Maura C.
Yelp
I have had nothing but awful experiences here, and believe me, I do love to get drunk.
It all started 6 years ago, when I would shop here for wine and bring in my kid (who was 2 at the time) and I got carded. Sure, I'd gotten pregnant when I was 14, sure whatever. He wouldn't sell to me without my ID. So I went out into the car, got my husband (who is 3 weeks older than me) to buy what I had already left on the counter.
He didn't card my husband, though he wasn't hauling a toddler. Maybe this person (the owner) feels that mothers shouldn't drink or maybe his mother was a closet drunk or something. Truth be told, I don't care. I don't look particularly young for my age.
Secondly, they HATE accepting bottles and cans back, as they are required to. They look at you like a total piece of trash when you come back with a bag of empty cans and only begrudgingly return your deposit. Plus, when you go into the store struggling to carry bottles to return and your kid, they HATE you. HATE you. They look at you derisively as you struggle to kick the bag of bottles through the door that you hold open with one hand while dealing with aforementioned kid in the other one. They LOOK at you and don't help. Other customers will help you, but not the employees.
I had avoided the store until yesterday. I went in there with my husband and my seven year old, a very sweet boy who they snapped at for looking at the wines on the floor. He was reading the LABELS, he thought some of the names were funny (names of wines are often funny, you must admit, such as one with a cat on the front, "haha, mom, this wine is for CATS! he said)". He wasn't going to kick them over and make a big alcoholic mess. You don't yell at other people's kids and expect parents to spend money (ok, I know a lot of kids in Somerville are terrible, but come on, our kid is a private school violin-virtuoso snob. He needs to start learning now which pinot noir to order if he's going to fit in. Really.).
The owner will not look at my face when I am with my husband. He does "wheelings and dealings" with him, as I do not regularly buy any wine other than from Trader Joe's. He kept trying to make these under the table offers for wines that were allegedly better but still more expensive, and we had to order it by the case. I told the dude I had a price point, and that I wouldn't exceed it. But he wouldn't look at me, only my husband. As though HE drinks the wine at home or makes financial decisions alone! Jeeesh. Maybe the owner hated my new headband/dorag look. Whatever.
So, after the owner dampened my appetite for a nice bottle of wine, which I might add, is INCREDIBLY hard to do, we bought a case of beer. We produced a coupon (from a Somerville "buy local" premotion booklet) that entitled us to 15% off any item in the store. The owner said that this really was only for wine, even though the coupon said it was for any purchase. He refused to honor the coupon, saying, "you won't find a better price anywhere for that beer. I am losing money selling you that beer." God. Get a grip.
Anyway. I hate this store. I love other places, however, such as Kappy's or anywhere that won't make me feel like a loser or a bad teenage mother.