Hyde Park U-Save Liquors

Very few parking spots, tightly cramped together. Odds are small that there’s a free space. If you can find a spot, good luck getting your door open.
Panhandlers camped out just outside the door throughout the day. The shopkeepers seem to tolerate them.
The patrons are mostly of a crusty, grimy sort. (Notice that the cashiers always wear gloves!)

This place is a lot larger than it appears from the outside. Liquor, convenience and groceries. Since there’s not much out here, the prices are high, guess they can get away with it, supply and demand after all. The patrons are unusually sketchy even on a Sunday afternoon and it’s not even a very bad neighborhood. I’ve been to way worse neighborhoods in Oakland where the patrons seemed way less shady. Interesting little spot

Hyde Park Liquors is sort of a cross between a corner store and a neighborhood grocery. You won’t find fresh meats or produce, but it’s got a decent variety of convenience store items that can maybe tide you over if you live in the neighborhood but don’t want to make a trip to Safeway. (Though you do have Truong Hung Supermarket at 4^th and Younger or Nijiya Market at 240 Jackson…) I imagine much of their business is from folks staying in the neighborhood’s many, many hotels.
The store has lots of lower-​end wines, but considering how they’re stored (room temperature, upright), I can’t see that they have much of a chance. Maybe they sell enough so the stock is rotated quickly, but somehow I doubt it.
There’s a check cashing service I’ve never used, so I don’t know about rates or anything, but it’s there.
Prices are okay. One thing that bugs me, though: if you use your debit card as a debit, they’ll charge an extra dollar without warning. Very uncool.
Some parking. (Be careful backing out onto 1^st Street!) Very close to the Gish light rail station.