Martin Brothers Wines & Spirits
“Tyrone is the business owner, and he is always very helpful, nice and professional, he is very knowledgeable, and always give good advice.”
“I'll pay an extra dollar or two any day for the pleasure of shopping at Martin Bros.”
“Also a better than average choice of malbecs from Argentina, including my favorite wine (Catena).”
Martin Brothers Wines & Spirits
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range Moderate
6 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The booze-slingers at Martin Brothers are the friendliest people on the whole UWS. Need wine advice? Just ask, they're knowledgeable and happy to help. Plus even in the pre-Irene booze buy-a-thon they still had Absolut in stock; they were the only liquor store north of 96th that did (trust me, I looked.) R buys all her wine from these fine people, so I say give them a chance. I'll be back before the next hurricane or when the hooch runs out, whichever comes first.
Last night my internal dialogue went something like this:
"I have to be up in the morning for work."
"It's okay, we'll get one Pinot Grigio for those who like white and the Spanish Rioja for those who like red."
"I cannot drink very much of either because I have to be up at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow morning"
***fast forward 5 hours and one party later***
"Shit. I think I just violated my own rules…"
***fast forward another 6 hours and one night later***
"Thank (insert deity of choice here) for Dunkin Donuts coffee and filtered water!"
Other than the great time I had trying to get myself out of bed, showered, and to work this morning, I have nothing but good things to say about this place. First off, *huge* selection from dirt cheap to insanely expensive. Second, they have every type of wine you can think of with an impressive display of hard liquors behind the counter.
My only gripe(s) is that they do not have my favorite Spanish Rioja, so we were forced to find it at another store and the aisles are a little too narrow to maneuver around in there. There's also no organization to the different types of wine (random whites with reds and bubbly with everything else), so I was forced to go by label recognition in order to find the selection of Pinot Grigios in the store.
Still, this will be a store that I visit whenever the mood strikes. Even if I decide to violate my own damn rules the very minute we get to the party…
Wonderful costumer service! The gentleman who helped us was not only very well informed on his wines & spirits but he was so knowledgeable about many things.
I had friends staying over & we decided to grab food to make a nice home cooked meal. We wanted to grab a nice bottle of wine to go with our meal but there was no wine at the market, only beer. I looked up on yelp for the closest liquor store & lucky for us we were directed here.
Not only did he help us find a great wine to go with the food we just bought but he informed us about the liquor laws here in NY. Basically wine & spirits are sold together but beer is always sold solo. So most markets will carry beer but never wine which it's why we couldn't get a nice bottle of wine at the market. And now we know. :-)))
A great wine shop (though a little cramped inside) with a staff that knows the bottles, knows the stock, can advise you and tell you that you got a good bottle. Or not…
Prices are okay, average for NYC, but the selection is interesting and not what you'd find at other places.
This store feels like an old library converted into a liquor store.
It's on the smaller side, I'd say, but there are enough people working here who are willing to help you get a larger size of Baileys if that's what your heart desires.
I kind of wish that most of the liquor wasn't out of reach, because it would be easier to compare brands of, say, vodka. However, I'd say this is a great place to check out wines and get your everyday (but not "everyday") stock-up of hard alcohol.
I have to agree with some of the other Yelpers about Martin Brothers; While the store is nicely arranged and stocked, the staff definitely seemed cold and disinterested with the thought of helping me. There were about 6 people behind the counter when I visited – most seemed to be preoccupied with tasks (inventory, reconciling, etc). I don't usually ask for help when visiting liquor stores but in this case, I needed an actual person to help because I was looking for something specific that I knew Martin Brothers' kept only behind the counter.
After a few minutes of me awkwardly trying to get someone's attention, one of the staff members asked if I needed help to which I responded affirmatively. He quickly grabbed me the bottle I wanted, placed it on the counter, and went back to what he was doing. All I needed to do now was pay for it. Too bad no one seemed like they wanted to take my money. The original man who helped me noticed that I was again standing around awkwardly trying to get someone's attention when he decided to ask someone to ring me up. The guy he asked to ring me up gave me a cold look up and down (guess he liked my work outfit?) before letting out a loud sigh (Sheesh, I'm so sorry to be a bother) and finally ringing me up. And, ugh, he didn't thank me for the transaction! I thanked him! Having worked in customer service/retail for a while, you thank your customer for their business – especially if the customer thanks YOU for helping.