Best Liquor Store: Twin Liquors

Hyde Park dwellers thanked Bacchus early and often when the new millennium welcomed Twin Liquors to Hancock Center – and near a video rental store to boot! With some 55 sister outlets, its upgrade was unexpected, to say the least; employees of Twin Liquors' new “flagship” headquarters next to Petco estimate the liquor barn's square footage at 40,000. That's the kind of mileage you'll rack up in its Champagne alone. Watch the cork!

Best Tasting Hostess: Antoinette at Twin Liquors

Antoinette could be your mother, your grandmother, your auntie, or your sister, and like all great ladies, she's known by first name only. The Twin Liquors hostess has been helping customers get the very best out of their liquor for decades. Her commitment to social justice is inspiring: When no one would sell to the gay clubs in Austin in the 1970s, Antoinette and the gang at Twin Liquors did. Arrive at the tasting stand at Twin Liquors, and you'll be greeted with her radiant smile and a laugh, and she'll tell you what's good. She knows good. Everything she's served to us has been perfect, and the conversation is delightful without fail. After five minutes you'll wish she was related to you so you'd have more reason (than being a borderline alcoholic) to see her

Courtesy of The Austin Chronicle