Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2008 > September > 10
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Beer bonanza at Hyde Park Market
After a few steps into the new market, it becomes clear that things are not what they seem from the outside. Sure, the store has the simple conveniences you would expect — chips, soda, water, candy, etc. — but there is also a deli case featuring Boar’s Head products, a refrigerated case of Green Cart sandwiches, an aisle of hardware necessities, a cooler soon to be filled with organic produce, a plethora of exotic tobacco products, and beer. Man, is there beer.
For years, Central Market, Whole Foods and Whip In (and, more recently, newcomer Spec’s), have been the preferred destination for beer lovers whose discriminating tastes have led them to a life of American micro-brews and delicious imports. With the new Hyde Park Market, the balance of beer power in Central Austin may soon be shifting.
Owner Navid (Tony) Hoomanrad decided that he wanted to deviate from the norm of neighborhood convenience stores by offering a one-stop shop for fresh grocery products generally found in larger markets, along with an amazing array of beer. After a few early orders, the affable proprietor upped the ante and ordered every single beer offered by his eight distributors. The result is a dizzying array of bombers (singles), six packs and cases that is virtually unrivaled in Austin. At last count, Hyde Park Market offers 525 different types of beer. For perspective, Central Market carries roughly 360 beers, Whole Foods 425 and Spec’s 550, while Whip In professes to having a smaller (though equally impressive in terms of quality) selection due to space.
If there is a beer you have had in this town (or towns in Europe), chances are Tony has it. With singles from Ayinger, Maredsous, Afflinger, St. Bernard’s, Urthel and Ommegang, to name a few, a trip down one aisle in Hyde Park Market is enough to make a beer connoisseur’s head spin and mouth water. And, the pièce de résistance, the $40 Deus Brut de Flandres Cuveé Prestige 2006.
If Belgium, Holland, Germany, et al., don’t offer your cup of, um, beer, then the six-pack aisles should please your micro-brew loving heart. There you will find selections from Atlantic Brewing Co. of Bar Harbor, Maine; Boulevard Brewing of Kansas City; Avery Brewing of Boulder, Colo.; and every local Texas brewery, naturally.
While Tony says he quit drinking beer four years ago, and who can blame him, it’s hard to work 85 hours a week if you’re hungover, he takes great pleasure in serving the refined palates of Austin.
“It’s fun,” Tony said about providing the insane assortment of beer. “You have customers calling in for certain beers, and I figure we might as well get them. I like seeing the looks on people’s faces and seeing them content knowing that they can come here and get what they want.”
Tony opened his market in the space formerly occupied by Sunrise Super Stop in May of this year after spending close to two years running the Diamond Shamrock on Barton Springs Road. Although his business may be new to the neighborhood, Tony, whom frequent shoppers call by name, spent his earliest years living in the apartments across the street from his current business. In 1977, his parents moved from Iran to Austin, where his father, Ali Hoomanrad, attended college with dreams of becoming a doctor. Although he was accepted to several medical schools, Hoomanrad’s dreams took a back seat to the political realities of the day, as the 1979 revolution in Iran disrupted his ability to receive monetary support from his family in Iran.
After graduating from Anderson High School, Tony operated multiple convenience stores in the Houston area before returning to Austin. He understands there is something of a risk in putting so much money into a somewhat unorthodox business plan, and despite the fact that he paid close to $30,000 for the largest of his beer coolers, Tony says he is certain he will make his money back in time, and plans no further expansion of his enterprise. And, about those gas pumps outside, Tony has been offering gas at cost, and at times taking a loss, to get folks into his shop. The long lines at the pumps, at which you can’t pay without going inside, seem to be proving his logic as prescient.
Hyde Park Market
4429 Duval St.
Austin, TX 78751
[map]
Photo of Tony Hoomanrad by Mark Deutrom
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Food
Your A-List: Best Gay Bar
Some places in Austin are simply the standard-bearers in their respective industries. BookPeople for books; Amy’s Ice Cream for, um, ice cream; Waterloo Records for music. The same can be said of Oilcan Harry’s, with 60 percent of the vote, winner of the Your A-List poll for Best Gay Bar.
There may be a gay bar or two that has been around longer than the Warehouse District stalwart, but none draws the crowds or the number of mentions as does Oilcan’s. As a testimony to its popularity, I would venture to guess that any visitor inquiring about local gay bars would first be directed to the bar on 4th Street, a distinction any establishment of any stripe would be proud.
The bar is generally home to a mid-to-upscale crowd who enjoy the bar as much as a place to hangout with friends as any kind of pick-up locale. On weekend nights, which now include Thursdays in case you didn’t know, the bar gets bumping with a dance crowd the likes of which you would be likely to find at any other dance club in town, gay or straight.
While other gay bars have come and gone, or slowly seen patronage taper off, over the past two decades, Oilcan’s seems to be as strong as ever.
Oil Can Harry’s
211 W. 4th St. [map]
Others receiving votes
- Charlie’s: 13 percent
- Rain: 11 percent
- Chain Drive: 9 percent
- Rainbow Cattle Company: 3 percent
- Cockpit: 2 percent
- ‘Bout Time: 2 percent
Write-in: The Rusty Spur
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment Categories: Your A-List
