My Carmel friends have so many options for liquor stores. I feel like they are reviewing a new…read moreplace every week. Lucky ducks. But, alas, we live on the east side, so we are blessed with Elite Beverages.
I am thankful for Elite. Sitting here in my home without pulling up Google Maps, I can't think of another liquor store around me. The closest one I would visit would have to be Chilly's in Greenfield, but I don't want a 30 minute round trip and Elite is easy to hit on my way home. So, while I am not always impressed with Elite, I am thankful it is near by my place of residence.
The store has a decent selection. Not great. Not bad. It's just a smaller store. They pack a lot in (read: the aisles are tight), but sometimes I just can't find what I am looking for. The attendants are kind, but I wouldn't say overly helpful. I am sure they would help if I ask, though. They just do their thing behind the counter. My only real gripe is the store layout. The dedicated spirit aisles are nice (tequila, rum, vodka) and I actually didn't realize how large their whiskey and bourbon selection was, so that's a positive. No, my gripe is with the wine. It is spread out all over the place. Whites here, Indiana wines there. They have a nice wooden wine rack, but it is literally where people line up to pay, so you feel like you are in everyone's way or they are staring at you. It the wine was just on the other side of the room, I'd be tempted to bump this up to 4 stars.
I can't help but wonder: Is the liquor store supposed to be elite or their products? Like, "We are Elite. We offer beverages." Or, "We are a store. We sell elite beverages"? I am guessing the beverages. Maybe with 3 stars they should consider a name change.
I did learn something important today: listen to people who know what they are talking about. I normally don't think about wine pairings. I like dry red so that is what I drink. Steak: dry red. Chicken: dry red. Pasta: dry red. But someone gave me a piece of advice I decided to heed. For dinner, I had bagged caesar salad. I do love a good caesar salad! Is bagged salad good? Sometimes. It was easy and sounded good. Well, the advice was to have a nice, crisp fruity Riesling with a caesar salad. Would that do the trick? Would that elevate this bagged caesar to gourmet status? Well, dang it if it didn't work. The riesling made the salad sing to my taste buds. Every bite was brisk and refreshing. Listen to people who are in the know and may know more than you. Words to live by, in my book!