Tipsy's Liquor World, at Bowles and C-470, isn't just another alcohol-supply store. As Westword pointed out in this May piece, it's 87,000 square feet of huge -- a veritable booze resort supplemented by two restaurants, Pickles Deli and Twigs Wine Bar, not to mention a posh tasting area outfitted with high-end furniture and a live piano player. In addition, the decor includes a series of mannequins outfitted like customers, security guards and so on, and they're so ultra-realistic, with blue eyes that glisten and twinkle in the light, that folks who've already had a few before dropping by are likely to lose their shit at the sight of them.
That'd undoubtedly be fine by the State Patrol, which is clearly keeping a close watch on Tipsy's clientele.
The afternoon of June 22, for example, four -- count 'em, four -- squad cars were lined up along C-470 pointing north along the foothills just beyond the highway entrance off of Bowels. And two more officers, one in a car and the other on a motorcycle, had pulled over drivers headed in the opposite direction. It was a legal six-pack that packed one helluva punch.
Let that be a warning to you, Tipsy's customers. Don't sample the store's products until putting the car in the garage, or you could be in a Liquor World of hurt. -- Michael Roberts