It’s been a while since I’ve done an installment in the Beer Run series, where I rate corner stores for their selection, ambiance, cleanliness and such.
The other day I was walking up 14th Street north of the Red Derby and spotted the 14th Mini-Market. And I must say I was pleasantly surprised.
For one, it seemed like they had a nicer selection than most mini markets — aside from the usual corner store staples, they also had things like Annie’s Organic microwave dinners, plus a big beer and wine section.
And their beer selection was surprisingly good too, both in variety and prices — you know if it’s a good sign when there’s a Hoegaarden sign in the window. Almost every fancier beer, like Sierra Nevada, Fat Tire and the like, was $9.99, while other corner stores they’re more like $10 or $11 (or more.) So maybe it’s not D’Vines, but definitely more and cheaper than most corner stores (aside from the 13th Street Market, my favorite one.) They also had good and a bit more rare stuff like Sierra Nevada Torpedo and a few others.
I didn’t check the wine prices, but there was a pretty big area for that too. And randomly, they had a ton of winning lottery tickets from this month — so maybe the place is lucky.
If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth a stop, and seems to be better than the other stores within a few blocks.
So the ratings:
Selection: 4 of 5, a wide range of cheap to good
Price: 5 of 5, the consistently cheapest I’ve seen
Ambiance: 4 of 5, bright and cheery.
That makes for a 13/15, or the highest score yet on my fairly subjective ratings!
