Central Liquor and Food

In the five years since I wrote my first review of this place, they’ve really turned it around!
This liquor store is in a horrible location that I’m surprised hasn’t been bulldozed over yet for new housing. If you blink while passing this … what do you call it? Shopping area? Strip mall? Waste of space? Anyway, if you blink while passing through this Bermuda Triangle area of Central Avenue in Newark, you’d miss this place for sure. You’d really only come to this liquor store if you live around here, bottom line.
Anyway, my last review ridiculed the horrible lack of beer selection. WOW have they turned things around! The craft brew revolution has officially spread to every corner liquor store in the Bay Area. My last couple of visits, I’ve picked up Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA and Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA. They have a great selection of craft brews and still have the regular American macro lagers if you’re not a beer guy.
Kudos to the new owners. Same old store, but the refrigerators are deeply stocked with tasty brews.

Love this place… been here millions of times… since I was a kid. I was sad tonight though because on here it says they are open till midnight… but they are not! Damn Unilocal

What a pleasant surprise. NEW OWNERS. The man before was a mean owner. Would never smile or even welcome you to his store. I stopped going there. These new owners will bring people back to the store. Welcome new neighbors.

This place is close to my office, They have snacks, sodas, alcohol and TONS of scratchers.
The Vietnamese couple that owns this place is nice. Unlike some other Mom n Pop places, they do not follow you around to make sure you aren’t stealing something or yelling at you, «you break you buy»
I think its funny they have some screen shots of some of the thieves that have stolen things from them at the cash register. LOL
I come here when my finger itches and I have the need to waste some money on scratchers and to get my occasional mega millions ticket.
This would be a 4 star place to me because its so convenient and they have tons of munchies, but some of the items are old dirty and dusty, so that’s kinda gross.

The great thing about this liquor store is that they used to sell alcohol to minors. Back in high school, my friends and I would come by and show our IDs and the people would just nod their heads and sell us our beer/​liquor. I don’t know if it’s the same owner anymore, but it’s pretty hilarious now that I think back on it.
It’s a pretty bad location though. And yes, it got robbed a lot for some reason. I don’t even know if they cared after awhile because it happened so much…
Hmmm. That’s all I have to say I guess.
3 stars? Haha.

I used to work nearby and the owners would tell me that they would get robbed quite frequently. The owners weren’t especially nice, but weren’t mean or anything. They were constantly getting robbed – they got robbed three times in the five months I knew them. This place was in a horrible, seedy area but always made me feel better about walking to my car alone because they were open until 11 pm, whereas I left right at 5:55. One particular incident I didn’t like was that they gauged customers who didn’t know any better. There was a very nice and slighty crazy woman named Pam who wanders around the parking lot. She once showed me a tiny cheap looking reindeer she bought in June that they sold to her for $ 20. Another time, she bought a box of tissues for $ 7. I don’t think they are very fair.
Final Verdict: No rhyme here. I’m just glad I left this area before police dogs found me in a ditch somewhere in Nevada.