The aisles are thick with people, elbow-to-elbow, all walks of life. Thousands of bottles line the shelves, green, yellow, red, brown and clear. Lawyers wearing bespoke three-piece suits and clutching hundred-dollar bottles of aged scotch stand in line behind day-laborers who are still in their Carhartt coveralls buying the nicest pint of hooch they can afford. Mesta Park moms push shopping carts full of boxed wine and flavored vodka, lolling about the aisles and waiting for an impulse purchase to strike their fancy. Stockboys fill the shelves with cases of beer as quickly as they can while the overhead PA system rambles, paging in a robotic voice: "Wine department has a call on LINE ONE."
Shopping at Byron's Liquor Warehouse on 23rd street the night before a major holiday can be an anxiety nightmare, or an exciting outing with the best people-watching to be had this side of a trip to the Great State Fair. They have a huge selection and some cheap prices. It's not the best liquor store in town by any means, but the entertainment value makes up for their shortcomings.