We don't have Duane Reade here. We have Arrocha (which I always call 'arrecha' which means horny) and Metro. Those are the two main drugstore chains. You can get damn near anything you want in one of the larger Arrechas, anything but alcohol. It's weird, that's about the only place in the country you CAN'T buy alcohol. If I felt like it I could buy ten gallons of vodka at three in the morning on a Tuesday. Or I could take $20 and buy a six of Founder's.
I have no idea why certain things appear and then inevitably disappear here. Currently you can buy this horrible Polish beer, Turkish milk, soymilk and cola, just off the top of my head. In six weeks or six months I assume all that will be gone and who knows what will have appeared in its stead.
One day out of the blue several Founders products suddenly became available at one of the supermarket chains and several of the liquor stores. About the same time several Evil Twin products appeared, too. It's highly random.
There are four local brands of mass produced beer, Atlas, Balboa, Panama and Soberana. Most have Light and Red and Ice sort of offshoots that I generally avoid. A six of any of these will run you well under $4 at any supermarket. You could pay $5 or more at a chino if you aren't careful. They're brewed by two separate breweries and each is owned by one of the global giants or the other. I can never remember which is which and I don't see that it much matters.
As I have said, there is a growing microbrewery movement here, headed by Casa Bruja. Ther are several brewpubs, of which I especially like Rana Dorada.
I've never been to Tropic Star but everyone who has raves about it. I've fished from Las Perlas to Hannibal Bank and Montuosa and you really can't go wrong.
