Art's Specialties

I have lived right up the street from here for a few years now and come in often. Art and Drew are so sweet and knowledgeable, and always greet me and ask how my day is going when I pop in for fancy ingredients or treats. Drew once gave me some lifesaving advice about how to make a last minute bread pudding with fresh bread instead of stale! Cannot recommend enough, great place with high quality goods, sensible prices, and awesome staff. Also the half-off table is a treasure trove.

I love this shop because of SuperB customer service. They have wide variety of wines, cognacs and other stuff! Thanks.

Oh my gosh! This is the best shop ever and the owner is so sweet. They have so much more than I thought and I can’t wait to keep shopping here! Super respectful, kind, considerate and amazing service all around.

I LOVE their high quality, delicious oils & vinegars and come here regularly! They also have some great cheeses and other delicious items. The staff is super friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and go beyond basic customer service!

Great place for authentic wines, chocolates, teas, oils and more. Love that they have reusable bottles for oils.

Been going for a year since last 12/18 but seems like longer been going for, great owner Art , great employee Drew, Great products. Oyster crackers, vegan cookies, iggys sourdough bread,

Art already had a great spread of imports and specialties, but I think he now has the best selection of nonalcoholic spirits and aperitifs in the area, too!

What a great shop, especially now during the holiday season. Wines, teas, cheese, olive oils, a frozen foods section with various dumplings and pies. Art himself is helpful with advice if you ask and is also very friendly. Great place to get treats for yourself or on your way to a party!

nice surprise, not a typical corner shop. the food options are better quality than I expected. plenty of options for food, oil, wine.. nicely organized and clean location. good pricing, friendly staff

Thank you, Yelpers. What a wonderful store! Great selection of everything: wine, cheese, bottle-yourself oils and vinegars and WAY more!

*THE BEST* belmont doesn't really have many "specialty shops" and if they do it's none like this one- well I know that they do and it still is nothing like this one! They carry everything that I need for a sophisticated dinner/cocktail hour/special occasion- all while being classy but trendy. I come Here about once or twice a week and it's well worth it. The owner knows what he is doing in terms of his "choices of foods" and you can tell. Also the employees are the actual best- the nicest people you'll meet- sometimes I come in just to say hi to them!

So I saw this place every day for as long as I've been living in Belmont. The first time I went in there was a Sunday. I was in awe in the amount of wine they have. Not just amount, the variety. That night, I met the owner a gentleman. So nice, friendly, helped me select some things. So I decided that once a week, I would go get something new to try. That was 6 weeks ago, and I continue to go once a week. I get 2 bottles at a time. So far, I've met the other owner a very, very nice young woman. She talked me up and was so pleasant. Then I met Drew; he knew so much about all the wine. He definitely inspired my weekly buying. Even giving me two great recommendations the night I went in, and he was working. There is more than just wine. They have a great selection of beer; they have cheeses. And other items. The staff there is amazing, the place is so nicely put together, organized so neatly.

Art's Specialties is my favorite local store! Great service and everyone is very friendly.

The best small food grocery store! Carries fresh eggs and milk from local sources. A decent selection of cheeses, an incredible selection of jams and nuts, and flavored olive oil bar. Frozen food section contains a variety of primarily Italian-American products as well. Carries Iggy's baguettes; always well-priced and fresh. Owner and staff always friendly. Go Art's!

Art runs a fantastic little shop in Belmont with a finely curated selection of foods. I have visited many times and gotten good recommendations on wine and other things. I really enjoy his collection of infused balsamic vinegars (the most recent one I bought was mango-some of the savory flavors are nice too) and infused olive oils. The flavors range from sweet to robust savory and I like almost all of them. Not to mention the nice collection of looseleaf tea (I had a nice toasted almond tea recently) and chocolates. He also has a great selection of crackers, snacks, dried fruits, nuts etc. anything you want to snack on. What's nice also is that if you are hosting a party or an event, you can find all kinds of classy appetizers and snacks to use. I also hosted and event here - a wine tasting and it went fabulously. Art recommended a wholesaler who is very knowledgeable about wines in France and we had a very nice time with my guests. Furthermore, Art helped me package a nice gift idea for all the guests that just went over so well. I would highly recommend going here if you feel like having a snack and have no idea what you want and would like a recommendation. Or if you're looking for a decent one or now a selection of high-end beers. Don't forget to sample the infused vinegars and olive oils!

Art's was always amazing and has gotten even better during the pandemic. Wonderful selections of beer, wine, cheese, frozen food, and snacks... and fresh milk too! Staff are always friendly and helpful, loading boxes into my car and keeping things touch-less. The owner not only remembers my previous orders such as the artichoke hearts, chips, and wines that he flawlessly picks out for me, he also recognizes my voice when I order over the phone.

Always impressed with their beer and wine selection as well as their kind demeanor when you visit.

OMG what a phenomenal store! Pour yourself a bottle of any of 23 different, elegantly flavored olive oils from glass decanters and 24 different flavored vinegars. If you were a fan of Savenors and J. Bildner's in days gone by, you'll love this place with everything from local to internationally sourced standard and unusual food stuffs. Packaged in Frozen items from the US and around the world. More than 30 glass canisters of loose leaf teas. Very good selection of cheeses from the standard variety in a decent cheese selection to some more elite offerings. Yes, the elite things are pricier but the more standard things are priced more standardly. It's one of those rare places where when I find myself paying a premium it's because I'm buying something that's truly something premium for me. And it's a wine store! A varied selection of domestic in international beers and wines. The man at the register told me that Art, the owner, is a Watertown resident with stores in Sherborn and Maynard. There's some possibility he may bring in a coffee roaster. Despite the small sign over the entrance this is a good size store, at least three store fronts or more wide. This is not just another store and I hope word of mouth brings it enough business that we see it prosper and be something Belmont is known for.

I have been using this store a lot, the location is very convenient and there is always parking available on the street; I like that they have unusual stuff and great gift ideas; they made packaged many gifts for me: The store is huge and the addition of beer and wine makes it even better. No long lines to worry about during covid. Highly recommend it

Wandered in yesterday after getting my eyebrows done across the street and I'm so glad I did! I was greeted by the owner, Gerry, who is as friendly as can be. He's very knowledgeable about all his products and you can tell he has a passion for food. He also chefs up all types of goodies in the back. I picked up some hummus, spinach & artichoke dip and gazpacho. All of which were flavorful and delicious. They have quite the selection of random things. New York pickles in a barrel, artisan cheeses, an entire wall of bbq sauces, all kinds of snacks. Although it's a great store I'm not sure if it fits into the location. I used to live around the corner and it's not really the best part of Belmont. I don't think many people in the area are looking for specialty items. I hope they retain business.

I love Art's. The best hot sauce selection in the area. The vinegars and oils are eye-opening. The beer is fresh. A highly-curated variety of specialty foods. The staff is friendly and willing to help out. I once mentioned a specific hot sauce. Art told me to come back in a couple weeks. Lo and behold, there it was! The prices are very reasonable given the location and the fact that it's a specialty store. The store is a gem that keeps me coming back.

Best specialty store around. Yummy ice cream..chocolates..doms marinated meats ..great beer selection..the owners have the best customer service. A whole wall of hot sauces..the list goes on and on. Shop there and you'll have no regrets...oh and their cheese selection is NICE!!

What a great store! I usually do not park on this side of the street. On this lovely cool but sunny December afternoon, we did and my daughter wanted to see what was up. I am hosting our Christmas Eve party this year so I wanted a cheese platter and lo and behold, they had a pretty decent cheese selection and the prices were competitive for the area - Saved me a trip to my usual place so that was a plus as well. I got a manchego, an aged cheddar, quince paste and aged salami. They had fresh bread as well but the party was in two days so decided against it. They had a nice wine selection but I was not in the mood to browse and check out brands and prices. They had a wall of hot sauces that I have not seen in this area at all and I got my husband a stocking stuffer. They also have designer vinegars and olive oils and gift sets with the combo of both. All in all, a nice place to stop in and get diverted.

This is a neat little store. I don't throw fancy wine and cheese parties ever but this place makes me want to. Lots of cheeses and oils and vinegars and charcuterie stuff and a really nice looking selection of beer and wine- plus if you wanted eggs and milk you'd be set up. And amid the fancy beer they had Miller Lite in case you didn't want to go too fancy. The guy behind the counter was very helpful- we bought some fancy lemon oil and when we said it was a little too strong he helped us pick a companion oil to help us cut the flavor a bit. Thought that was a nice touch. Things seemed reasonably priced, but I didn't delve into the fancy chocolates or the sauces so I may be in for a rude surprise someday- then again, hipster chocolate is always overpriced.

What a joy to have this business so close by. I don't mind spending some extra cash every once in a while when I know that it is going to a great local business like this one. Great selection, great sales, fantastic employees.

I was looking for a local wine store with upscale taste and reasonable prices. Art was very helpful in helping me find a couple of bottles of wine for the first get together after a Covid vaccinate. Parking is super easy, right in front of the store. Give it a try!

I am a foodie. I am also a student. This means I am a cheap foodie, with foodie tendencies that tend to be expressed over the BBQ or the gas range instead of a white tablecloth downtown. And Art's Specialties just made that way easier. Let me sing you the song of praise of my people: 1) They have homemade pickles. Real pickles: super sour, half sour, garlic/dill, and two types of spicy pickle. So yeah, the days of half-sour homemade pickles being a treat whenever I pass by Rein's Deli in Connecticut are OVER. Now, they're a treat if I'm feeling fancy when I go get a coffee. And they're like $2-3/lb, which means 3 lbs. for the price of 1lb. from Whole Foods. 2) They have the requisite wall of salami/preserved meats, wall of cheese and butter, wall of BBQ sauce, and wall of chocolate and crackers. I'm pretty sure there's a law somewhere saying specialty food shops must have these things in case of emergency business meetings where the goal is to overwhelm the opposition's daily sodium intake. However... they also have a wall of tea (real tea, fancy tea, tea-like substances), a wall of dried fruit/nuts, and a wall of spices. Like, the useful stuff. Like, when you're trying to make "hibachi-ish zucchini sticks" and you realized you never bought sesame seeds because they're $10 at the local market. I'm a bit skeptical of the $10 big vials of saffron, but everything else looks pretty good. 3) They have a wall of oils and vinegars, mostly infused olive oils and flavored balsamic vinegars, but there are some other nut oils as well. The price is good on these, so summer salads, here I come!

About the most wonderful, fragrant teas I have ever gotten bulk. Good selection of hot sauce but I could always hope for more. Glad to have wine on the block. Helpful, friendly people and open just late enough for people like me to sometimes make it in on a weeknight. A little pricey for what it is, but overall a nice place to be. Glad they opened, too, perfect location.

Found this place by accident while doing some holiday shopping and was so pleasantly surprised. I've come to expect cute little boutique shops like this to have quality offerings and good service. What really surprised me, though, were the prices. An entire wall of gourmet oils and vinegars ran about $7/ bottle. I walked out with a handful of items and was really surprised by how reasonable the bill was. This means that I can come here to shop for myself, and not save the luxury items for gifts. Can't wait to return! Some of my favorite items: - fresh pickles out of big barrels - some kind of chai/date/grain bar that tasted delicious and healthy - quality vinegars and oils, with samples

This is a very nice store with a range of unusual and high quality artisanal cuisine, condiments (esp. very hot sauces!) and interesting wines that you will not find readily elsewhere, if at all. Prices are good, and the proprietor, Art, is very nice and very knowledgeable. A fun place to shop.

This place is a gallery of curated selection of life's necessities: wine and beer ! (also food items which I look forward to discover more at the next visit). You would think that the owner have travelled the world and brought back all the best-rated drinks from the places s/he has visited. I saw beers from San Fran. and Germany and Japan which I wanted to bring back but couldn't. I also found the local beer I was looking for. What an exceptional place!

This store is a great addition to Belmont. The owner is super friendly and knowledgeable. They carry a lot of micro products (jelly, hot sauce, vinegar, tea, beer, wine, olives) as well as staples like locally sourced meat and eggs. If you need to put a quick dinner together or grab a gift when visiting friends or family this is the stop to make first.

This wonderful place opened recently on Trapelo Road in Belmont, and it's a pleasant surprise for anyone who appreciates the highest quality olive oils (30+ flavors), vinegar, cheeses and much more -- or who know someone who does. My most recent purchase was a birthday gift and a big hit. Going back tomorrow to buy something for myself!

I love this place. I just moved to Belmont and didn't get the memo on how many of the corner stores don't carry beer. Art's is a lifesaver for that - but also for spur-of-the-moment wine and tapas dinners at home; last minute host gifts of artisan olive oil and vinegar for house parties; gifts of chocolate for dog walkers; and indulgences for us! Make sure to stop next door at Jayne's to grab a bouquet for yourself or whomever is benefiting from your trip to Art's!

Lovely shop in Belmont! They have a variety of delicious olive oils that you can taste test! I ended up buying the Chilean Arbequin and Chipotle, which was bottled right in front of me and were well priced (went in for one and ended up buying two!) They also have a variety of other delicious snacks and vinegars- the perfect place to pick up gifts for your foodie friends or to pick something up for a party! And you get to support a local business :)

Great selection of cheeses, teas and spices. Staff are very friendly and helpful.

great addition to the area. they have a great selection of loose leaf teas, nuts, olive oils & hot sauces. Art & Gerry are both very friendly and have a good handle on their inventory. Am especially happy to hear they have just been given a wine & beer license and will begin stocking/selling those items soon. Great for one-stop shopping when entertaining!