With just over a week remaining until the grand opening, The Village Beer Merchant is more than ready. "If we could only get our beer license...” the owners tell me. That's right... the only thing missing is the state's issuance of a license to sell beer. The process has been agonizingly long, and when the doors open people are going to be disappointed that there will be no beer on hand. The owners are hoping that people will still be happy with the market end of the business... until the license comes through that is. "We'll be making deli sandwiches," the owners informed me. "We found George the deli-guy through a post on BRO. And our cheeses started coming in this morning. We've been stocking the shelves and crossing our fingers. We even have a professional popcorn machine that will be popping free popcorn. We want customers to know that it's OK to bring their kids in."
The wood and slate floors look great, as does the restored tin ceiling. The enormous 360 degrees olive and cheese bar is installed, and the draft station... yes, the draft station, is about the coolest operation around. The tap system leads directly into the cooler where the kegs are stored (with brand new diamond-plate floors), and the empty glass growlers line the walls in anticipation of the flowing draft beer. The shelves are packed with chips, nuts, jams, honeys and sea-salts. When the beer license arrives, The Village Beer Merchant is going to be incredible. Actually, it's going to be incredible even without the beer. Elmwood is in need of a deli and good deli sandwiches... the beer is going to be the icing on the keg.
The Village Beer Merchant 547 Elmwood Avenue