LCBO

Good wine selection, and the standards in everything else. It’s a small, small store, with lineups out the door during the busy rushes like Christmas and New Years. When it gets this busy, it snakes around the circumference of the store, so you may have to ask someone to move from their line position in order to get what you want.
If you have a hankering for something specific, I would check out LCBO’s site before you go, so you can double check that this tiny store has what you’re looking for before you go. I’ve found their online inventory system to be very accurate (as opposed to Canadian Tire and Home Depot). Don’t forget your Air Miles card!
I’d only go to this store if I really needed to.

Tinnny LCBO — they probably get 90% of their business from the fact that they’re in the PATH in a convenient location for businesspeople on their way home. As a result, you can tell immediately that the majority of their stock is wine — they have a pretty good selection of wine and pretty knowledgeable staff.
They ‘re a pretty nice LCBO — no sketchy hobos loitering by the exit here. They have a very limited selection of liquors and almost no beers.

hot staff

This is my local on the way home from work. If I’m on the way to a friend’s for dinner mid-​week, I usually pop in here for a hostess/​something-​in-​hand gift. However a few months ago I swung by at ten to six to get something and the doors were LOCKED! I opted for this location because the one nearest my friend’s place had closed and moved further up Yonge St. I didn’t want to walk far with heavy stuff in my hand as I had recently had wrist surgery and was still wearing a brace.
Someone inside saw me yanking on the door and came over and pointed to the CLOSED sign. Duh! I pointed to my watch to indicate that it wasn’t 6pm yet. The lady shrugged. I pointed to my arm brace hoping to garner some sympathy and she mouthed «Sorry». Really? There’s still 10 minutes before closing time, you Butt-​wagons!
Not cool and I ended up being in a lot of pain for having to re route my shopping.

This must be the smallest LCBO I’ve ever visited. Why they were given this small section at FCP to a booze provider is beyond my understanding but despite their lack of square footage, this LCBO gets a lot of traffic. It’s the only one, aside from the one at Union station, that is in the financial district. Everyone flocks here, especially at lunch or right before a long weekend. Clearly these guys need to move to a bigger space but for the time being, here’s what you can find:
— They have a good wine selection, both in the Vintages and their regular wine section. I’ve come across new wines that I hadn’t seen elsewhere. They also have a lot of ice wines.
— Their beer selection isn’t great. It’s very small and limiting. You can find the crappy domestic beer brand names but don’t expect to find microbreweries or the imported stuff, except for Guinness.
— They have a great sparkling wine and champagne selection. If you are ever in need a magnum of Veuve Cliquot, you can find it here.