Spec's comes to Austin

The rabbit is back….yes I am talking about Spec’s Warehouse. Absent from Austin for 20+ yrs, Spec’s has returned with its discount liquor and amazing selection of cheese and drinking accessories. Most blogs and articles that I have read about Specs returning to Austin have all said the same thing, Specs is going to shake up the local beer and wine market! This is true; Señora Foodblog and I spent a good hr just walking around the store, checking out the shelves, blown away by the great prices.

For you beer drinkers, Spec’s is bragging about the largest beer cooler in Texas, yes folks it true. Spec’s beer cooler makes Whole Foods cooler look small, small, small. Cup Cake Death Kitten tells me that the new S. location, still under construction (71 / Brodie), will have an even bigger cooler. Someone please save my liver.


And for you smokers, a giant amount of cigars to shop inside Spec’s walk-in cigar humidor.


Most folks don’t know that Spec’s has been owned and operated by the same Houston family for over 40 yrs. The Houston store carries 40,000 different labels of wine and 900 different kinds of cigars. One of the Spec’s sales employees told me that the new south Spec’s will be twice the size of 290 store, and will occupy 50,000 sq feet of liquor selling retail space…..wow.


Spec’s also offers a discount for cash purchases. Combined with the Spec’s Key Card and if you just happen to be buying a case of wine, even more discounts. You will have to visit and check it out for yourself. Señora Foodblog told me that she had noticed the Beaujolais Nouveau was only $7 a bottle, better than Sam’s. That will mean lots and lots of Sangria this season.

Living on the East Side, I was getting tired of driving south to World Market, dealing with the traffic, having to hunt for parking. Señora Foodblog and I both agree that Spec’s is very much like World Market but without the furniture and a carries a much larger selection of beer and wine plus lots of cheese. Life is good in Austin, Ikea and now Spec’s….cool.