Pan’s Package Store

I don’t know what a package store is, but they sell liquor and beer, and that’s all I need.
There’s a nice old Asian man working behind the counter. Had a brief but friendly conversation with him about pizza and trains and The Game.
We picked up an 18 pack of Modelo. It was kind of expensive at $ 21.50. Bought the same thing for $ 16.50 at another liquor/​beer store the next day.
Man, I really drink a lot.

On this hot summer eve, Pan was sitting outside doing his puzzle. When I went in with my dad he complimented me on being a good and dutiful daughter and my father and I selected a dusty bottle of E & J brandy from off the floor, and a «12» pack of Natty Ice in an otherwise labeled box. There were 13 in fact and we agreed on $ 10. As the neighborhood is slowly swallowed by the Spectacle, Pan, beleaguered by the same negation and despair, shows an affirming flame. If you buy your liquor anywhere else but here, you don’t get it.

if you like dusty wine bottles all over the place, a broken fridge stocked with warm beer, higher than average prices, a less than stellar selection and your package store to have a musty fart smell to it, then Pan’s is for you.

This place hasn’t changed much since I used to live in the neighborhood… I came in here looking for a «Thank You» gift for my host while in New Haven (a guy I’m sort of dating — we met one another while I was on vacation — I thought perhaps some alcohol, in addition to conversation and some good music, would be the perfect way to, um, help us get into the groove).
Wines are overpriced and slightly dusty, beers are overpriced and the selection of those in the refrigerator aren’t at all very-​well-​chilled and those that weren’t kept cold were dusty and in amazing disarray (some of them were on the floor, some of them were on their sides, some of them were incomplete, some containers were completely empty), and hard alcohol is extremely limited in variety and entirely too expensive.
I chose a six pack of Long Trail Double Bag and a six pack of Long Trail Belgian White — I don’t really like either of these beers, but the gift was more for my host than it was for myself, and I sort of felt it’d be rude after looking around for 30 minutes to walk out without purchasing anything… $ 20 (!!!) later the owner went back to doing whatever it was he was doing, I had to ask him three times to give me a couple plastic bags for my purchases — and even then he just placed the plastic bags on top of the beers, I had to put them in myself.
I’ve had better… I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid this place, perhaps if there weren’t any other available options I’d shop here again, but I definitely won’t return otherwise.

This is my neighborhood «package store» of choice. It doesn’t offer the low prices or huge selection of a mega-​store, but they seem to have a huge selection of stuff packed into this tiny space, and I’m willing to pay a small premium for convenience especially since I don’t have a car and don’t drink much. In particular, this store has some interesting beers that can be hard to find elsewhere – I’m primarily a beer drinker.
It’s always disorganized inside… but never busy. You can ask the man behind the counter (who is very nice, I might add) and he will be able to find things for you. He also is very good at locating individual bottles of beer for me to buy, since I’m the type who loves trying out new kinds of beer one at a time.
For some reason I just feel better about shopping here than any of the other local package stores. I have better luck finding what I want, and I get good vibes from this place. The other liquor stores in this neighborhood seem to be either lower-​end, or more wine-​oriented.