Hunters Point Wines, Vernon, LIC
It’s a rainy Thursday night in LIC… what to do?
Well…if you want to get your drink on, and for free, you can go to one of the two wine tastings going on at a couple of LIC’s most prized wine shops, Hunters Point Wines (6-8pm) and Court Square Wine (4:30-7p). For those who complain about lack of amenities in LIC, we certainly have an abundance of alcohol distributors.
Vine Wine, 12-09 Jackson Ave, LIC
“We here at Vine Wine like to pretend we are rock stars (occasionally), but opportunities to show that off are rare in a wine store. So this week’s tasting will take a nod from Radiohead & offer one of the bottles for the price of… whatever you want (yes, really). Taste some of my favorite new Italian wines & put your money where your mouth is. We only have one case of the buyer’s choice wine, so come early, and feel free to wear your rock star apparel.”
C-town grocery store on 21st St, Hunters Point, LIC
We at liQcity have enjoyed lamenting about the lack of grocery store in Hunters Point. As it turns out, we were wrong - as has been frequently pointed out by a regular commenter. (You know who you are.) We were in denial! Or we just actually never visited the C-town at the corner of 44th Drive and 21st St, in Courthouse Sq, which as we all know, is a part of Hunters Point.
All that’s changed now. We went there. It’s a bona-fide grocery store folks. It’s small, but they have all the basics. The produce section is decent. There are both yuppy and hipster vittles, though somewhat limited. Mostly mainstream, commercial products. But it was decently clean, and much more gently priced than the E & I Deli on Vernon Blvd.
It’s located right next to a subway entrance for the E,V,G trains, which is convenient, but it sort of serves a limited geography. It’s still not very accessible for Vernon-Jackson residents, and Queenswesters might as well go to Astoria or Greenpoint for fancier stores that are just as far. Courthouse Square residents who are off Jackson Ave also are probably more easily served by Greenpoint. Oh yeah, and the hours are relatively limited. Didn’t see any officially posted, but they don’t seem to be open past 8pm or so.
Overall, C-town in Hunters Point gets a B/B-. The hours could be longer, some of the buying could be improved, but the prices are reasonable, and it’s relatively clean and maintained. So, we’ll be busy modifying our battle-cry for a grocery store in Vernon-Jackson and Queenswest. Long Island City and it’s subneighborhoods! Sheesh.
[For more of a peek inside C-town »]( http://www.liqcity.com/life/hunters-point-actually-does-have-a-grocery-store-albeit-a-small-one.php#full)
