Metro Wine & Spirits

This place is great. For its relatively small size, there is a great selection of both beer and spirits (I haven’t bought wine here yet), and employees are friendly and knowledgable without being overbearing. It was a welcome discovery for craft beers in my neighborhood.

Called to see if they had a craft beer I couldn’t find anywhere, I mean, anywhere. They did, I was on my way. Easy, friendly service, and they didn’t jack up the price.

After a major FAIL of looking for foreign beers at Safeway, I stumbled into here… craft brews, 10% off craft brews on Tues!!! I was excited to see they fill growers for pretty cheap – $ ⁶⁄₈ buck each. however that growler section did look a little sketchy, so instead I went for the 12 pack Sapparo, for $ 13 bucks, not too shabby. When I was paying I also saw a 24 case of «mystery craft brews» for $ 30 that was calling my name! although I didn’t get it that time– I can’t say I can control myself next time!

I wrote this review out of a duty towards other local beer lovers — this is a specific review of the growlers. (I added one star to give them credit for a wide beer selection in bottles — their growler situation is terrible.)
Here’s the deal. About a week ago, I purchased a 32 oz growler and Sam Adams Octoberfest, for $ 5.99 for the bottle, and $ 5.99 for the beer (not a great deal in hindsight). The beer was a little flat, but drinkable. I decided to give this place another try.
So today, on October 21^st, I went inside to refill my growler and try their Devil’s Backbone O’fest, but I decided to «taste» before buying. It tasted like apple juice and beer. I then opted for their Legend Pilsner. It too tasted like sweet beer gone bad (apple cider taste). I finally got the clerk to taste it too, to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. He agreed with me. We then both decided to taste the Sam Adams Octoberfest. You may remember that previously it was ok but a bit flat. This time — you guessed it — it tasted like nasty apple cider and beer.
³⁄₃ beers sampled were rancid. My stomach couldn’t take sampling the others. This leaves me quite shaken as a beer fan, and I will not be coming back to this place (I hope to use the expensive growler elsewhere). They clearly do not know how to store and maintain beer on tap.
This review does not reflect the employees, as the two I encountered were friendly and helpful.

Metro Wine and Spirits is a fairly small place, but it packs a lot in. If you are looking for your run of the mill liquor this place isn’t any better then the rest in the area. What really makes this place my favorite in the area is their Beer and Bourbon. They have a full wall of different types of bourbon/​whiskeys and a full selection of craft beers in 750 ML, 4 packs, and 6 packs.
Most important, they have 5 drafts for growler fills that rotate quickly and have been well picked from my experience there. Just to give you an idea of the drafts, currently they have Victory Summer Ale, Allagash White, Founders All Day IPA, and a stout from 3 stars (I can’t remember the last one). There drafts are usually all so good trying to choose which one I want is like trying to choose my favorite GIF. It is impossible to pick so you just have to choose which one is best for the moment.
A quick side note on growlers: If you like craft beer and don’t have one you are making a mistake. They are competitive in price with a craft six pack, have options you can’t get in bottles, and they are great for a lot of different situations (dinner parties, cookouts, watching TV by yourself etc.). They sell growlers here so if you don’t have one do yourself a favor and stop by here to get one.
Also whenever I have come in here the people working, particularly Joshua, have really known what they were talking about and have been extremely helpful. So if you are looking for some good beer or bourbon in the Adam’s Morgan area this is the place you should go.

I’ve walked by this store for years and never once thought to go in mainly because it looks like a crack den from the outside. The other day as I was passing by a single ray of sunshine parted the clouds and settled on a growler displayed in the window. The angels sang (well, the homeless guy on the corner was singing to himself, close enough) and against all of my self preservation instincts, I decided to check it out (growlers generally win out over safety.) Very glad I did, this place is awesome. Huge bottled beer selection (rivaling dvines) and five growler choices on tap. Service was great and super friendly. This will be my go to store from now on.

Great place to order kegs — great service & selection. Very good communication with the cashier — he phone messaged me pictures of my receipts since he didn’t put my card through until he confirmed that the beer I wanted would be available, and I was having a friend pick it up.
We also got some great top shelf bourbons there as gifts. Very friendly and helpful staff, and reasonable prices.

Was promised a keg of yeungling, and bucket and tap rental, for $ 107 costs plus $ 95 deposit over the phone, but on arrival they tacked on an extra $ 20 in ‘fees’ for the rentals. Worse, the bucket they gave us was broken on the bottom and had chunks missing — we were told it was the only one they had left, but they charged us anyway. Disappointing. Unlikely to return here.

This place is great. The guys that work here are a hoot and the selection is great. As an added plus — they dont make you feel like a terrorist — as there is no bullet proof glass up.
The prices are great.
They have everything you need and more.

A lot of the smaller liquor stores in DC don’t bother with kegs, or offer a limited selection. Metro Wine and Spirits isn’t one of them.
Came here to get a keg of Troegs for a summer party. The keg list is extensive and the prices are pretty fair. It was $ 167 for the Troegs, which is about the median price on the list. What’s really nice though is that they can get you nearly anything that you want, if it’s distributed in the area.
The employees were helpful and friendly and everything went off without a hitch. I’d recommend to anyone looking to get a keg.

Great store, low prices and great service…

Wow, what truck did this stuff fall off the back of???

This place saved my sanity last winter. On the afternoon following the second big storm of Snowpacalypse, it was the only place open on Columbia Road. What is a hungry girl to do after she’s been cooped up, succumbing to cabin fever? Why, get drunk off a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon, of course.
Metro also stocks a diverse selection of wine and beer and (at the time I was there) Jameson-​branded flasks for $ 5. Unless you are looking for something completely esoteric or snobby, there is a beverage for everyone here. Reasonable prices and friendly staff, too.

I didn’t like the looks of this place from the outside (I get nervous if big ads cover the glass and I can’t see inside. yes, I’m neurotic) and admittedly it does look sketchy. Go inside. It’s tiny, but they have a good selection for the size of the store and good prices. Everyone there has been friendly, and if you can’t see it ask them instead; odds are they have it behind the counter (like Everclear). Instead of buying stuff in Dupont/​Logan when I get off work I head to Metro instead because even though it’s $ 1 cheaper or so — it’s $ 1! We’re in a recession, people!

Obviously a local favorite, this place can get packed! They have a great selection of different liquors, but what isn’t obvious from the outside (where they have Tanqueray ads) is that they have a great selection of wines as well… at reasonable prices.

Metro kicks ass. Good prices on everything from wine, cerveza, and ye olde kegs.
We went with a keg of Yuengling lager for $ 90 (plus tax) — the rest of the stuff (tap, bucket) is about an $ 85 deposit. However, unlike Tenley Liquors, the bucket is a deposit item — you don’t need to pay a $ 5 dollar flat rate to rent it. Always a plus.
The keg selection is not as broad as Tenley liquor, but they’ve got the basics covered.
As Miriam mentioned, the managers/​owners of this store are great and always willing to help. They even let me borrow the dolly to roll the keg to my apartment (I live on the block — I’m not sure how willing they would be if you lived further away).
Cheers!

Metro is a classic «don’t judge a book by its cover» tale. Only in this case it’s «don’t judge a liquor store by its façade!» From the outside you’ll have no idea that this unassuming Adams Morgan shop next to CVS and across from Safeway is home to a substantive selection of domestic and imported wine. And if you’re no oenophile, worry not, as the owner is happy to make recommendations and judging by what he steered us toward recently he has both your taste buds and your wallet in mind!
Metro is the little shop you wish you had just outside your door. Lucky for me, the walk’s not terribly long!