11th Avenue Liquor

Good location, selection, a parking lot, and helpful staff. Everything you would want in a liquor store.

Blows the doors off any cigar shop in town! I don’t drink but this my go to place for cigars. Great prices and HUGE selection of quality brands all stored properly. There’s even a walk-​in humidor! Lots of tobacco smoking accessories and what not. The staff has always been knowledgeable and friendly. Best kept secret in Portland.

These guys are always really nice and helpful when I’m trying to get a collection of stuff together for a party or specific drink. They also have a great selection of cigars (multiple humidors, including an entire room). Just a great neighborhood liquor store.

It’s a liquor store. What else is there to say really? They have liquor and a few other things, they have the same prices as everyone else (thanks OLCC), the selection is pretty decent, the hours are good, and the staff is generally really friendly. My bar gets our liquor order here and they’re always super nice. If I feel like grabbing something for myself while I’m there they always have good suggestions.
Overall solid place. Buy your drunk-​making materials here.

Genuine douchebags here. Called up on Memorial Day to ask for their hours and they said «Till six» and I rushed down and got there at 5:55 (not even 5:56) and the douchebag closed the door in my face. I looked at him like, «Really?» and he said, «Happy holiday!» Yes, you get extra douchebag points for that, Mr. Beardsley.

I really liked this store, they have a good selection and and the first few times I went it the people there were helpful and friendly. HOWEVER, today this tattooed jerk-​wad was just plain rude! Throws my card down on the counter, doesn’t even tell me that my card was approved and I take my booze and leave. Not a single word other than «debit or credit?» There are plenty of stores I can go to, I won’t be back to this one.

Wow. This liquor store really impressed me. Such a HUGE selection! Need elderberry liquor? They got it. A bazillion types of tequila? Check. Oh, and you want a variety of cigars to choose from too? You got it! Plus it just _​feels_​like a local place, without being skeezie at all. Highly recommended.

Great selection of liquor. The prices are very competitive to other liquor stores. I like that you actually get to browse around and pick out the bottles instead of having to ask someone behind the counter for your liquor. Also, the both times I’ve been there, there has been a free tasting (I tried a raspberry brandy, which was interesting). I haven’t asked anyone for help, but they seem to be very eager to help you out if you need it.

I went in with about $ 50 to drop on some new stuff. It’s weird but I ran out of pretty much all my liquor at the same time. I planned my haul with precision and more intense scrutiny than I used on the ACT.
I went in looking for two things and a laundry list of Maybes. Vodka called «Wodka» (rated pretty highly on the interweb) and a tequila called Sparkle Donkey (El Burro Esparkalado!). No such luck. I knew I wanted mid-​tier options for a rum, vodka and a nice-​ish sipping whiskey.
Picked up a throwaway vodka (Fris) with a cool bottle. Crusan Light Rum. And Forty Creek Canadian whisky. Oh and Agnostura bitters. All out the door for $ 55ish.
I also looked for Grand Gala (an inexpensive orange cognac), Three Olives Loopy (fruit loop flavored vodka!), and Makers 46. Couldn’t find/​they didn’t stock Grand Gala but the other two were there, priced appropriately. I just talked myself out of them.
Accept debit. Not sure about parking cuz I parked somewhere else and walked over, didn’t notice their situation. Love the location.
Not sure if it’s just cuz Christmas is coming or not but they had a pretty good gift section. I saw Jack Daniels, Makers Mark and Grand Marnier in gift sets for the same price as the 750ml bottle that came with some gift (two tumblers, flasks, etc). I would def hit this place again.
Oh and they had a connoisseur section! I think I saw a $ 200 bottle of Grand Marnier, aged like 40 years. I didn’t look too closely. But yeah, glass case! Of liquor!

Why am I writing a review about a liquor store? Because I feel like I have to share the experience that I just had. I have lived in Portland for over ten years now and I always go to this store when I need hard liquor because they really do have a great selection. Unfortunately, I will never set foot back in this place after today. I stopped by after work looking for a particular bottle of bourbon. While searching for this bottle I listened to one of the two checkers behind the counter talk about how much they disliked working there and the love life of one of their other coworkers who obviously wasn’t there at the moment. As if this wasn’t enough the male checker kept repeating the word «retarded» as he was talking about people.
I didn’t see the particular brand of bourbon I was looking for so I politely went up to the counter to ask if they had it and the male checker looked at me, raised an eyebrow and said they only get six or seven bottles of that a year and that I should try again in November. This guy was so rude and dismissive about my question. Look, this is Portland, and we all know it has more than its fair share of rude and dismissive people but come on. When I walk into a liquor store that’s not really what I’m expecting. I was taken back by my experience today and I know I won’t give this place my business any more… which is a shame because it’s really convenient for me to go there. If I owned this place I would probably think about training all my employee not to air all the dirty laundry so loudly and to be a little bit more helpful. I don’t think that’s happening because the male checker kept telling the female checker how long he’d been working there and how many «retards» he’s had to interact with. Nope… won’t be going back here.

Much better whiskey selection than Washington liquor store; friendly staff as well as we were offered help several times.

Low key place to snag a bottle. Cost was competitive and street parking was a breeze. The clerk was friendly so no complaints there. The selection was ample and items were easy to locate. I recommend this place for your adult beverage needs :)

Great little liquor store.
Very good selection.
Good hours.
Quirky but friendly staff.

My first liquor store experience was in Portland, and it was awful. I had no idea what I was looking for and when I asked for suggestions from the half dead cashier I’m pretty sure I accidentally offended her family. She looked like she wanted to kill me and then pointed limp-​wrist back into the aisles. Not much help.
I felt a bit silly reaching out to Unilocal to find a better Liquor store. It’s kind of like Unilocaling for gas stations or the best 7 – 11. But Liquor Stores can be intimidating and I wanted one that at least would let me buy my liquor in peace. I saw reviews that this one had signs over the bottles so I figured I could do my shopping with some direction, without needing to hassle whoever was working.
When I walked in the door with list in hand someone came out from behind the counter and asked if he could help me find something. I gave him my list and he walked around the store with me, showing me where the drinks were and then giving me advice on other alternatives. He loaded his arms with my selections and brought them behind the counter to check out.
I got everything I wanted, and they got my money and promise of return visits. Fair.
Sure it’s JUST a liquor store, but it doesn’t mean your experience should give you nightmares.

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff
Very wide selection — can do special orders
Well laid out store
Open SUNDAY!

Most importantly, the guys that work here are friendly and knowledgeable, should you need a suggestion. They have helped in choosing my liquor products and have also been good about getting me outta there fast (when I already know what I want). The place is nice, clean and well stocked. They also got your soda products to mix your liquor with (not all places I’ve been to have this).
This is my favorite liquor store in town so far. They also usually have a few empty parking spaces in front of their business making for relatively easy parking.

–Roomy aisles that fit more than one person browsing the shelves. Check.
–Organized selection with each section of liquor clearly labeled. Check.
–Lots of vodka. Check.
Basically this is all I could ask for in a liquor store. It seems simple enough but most fail miserably. I also liked the assortment of locally made vodka. While I didn’t buy it, it’s nice to see this place supporting it, yeah! I did buy sweet tea vodka which is the most delicious, deadly thing everrr.

This liquor store not only has a great selection of booze, but a mighty fine selection of cigars (for a liquor store) as well.
11^th Avenue Liquor (on 11^th and Hawthorne) like all other Oregon liquor stores, is an OLCC operation. There’s only so much «jazzing up» these stores get. Metal shelves filled with booze dominate. But add in at this location a nice cigar selection and actually a pretty large and diverse selection of liquors — local distilled spirits, high end and niche spirits… a nice, deep variety.
The staff is plenty friendly and always willing to talk booze. The windows usually are painted up with some catchy seasonal advertising. The only thing that keeps this place from being a full 5-​stars is the lack of super specialty liquor. While they do have local distillers’ wares, they don’t have much in the way of niche Asian liquors that I am sometimes looking for.
Good stuff, decently close to home, and my new go-​to spot for a quality selection of spirits.

Everything here that you need to make a martini.
This includes sparkling clear Aalborg Aquavit, which just a dash of is needed. I used to be able to get Aalborg Acquavit in the Washington State liquor stores, but they dropped it, now just carrying some foul-​tasting whiskey-​colored aquavit from Norway. 1
11^th Avenue Liquor also carries Gammel Dansk, but don’t even consider buying that noxious green potion. Who the heck ever decided that concotion, made from 42 separate ingredients was good enough to market? Even if you are Danish, you will gag on it.
I wished 11^th Avenue Liquor left their humidor unlocked so I could just walk in there to take a hit of the sweet cigar aroma.

I know it’s odd to review a state-​run place — as though they had the means to change! — but I really like this place.
I’m a beers and wine gal. When I decided to branch out, I went for brandy, for no reason other than the store had a brandy stand in the mixers/​sweet stuff aisle. (I was going for the familiar at the time.)
Every time since, I’ve mentioned that I’m trying new brandies but want low cost (because I don’t have the funds to gamble that much, you know), and every clerk I’ve dealt with has taken that entirely in stride, and has recommended awesomeness. They have even recommended good deals I could be getting, such as when a particular line of brandy was going out so it was marked down by 60%.
One clerk asked me to let him know how I liked what he’d recommended, in fact, so that he could recommend things better in the future.
I approve of this place muchly, and do recommend it to others.