Talbert’s Ice & Beverage

Yeah, not going back to this place. As soon as I entered the store, a wave of negativity filled the air… no greeting from the manager or employees, no offer to assist as I wandered a very cluttered store with seemingly no sense of organization. Head elsewhere folks, as there are plenty of better options locally.

For people complaining about Tolbert’s parking lot and keno parlor, don’t they know character and appealing quirkiness when they see it? Not everything has to be pristine and designer modern. Plus those things cost MONEY and therefore can create some very unappealing compromises like lesser quality and cookie-​cutter products and robot-​like service. Keep Tolbert’s as it is, and long may it reign!

Dry Ice, ice, baby.
They sell dry ice. About $ 2.50/lb.
One of only two spots in the DMV you can get dry ice for all your science experiments, home entertaining, or broke-​down-​refrigerator needs.
Pro Tip: bring an insulated bag and/​or mini-​cooler. It will be sold to you in a plastic bag with no insulation.

The hours that this place is open = wow. Open early, open late. Wow. It’s in the suburbs, too. Wow. That’s awesome.
But… you know you’ve driven past this place and thought: it needs work on the parking lot and general aesthetics of the store.
The collection of various items for purchase beyond liquor and ice seems to be questionable in age. Other than ice, liquor and lottery tickets, I doubt I would ever purchase anything here. However, for the ice, liquor and lottery ticket customers, the hours are convenient.
It’s also nice to support a local business.

Over priced beer and wine. None to helpful or friendly staff. Yet in this area the only place that sells anything with alcohol after 9pm. I try to avoid if I can, I wanted a pack of cigarettes one night with my $ 16.00 12-​pack of beer and when my order was rung up, it was almost $ 27 dollars. a pack of smokes here is about $ 11, 3 seconds down the road at 7 – 11 they are $ 7 bucks… I could do without the New York pricing. they price gouge and do it HARD because they know they can not only sell beer cold, but can sell it late… my suggestion… buy early at westbard 5 minutes away and save yourself a ton of money… you will be happy and your wallet will be happy.

I really appreciate Talbert’s convenience, and the fact that they sell cold beer; however, this is one of the most depressing places ever. The store is littered with keno devotees, wasting away with every tick of the clock. All the bottles look like they’ve been sitting there for years, seeming almost as lonely as the people inside. In addition, the manager or owner seems to hate life, and especially the fact that he has to fulfill your transaction. I’ve tried everything to make him smile, or at least say goodbye, but no such luck. On top of everything, the prices of the wine are extremely high.
Despite Talbert’s many shortcomings, I can’t say I won’t be back though. I am always loyal to local businesses, and I can appreciate the fact that they have been serving the community for years. That being said, I would appreciate a little effort towards improvement. :/

Talberts provided ice for a huge event I was throwing. They were over an hour late for the delivery despite the fact that I had called to confirm a couple hours prior and was told that they would be there on time. In the meantime we had to buy more ice for the event elsewhere and were not able to get drinks cold in time for the event. We are a nonprofit and this event was to benefit another nonprofit, so the cost of the ice was really expensive for us to begin with and the additional ice ate into our fundraising.
When the driver finally arrived he was incredibly rude and blamed his manager (which IMO isn’t anything I need to know about) and told me to call her about a discount. When I called her she was even more rude than her driver and told me there was nothing they could do about it, they are «doing the best they can». Sorry, but the timing of ice delivery is kind of crucial. If you can’t provide the product I paid for then you should have smart enough customer service people to offer a partial refund. Guess money is more important than returning and happy customers or a quality product.

Talbert’s is the best! In a convenient location for all of bethesda and surrounding areas, they have a great selection of beverages and great hours. On weekends, they’re open till midnight. This has been my go to place for beer and wine over the years. They also provide delivery. It’s the best place unless you’re looking to travel farther. Out of all the beer and wine places around the area, (and I do mean my area which is south potomac which has no stores), they have one of the best selections of beer. No where around my neighborhood has my favorite type of beer, but this place does! Plus they open earlier and close later than most places, and the people that work there are very friendly! And there prices are cheaper than all other places.

Fantastic selection of wines– many already chilled and ready to go. The shelves are well organized so you don’t spend time searching or wondering about. Added bonus of a decent mini mart selection of snacks and whatnot. If you want atmosphere– go to a bar. If you want to buy wine and beer with nice people behind the register and pretty decent prices, this is your place.

Three days before my wedding, I realized that I had to provide the ice for the summer affair. The fortunate thing was realizing this before the wedding and not during the hot summer evening of the nuptials. The bad things was figuring out how to get 350 pounds of ice to the venue. I had already maxed out my friends for all other kinds of things and didn’t want to ask anyone to find 350 pounds of ice and haul it. After calling around many ice providers in Baltimore and Columbia, MD, I was almost out of luck (either they didn’t deliver, or they had a 500 or 1000 pound minimum).
Talbert’s saved the day. Not only did they answer the phone the three separate times I called, but they gave a fair price (even though the delivery charge was basically more than the price of the ice), were able to deliver the amount I needed, and… most importantly, arrived at the venue EXACTLY on time leaving me one less thing to worry about. AWESOME! I was able to pay with credit the day before, so there was no need to deal with cash at the moment of delivery.
I have no clue what this place looks like in person. I’m just happy they deliver ice at the last minute to a somewhat far-​away place.

If you’re looking for a place to play a couple games of Keno, buy a couple scratch-​off lottery tickets, and get a six pack, its your place. Since I enjoy all three of those, I am a fan, but can understand why some people would be turned off by it. The sign on River implies what the inside will be like.

This is a very narrow review but this info may be handy for someone.
I have never been to Talbert’s but I am a concierge at a downtown DC hotel. Talbert’s sells and delivers dry ice in 10 lbs increments at $ 1.60 a pound. They will deliver it into DC for $ 30.00. All of this may seem completely irrelevant unless someone has ever asked you how to freeze and ship breast milk. ;-)
So if you’re in DC and need to ship milk to hungry babies somewhere in the US, Talberts can at least get you the dry ice for a reasonable price.

On a Friday night, about 7.00pm, this place is about as depressing as the prospect of 4 more years of a Republican administration.
1) lines of sad people playing the keno /​lottery /​whatever
2) shockingly bad selection of beer
3) $ 9 for a six pack in a liquor store? are you kidding me?
looks great from the street, but it all ends with that.

I was drawn to this beverage store after being taunted by it’s 1950s-​looking huge sign out front. It appeared to be the kind of place that would satisfy all of my beverage needs in one pop.
One thing I miss about living in the suburbs (one of the only things) is those huge beverage distributors where you can buy crates of beer and soda for so cheap. I thought Talbert’s might offer the same type of satisfaction. True, they have many drink options here, but it wasn’t as great as I expected. It was also not discounted in any sort of way. So I guess I’m sticking with Giant.