booze during ramadan

hey,

does anybody know any liquor stores in cairo that are staying open during the holy month? all of my usuals are shuttered closed at the moment and i'm not too keen on hitting up bars for the entire month.

cheers.

Alcohol dealers have to pay an extra tax to sell booze during Ramadan. So most close down. Same goes for restaurants selling beer, so many don't. You might try the Christian stores in Maadi. Expats can be thirsty.

From what I recall there is a Coptic market on Road 9 that did sell beer through Ramadan. (When I lived there I made sure to order a case or two pre-Ramadan, so never had to worry.) If worse comes to worse, try meeting some expats or go to one of the expat clubs- BCA, ACE, Rugby Club... They'll know where to find beer. Also the good folks of the Cairo Hash House Harriers might be able to hook you up. But you'll need to do a hash to get that info: http://www.cairohash.com/

There are a few stores on Road 9 in Maadi. One is across from a Kodak store and below a Chinese restaurnat (Golden Dragon or something). It's not directly on Road 9 but just off. If you have your back to the Kodak store, it's on the right and across from a vegetable store. It's both a "mahalle biera" (beer store) and a pork store - can you say Christian? (Sorry for the vague directions but this is how we got there.) This store is open more regularly then another store further down. Don't know the name but there's a big 'Luxor' sign out front. We were told it opens at 6.