shopping!

The only trouble with living in Wisconsin is sometimes there are just too many amazing beers to choose from. Enter the knowledgable, friendly, and often funny staff at Star Liquor. Have a question about a beer you’ve never tried? Need to pair the best wine with your meal? Consider it done, and within your price range. I love living within walking distance of this place, but I’d drive in a heartbeat if I needed something.

I was in Madison for literally 30 minutes to pick up my sister from UW. I needed a spot to pick up some New Glarus for me and a friend and found Star Liquors here on Unilocal.Very knowledgeable employees helped me decide on Moon Man Ale to go with the thumbprint Cherry Stout I was already picking up. A great hole in the wall liquor store!

Prior to moving to Madison, my best friend and I drove to Wisconsin to purchase large quantities of beer for my wedding. After a pit stop in New Glarus, we came into Madison and stumbled across Star Liquors. The woman working there at the time was helpful, unpretentious, and gently suggested that we might have been in the wrong shop to buy VAST AMOUNTS of beer. She made suggestions of more suitable places. We ended up buying a few six packs of specialty beers just for pure enjoyment, and went on our merry way. I remarked to my friend that I wished we had a place like that back home…
Cut to: a year later, when looking for apartments after deciding Madison was our new home, my husband and I were wandering up and down Willy street; I recognized Star and got really excited that the neighborhood we chose to live in also housed Star.
The great and honest customer service I got initially has kept me extremely loyal: it’s the only place we buy our beer. And wine (no judgments when we buy the boxed stuff, either). And liquor. Super knowledgeable staff and fun atmosphere. Whenever I’ve had a horrible day I walk into Star and walk out happier and wishing I could have a job there.

I’m new to the area, staying with a friend in the neighborhood while waiting for my new place to open up. I’m coming from Portland, as serious a beer town as you can get so, of course, I wanted to taste some local craft. Normally I gravitate to porters but it was hot, humid and, after biking back from my new job, I needed something lighter, something crisp. An ale but not too hoppy (can we stop over-​hopping IPAs now, please). The salesman took me through several local choices like the pro he is. I settled on a Big O ale. It was perfect.
A few days later I stopped in again for a refill. I had been told about a Wisconsin whiskey (Death’s Door) and wanted to see if they had it. Not only was it there on the shelf but, right next to it was my favorite Oregon-​made whiskey, McCarthy’s!!! That’s a tough bottle to find, even in Portland where it’s made.
I haven’t bought any wine here. Compared to my usual haunts out West, the selection is pretty small but, the wines I did see looked adequate. I did overhear the suggestion of a familiar Spanish Grenache that I would have made myself so, it looks promising.
Just like the 4 stars says, Yay! I’m a fan!

My uncle, my aunt, my husband and I spent a dark, chilly evening and an even chillier morning camped out in the parking lot waiting in line for tickets to the Great Taste of the Midwest. Though I only spent about 10 minutes inside the store, the employees handled the crowd well and they had a great selection of suds.

Exceeded our high expectations. Before our first trip to Madison in December 2010, we asked multiple Madison-​Chicago transplant friends where to go to stock up on all the awesome Wisconsin brews. We were not disappointed. Star has a great selection for its size, and staff were extremely helpful as we carefully selected a box of a variety of beers we don’t have (New Glarus) or haven’t yet come across in Chicago.
What sticks out the most, however, is that contrary to the advice given to us at our B&B, staff at New Glarus very frankly advised us to leave Madison right away, that night, to get ahead of an impending snowstorm. That ended up saving us from being stuck in Madison (not that we couldn’t find something fun to do there… we just couldn’t afford extra nights at the B&B). Regardless, we can’t wait to return to awesome Madison, WI and this great store.

An incredible liquor with superb management. They often meet or beat the big boys on price and the selection is fantastic. In addition a staff that seems to enjoy the customers and each other.

Staff — Awesome
Owner — Crazy awesome
Selection — Fantastic
Prices — Good (but I’ll pay more for personable people who know the product, so not an issue)
Location — Convenient

This place has been around a while, perfecting, and it just can’t get any better. Not an enormous, get-​lost-​in kinda joint — and the super cool guys who work here can recommend anything from wine to beer to their favorite Irish cream! And the peeling the label off thing — why doesn’t everyone do this? Just really good customer service, now with Fat Tire beer! The best!!!

They don’t sell alcohol at the co-​op right down the street, so we were sent over the Star Liquor. They had a pretty great selection for a small-​ish place, and there was promptly someone to ask us what we needed and to make suggestions. They had reasonably priced bottles of chilled wine (even organic) and we left (uncarded, again) merrily on our way to sip from plastic cups in our hotel room.

One of the most amazing liquor stores on the face of the planet. It is a total dive that happens to carry only the best in the world of beer, wine and spirits. Don’t know what you want to drink? Just talk to one of the friendly workers and within minutes they will be suggesting a libation that will perfectly suit your mood and palate. I wish that all businesses could operate in the way this one does and really cater to the needs of the customer.
Why only 4 stars then? Well, I’d like to give it 4.5 if that were possible. I subtract that half star because ya know what? Sometimes I like to drink like a hobo, and they just aren’t carrying the cheap swill that I occasionally desire.