Cardinal Wine and Spirits

The only reason I go here is because it’s 2 blocks from my house. The employees here are absolutely rude. I have never been greeted with a hello or a thank you after my purchase. The customer service here is very bad here.

I use to love this place especially when I worked in the area. I still stop here as it’s a convent when I’m heading to the city from the suburbs.
When I first started to come here they didn’t really have that much competition except for Binny’s but even at the time Binny’s was out the way and usually the more expensive option. (Now I work two blocks from them :|)
I have notice certain unpopular bottles with dust on it but on the other hand I’ve tried a lot of stuff that was new to me because of this place.
Price wise I never really felt they were overpriced… I think Jewel’s, target, kind of places might have a deeper discount during the holiday, but on the flip side they don’t have the variety of options you get when coming here.

Craft beer: their stock tends to be old and stale. Even IPAs that you would want to drink fresh. Bought a six-​pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale here the other day that turned out to be skunky. They had some Dogzilla black IPA and Brickstone pale ale here a couple years ago. Saw the same bottles collecting dust on the shelf last year. On my next visit they were in a discount section. A manager tried to upsell me on a sour ale by telling me it was rare and he was going to double the price soon. Ok, whatever. Looked through their inventory the other day and saw some Dogzilla black IPA and Brickstone pale ale with clean bottle caps and necks but a grimy layer of dust lower on the bottle. Hmm.

Their products are way overpriced and they have a lot of folks from county that work behind the registers so be careful. And service at this place is about comparable to that of a state penitentiary. Some tatted female worker there will try to fight you.

Sometimes they have fun promotions and free samples. Kinda fun.
Otherwise, just a general liquor store. They have a good selection of wines which I am a fan of. This store is always stocked with everything I ever need. They do have a really interesting selection for some of the rums and whiskeys. Usually pretty crowded on a Friday & Saturday night. The workers are decently friendly, some friendlier than others… but you can’t expect too much from a liquor store anyway. :)

This place has a pretty gud selection overall as others hav said. The first time I came here I found exactly what I was looking for that other liquor stores dnt carry. The second time here I found a gud deal on a 12pk that I cudnt resist. I also picked up a 64oz growler that I surprisingly found there. I only decided to come here as I was passin by on my way home from work. Gud place for the area but if u prefer Binnys theres 1 not too far on North ave.

I really wish people would stop comparing this store to Binny’s.
Cardinal is one of the best liquor stores in the area. Why? I’m glad you asked! Cardinal has pretty much everything you would ask for, within reason of course. It’s a decent-​sized liquor store that is not as pricey as the high-​end liquor stores (won’t name ‘em), nor is it cheap like the low-​end stores. Think more «in the middle».
You can easily spend about 60 or 70 dollars here and walk out with enough liquor for a decent sized party. Deduct one star for their parking situation (small lot in the front of the store, not easily maneuverable if there are a lot of cars there), and I say you have a good liquor store!

It’s not a Binnys. Once you can get past that the place is easily mediocre. Decent beer and liquor selection. I cannot comment on the wine however. The place is a bit unorganized and it’s easily a buck or two more than other liquor stores. But the place makes for a good nearby «go to» spot for booze in a pinch and that’s really all I use this place for.

Cardinal is one of the best liquors stores in this area. They carry all the major brands and since the renovation have added additional fridges to accommodate their semi-​decent beer selection. Prices are a little high but they have sales. They also carry kegs, drinks/​juice, ice, some snacks, and the lottery.
They’re not Binnys but should have any standard drink you’re looking for.

I’ve waited a bit since they opened to write a review… hoping the store would improve. But no, they haven’t seemed to put much effort into this store. Their wine section is horribly unorganized with the old prices and wine descriptions up from the last owner’s wine selection. Seriously could not figure out how much anything was without asking someone and them looking it up in their computer. There are very few things a store needs to function– and one thing is price tags. Horrible lack of effort. Will be going to Famous Liquors on Madison from now on…