Friar Tuck Beverage

I get ice here on Thursdays.
It’s cold.

Oh Friar Tuck. I have traveled far and wide and ventured many a liquor/​beer store and have yet to find anyone as large and as magical as you.
First off: Parking is out the whazoo. You’re definitely going to have room because this parking lot was made for (and is shared with) Schnucks, a large supermarket.
Secondly: The interior of the store is clean, it’s well organized, it’s wide and airy but also doesn’t look like a bunch of beer/​liquor stacked in a warehouse. Whoever did the design for Friar Tuck gets a big thumbs up for me. I love that there’s plenty of little notes for various different beverages. It really helps me, a new beer and wine drinker to have these little placards guide my way. I have one con though, and that’s that within each section of beer/​wine/​liquor, I’m not sure how the sorting for brands works. That makes it harder to find the specific brand I want, but does make it quite fun to go adventuring.
Third: the selection available at Friar Tuck is mind-​boggling. I enter this store and every time I leave I have a new list of beers/​wines I wish I could have tried. If only I drank more hahaha and wasn’t afraid of killing my liver. They have national industrial breweries to the smallest little micro-​brewery batches available. Heck, they even have Coney Island and Small Town Brewing Company’s hard root beers! That’s a big plus!
Fourth: The service here is pretty great. Sometimes you have to look for someone to come help you out, but they’re always around and easy to spot. Other times, they’re super friendly and come to you to make sure everything is doing alright! So I have no complaints about the people working here at all. From floor staff to the cashiers, everyone is good for a smile.

Love this place! Try a new beer every week! Would definitely recommend to everyone. I prefer the create your own 6 pack to choose 6 beers I’ve never tried. Definately comes in handy when you find a new favorite micro brew. The little lady loves the wine selection.

We come here pretty regularly since it’s the only place in town that carries homebrew supplies. They’ve been better about ordering but sometimes they’re completely out of everything. Since this is the only place in town that carries homebrew supplies, it means that their stock gets bought out quickly and they don’t have time to put together another order in time. For awhile, we stopped putting together recipes before we went and just brewed based on what ingredients they had in stock. They have this terrible hand crank grinder for grains which is pretty annoying to use. Assistance from the staff is pretty hit or miss. Some staff is super friendly and knowledgeable while others can be rude or completely incompetent. There’s no bike rack outside so that’s a pretty major frustration. Not only that, but it seems like the staff have no sympathy for cyclists. I had an employee yell at me for bringing my bike inside when I only needed to grab a single vial of yeast in the front of the store. Because of these reasons, I’ve had better luck ordering my homebrew supplies online or stopping in homebrew shops in bigger cities anytime we can.

Better than a brewery tour!
We stopped in to get some Midwest beers to take back to our Vermont friends. I asked the guy at the counter (can’t remember his name, but he wore glasses and had a ponytail) for help and he immediately took us to the beer aisle. He asked us a few questions and then proceeded to tell us about each every Midwest brewed beer in the store! it was amazing! I didn’t want to leave. I think we bought about 16 six-​packs and wanted to buy more (but we didn’t have any more room in the car!). This guy was amazing. If I lived near savoy, I would by all my beer from Friar Tuck beverage. This was customer service — and top-​of-​the-​line beer selection at its best!!!
Can’t wait to go back!

Good selection of beers from the world and microbreweries. They are pricey so get the good stuff here and the cheap beer at other places. I also liked their snacks which include pub snacks and cheese again from around the world.

The only place to go if you want quality items. This is not the store for drinkers of «light beer» and other such generic items. They have a wonderful assortment of products from all over the world. The staff is generally very knowledgeable of the products.
If you’re in Central Illinois, then go no where else!

I really like Friar Tuck, though I’ve been going to Binny’s more and more recently (partially because it’s closer and a bit cheaper). The price differences between FT and Binny’s aren’t super large, and FT has the added benefit of stocking a lot of less common whiskeys and bourbons, which they sell at pretty good prices. If I was stocking up for essential bar items (Svedka, Bombay, Captain Morgan, Evan Williams Green, big brand types) I’d probably go to Binny’s or Meijer. But I like to make a bi-​monthly trip to Friar Tuck whenever possible.

Just stopped in to buy a couple of bottles of wine and found one that looked interesting. The bin it came in listed one price, but the «featured wine» tag had a different, higher price. I made sure the bottle came from the right bin, then took it to the register.
The cashier scanned it and said it rang up at the higher price, but said he would have his manager check it. Said manager came from the back room, did the exact same scan and said it came in at the higher price. Okay, well thanks for the insight.
I said it seemed unusual that the promotional tag had a higher price than the regular, everyday price, and the manager said «it came in at the higher price.»
So I told the two of them that I didn’t want that bottle, but would just buy the others that I had. I couldn’t help adding that it seemed like a strange way to treat customers – «we’re going to give you the higher price» even though the everyday price was less expensive. The manager just shrugged and walked away.
To his credit, the cashier apologized twice on my way out and said «Sorry man, but it’s not my call; he’s the manager.» I acknowledged him and said thanks, no problem, but I’m reminded that this kind of service is the rule rather than the exception at Friar Tuck. If it wasn’t convenient to my house, I would never go there. Binny’s Beverage Depot is far superior in terms of selection, price, and without question, service.

Lots of goodies to chose from. Pretty much anything you can find in the area will be here. All the beer is arranged hap-​hazardous along the left wall. Quality has been an issue here on some things. Gushers and old bottles seem to be prevalent.
I have several complaints though. The service is really nonexistent. It is almost impossible to find somebody to help you find anything. Which if you are looking for something specific you will need. The staff that is there does not seem to have any real knowledge either. Some of the specialty items are a bit to pricey. $ 16 for Ola Dubh? I have found that for almost half that price at other stores. The regular micro six packs are fairly priced though. Something else I don’t like; it seems they just pick out as much stuff from the distributors as they can with no real knowledge of the product. Overall, with the new Binny’s that just opened up I am not going to be visiting here that often anymore.

I’ve always loved Friar Tucks. This place has a huge selection and great prices. One of the few places to get Nivasco (sweet red wine) for less than $ 10. Wine tasting over the weekend and cigars in the front.

Wish there was one of these in Chicago. Great selection of beers, they even had a more obscure variety that I had hoped to try. Very friendly staff, helped me put together a few sampler packs for gifts.

If you’re looking for variety, Friar Tuck is the place to go. For many things, this is the only place around to stock it. I’m most familiar with their rum selection, and it really is quite impressive. Sure, they have Captain and Bacardi, etc, but you can find that anywhere, and I’d actually recommend you do. But where else are you going to find a good demerara rum? There’s many other rums which you just aren’t going to find anywhere else, and I’m sure the same is true for other liquors as well.
Prices are hit and miss. I’ll be honest, for most of the basic things I pick up, I’ll go to Meijer or Sam’s Club, because you really can’t beat their prices. However, prices are actually pretty good for the less common liquors. The aforementioned demerara rum is priced similarly to what I could find in the Chicago suburbs. For peppermint schnapps, crème de cacao, etc, prices tend to be within a dollar or so of what you’d get anywhere else.
Also, I have no complaints with the employees. A cream-​based liquor I bought was rather chunky when I opened it, and I was able to exchange it without any problems.
Overall, I’m a fan of Friar Tuck. The prices aren’t always the best, but the selection definitely is!

The best place to buy liquor, wine and beer in the Champaign-​Urbana area. I especially like the wide selection of craft beers and the option to make your own 6 pack.
Come here if you can. You won’t be disappointed.

The Friar is the place to go if its booze and you can’t find it or get it anywhere else. The best beer, scotch, and tequila selection around as well as wine. The pick your 6 pack its a good way to try some new stuff, a little pricey, so pick the higher priced beers. The hard stuff you really can’t beat them. The wine a lot more to pick from but not a lot cheaper then your other options. They do have some really good deals on beer if you watch for them. But not kegs holy crap, I have a tap at home and have had for 18 years. You go to any other liquor store and beat the Friar. My pick is B Spirits on Main st. in Urbana they keep kegs in stock. Let the UofI kids go to the Friar for there kegs, you go some where else.
The friar has a problem it’s Binny’s all the stuff the friar has but cheaper and no drive to Savoy. So a star or two must come down.

Definitely the best beverage store I’ve been too!
Huge selection of all sorts of beverages. They’ve got just about every varietal of wine, liquor, and beer.
I really enjoy shopping for wine here since they put the Wine Enthusiast/​Wine & Spirits ratings (along with Vintage, which so many stores neglect) up for a lot of their wines. They have sections for wines based on style/​grape, country/​region, local wines, and highly ranked wines. I love the highly ranked section since it helps me find good wines on the cheap.
Beer selection is pretty nice. They have a make your own six-​pack for $ 9.99, which is a little higher than most other places, but they also have about three times more selection.
Besides alcohol, they have cigars, fancy sodas, homebrew supplies, cheese, and drinking ‘accessories’.
The only downside is their prices are a little high (seems they’re always $ 1-​$ 3 higher than the grocery store).
But, they’re a lot more organized, have a larger selection, and more knowledgeable, so I guess I don’t mind paying that premium.

I lurve this place. It does mad volume, so whenever I grab an obscure brew and check the expiration, it passes the bar. They have the best selection in Chambana for booze, and their prices are generally reasonable, with occasional great deals. Last time I went, they had draft kegs (which hold about 20 12 oz beers) of Bell’s Oberon for $ 12.99. I know. I had to change my shorts afterward, too.
Is it bad that I think of this as a Toys ‘R Us for grown-​ups? Something about this place brings out the ADHD in me and my friends. Whenever we go, we buy 3x as much as we ‘need’, take 10x as much time to do so, and horseplay often erupts in the parking lot.

Oh, Friar Tucks. You’re as good as a liquor store can possibly get…
A grown folks liquor store, with more the feel of a Whole Foods Market than any other store I’ve ever been in to purchase alcohol.
I love that you have the variety of excellent cheeses and cured meats. Munchies and drunkies in one handy spot.
Your beer/​wine/​liquor selection is without compare, even for a city much larger than C/​U.
Homebrew equipment and supplies! A humidor of delicious cigars at different price points and qualities!
Laphroig scotch, esoteric intoxicating brews from all over the world, great selection and prices on wine, the wall of choose-​your-​own mixed beer 6-​packs (the sampler!), everything about you is super dreamy.
What’s that? Sampler Saturdays? Free sample sips of many different items just for showing up at the right time? I am so damn there.
They have real absinthe. The wormwood steeped kind that has just been made legal in the States.
There is no other liquor store in my heart, Friar Tuck, just you I think of with longing when the cabinet needs stocked.

Well-​stocked, friendly employees, adn extensive. It’s basically the Bev-​Mo of central Illinois.
AND IT HAS AMARULA! Yes, Amarula, my favourite South African beverage EVER.
Thank you, Friar Tuck, for making life fantastic. :)

This place is really great. It’s like a nice big clean place to buy all sorts of alcohol. It has a large wine selection. and a large selection of hard liquors too. My favorite would be the black vodka called Blavod. It also sells this really cool German honey liquor. You can’t find it anywhere else in town. I believe it also sells hops, cigars, etc.
They also have small bottles if you wanted to try a liquor. and you didn’t want to buy a whole bottle. They also have wine tastings. but it comes with a price.
The place is definetely worthwhile to visit.