Vieques Grocery and Liquor Stores?
 

We will be in Vieques next month and am wondering about grocery stores and liquor stores. Are wines readily available? Is there a selection of alcohol (rum, vodka, gin, etc.)Where are the stores located? We have rented a house and would like to purchase our groceries and liquor on our arrival day. Thanks for any input.

I haven't been to Vieques, so I can't tell you about stores on the island. But I can say that wine is not a very good buy in Puerto Rico. The selection isn't very good, and the prices are too high. Liquor, on the other hand, is cheap.

However, I would expect that the selection of everything on Vieques will not be very good. If you are taking the ferry, you should shop in San Juan. If you are flying, then you'll probably be able to buy the basics, though don't expect the choices to be very good.

I agree with Doug; buy before you get there either in PR or bring from home.
We were disappointed by the availability of groceries and wine on Vieques. We did see many people dragging coolers onto the ferry and on arrival we realised why!
Yes you can get by but you'll pay premium prices for inferior brands or you can lug stuff with you. Also, you might have to buy your groceries on certain days ... ie when they are delivered for the best choice

For our next trip I'm taking a cooler and a few bottles of wine!

Doug and highflyer - thanks for the info. I was afraid that was what you were going to say. Bringing wine with us from the states is going to be problematic so it looks like we will have to forego the wine. And we are connecting with a commuter plane, Air America, so we will just have to make do with what we get in the way of groceries. But it is good news that liquor is cheap. Guess we'll just drink rum with our meals. Things could be worse! Thanks again for the input.

Granbury
It may not be quite as dismal as it is made to sound!! I am not a wine drinker, but many of our friends are and they find what they are looking for or try something new! Yes, it is more expensive, though. There are 2 grocery stores, one down town in Isabel and one on the way to the airport, that one is larger. They have an aisle of wine and liquors. Also in town there is a bar we call Coonze's(sp) I forget the real name, but they have a large selection of wine and alcohol as well-maybe even better than the stores. It is on the block behind the post office, just ask anyone.
As far as food selection...you learn to make the best of what there is. We get really excited to find bagged baby spinach!! Often you can find hydroponically(sp) grown lettuce (grown on the island). We find some great steaks at the grocery store at times. Gringos, living there, often head over to the big island to stock up on foods from Costco.
Do not discount the little stores (Colmados) they have things you may be looking for ie: Mambo has half and half for your coffee! Most will mix you a drink or have a cooler of beer by the register!
Have fun...

mahobaygirl - thanks for your post. I'm sure we will be quite happy with whatever we find at the local grocery. In fact, I prefer that route. We can shop Costco here at home. Don't really want to do that in Puerto Rico. I am fairly well traveled and love shopping for and using local ingredients. Sounds like we should be able to stop at the grocery on the way in from the airport. Is that what I am getting from your post? Is it right on the main road? We will be going from the airport to Bravos de Boston. We can't miss it....right?

Yes, you will pass the grocery store on the way to Bravos from the airport. It will be on the left, across the street from the gas station.
There is also a vegetable truck, but we sometimes kid that it is the dead vegetable graveyard!! You can get decent produce there, but sometimes stuff looks pretty bad:)

We arrived in Vieques yesterday afternood and headed right over to the market since it closes at 6:30 (noon on Sunday). It's a small store so don't expect a wide selection. As far a wine and liquor is concerned, I saw a decent variety, but the cost is pretty high. The local rum is cheap at about $8 for 750ml. Smirnoff vodka was about $16 for 750ml. Kettle One was closer to $35 for the same size. I did not check out the wine prices, unfortunately.

Fruit and vegatable availability at the store includes the basics, but I need to find where I can get things like bananas, pineapples, etc.

The store had a decent selection of meats -- mostly beef and frozen chicken cuts.

Thanks for the great input. We will be using all this good info in 3 more weeks...can't wait!!

What a great resource this forum is!! I travel 3-4 times a year and wouldn't dream of planning a trip without first going to this site. Thanks all you Fodorites for always being there!