I like this place, but I'm not a fan of the high mark-up on their wine. When I mentioned how high their markup is on their bottles (in our case, it was $95 price on a bottle that retails for $55), they pointed out that there are two prices: one for dining in, and one for retail. A-ha.
But really, it was more, "Ahhh--I call bullshit." Â You see, if you buy a bottle from the retail shelves, they charge a corkage fee for opening a bottle on the premises. That alone is not a problem, as most all of these kinds of places charge some corkage (although their $20 is higher than the more typical $15). But on top of the corkage, the retail price was $20 higher than other wine stores. That's a freaking gouge.
And that's too bad, because there's a lot to like about this place: nice ambiance, a large choice of wines behind the bar to taste via a cruvinet, craft beer on tap, and our food (burgers, flatbreads) was really good. I'm sure the pricing scheme probably works on people who don't know any better. But some of us do.
I really wanted to give this place 4 starts as I am a fan of the actual place but the service is very slow and for no reason really. We were hoping for Justin tasting that was scheduled for 12Jun (yesterday) only to find out that it was pushed to the 19Jun- ah well.
We ordered their tasting for the evening and discovered we really liked one of the reds so ordered a bottle in addition to the three flat breads.
The pizza took forever then only two showed up, no crushed red pepper flakes, no ice and had to keep looking for the waiter to get more wine and water. The bottle took 15 minutes or more- though I had 2-3 other waiters just standing around chatting up the storm.
I am sorry but when your place is half empty and you have 4-5 servers in the room and cannot get service when you are spending $60 + per person- this should not happen as no one will come back.
My wife and I went to the wine tasting about a week ago and it was nothing less that spectacular! The layout is great, the place had a great vibe and we had a fun night out. We both had a salad and being vegatarian, we could have easily made a salad at home, but it would not be nearly as tasty as the one Bacchus had.
Some time into the night we also met the owners as well as the chef, and they were very friendly and real (non of the fakeness) so all in all it was a fun night out. I am very suprised at some of the bad reviews that Bacchus has received because my wife and I would definately support our local local wine bar again! Â EVeryone should visit this place!!! A big thumbs UP!
I had such a lovely time. Â I had a blind date off the internet and he selected this place. Â Its off the beaten path and in a corner by a CVS, so the location is not ideal, but the interior is tastefully done. Â The wine and the cheese plate was a little pricey, but he was paying so I ordered up.
Nice time good wine
Cute spot. Â We came here with our friends on a Sunday night. Â We had never been here, but I believe our friends there before. Â I thought it was nicely done. Â I would want to come back. Â It was a little on the pricey side, but I think it's worth it. Â The guy there was super nice, they were supposed to close at 9pm and I think we got out of there at 9:25pm. Â He didn't even rush us. Â Super polite.
Review Source:Like many decent wine bars, it is a bit on the expensive side. But Bacchus also has a great selection of wine from all over.
My favorite dishes are their burgers and salad. Try the salad with shrimp, strawberries and blues cheese.
They have a couple of TVs and the volume is not usually turned up. So I never found that distracting.
On a few days (Thu-Fri) they have live music and the place is buzzing with people and fun. If you don't like live, loud places, these days aren't for you. But if you do then you will have a blast. Definitely a place to go with friends on these days.
Another secret of the secret cellar is Aaron, their beer guy. He maintains a few very good beers on top and more in bottles. If you prefer beer and want to try out beer that you haven't tasted before, this is definitely a great place. Occasionally Aaron has beer tastings and brings his experience traveling through Belgium to the bar.
I found people to be friendly. I go there with my friends and I've made friends of other customers there over time.
I only came here for the wine. First of all, their selection is definitely decent. You can find many wines that appease most palates here. Great! However, the bottles are quite overpriced. Secondly, I wanted to sit down and have a few glasses to sip on. Now here comes my biggest complaint. The wine by the glass, is way way way overpriced. It is astonishing! Many of the glasses, I could just drop a few more dollars to purchase an entire bottle. Literally, just a few dollars off! Wow...The atmosphere definitely is attractive, but will you ever see me come back to purchase bottles or drink by the glass? That's a no.
Review Source:I wanted to add an update to my review from a few weeks ago. The manager reached out to apologize and try to follow up to our experience which I thought was awesome. I re-read my review and while I am not going to say something that didn't happen, I did go to a wine bar too hungry and should have reviewed my wine experience more. I would return here, the inside was nice, the service was good and there was good wine on the menu. I also will return because the manager really does care about the customer's experience and wants it to be great every time. So- four stars for the manager's initiative and follow up! :)
Review Source:Bacchus is a great place to relax with your friends and enjoy a few glasses of wine (or beer) and enjoy the atmosphere and company. They have a great selection of wine and the prices are reasonable. They also allow you to bring in food from other restaurants while you enjoy your libations. The food has some room for improvement but they are making strides. The service was great and the staff is friendly. I enjoy coming here and will be coming back for sure.
Review Source:Great wine selection at a fair price. Â The location is cool and comfortable. Get the happy hr. specials 1/2 price all appetizers. Â The only thing was the service. Â maybe Ive gotten old but I expect good service and there are no excuses! Â Its as though the managment hired alot of flat, not very knowledgable, unfreindly Goons. Â Shame on you managment. Â You ruined a perfectly cool place just by having subpar service!
Review Source:The wine was good, the burger was delicious, the cheese plates was good but a rip off since it literally only came with cheese. Â We had to order a side of bread. Â Really? Â What I really didn't like was the service. Â My friend and I came in and it was fairly slow. Â We decided to sit at the bar and we probably sat there for about 5-10 minutes before anyone talked to us. Â
We ordered a wine flight and when we asked the bartender how he felt about a certain wine, he actually had no idea. Â How do you work in a wine bar, serve us that wine and not know about it. Â That's just sad. Â When we decided to order food from one of the waitresses, she looked at the other bartender and told him to help us even though she was the one in front of us. Â Uh...ok?
Even though the wine and food was good, service was crap. Â I might give it another go to see if it was a fluke...but I might not
I went there for a special priced wine & one free pizza event.
There was no special menu on the table so I asked if there is a event as advertised.
She said Yes and asked us if we clicked  [LIKE] on their Face Book page.
It didn's say anything about the FB on their advertisement.
She also said that I don't get the free pizza because I only order a grass of wine so far.
I couldn't take her poor service no longer so I left there quickly.
Bad service and management.
Deceiving customers with a fake smile.
I loved this bar before but never again.
What a cool place! Secret Cellar is a perfect name for it because you would never even know it existed since it's right next to an Albertson's.
Bacchus' Secret Cellar's interior design is so well done that I felt as if I was in a different country like Greece, Rome, etc. Yeah... one of those European countries that drink wine like it is water. Wine bottles covered the room from the ceiling to the floor. It seemed like you were completely surrounded by bottles that were never ending. The lighting was slightly dimmed. Everyone there was enjoying themselves as they sipped on wine.
I had an event to go to and it happened to be here. I sipped on free wine and snacked of free appetizers. Not a bad time at all and I actually really liked the two wines I tried that night. One was a Syrah and the other was a Chardonnay, too bad I don't recall the exact names. The wine selection is huge (you can imagine how much wine since there are bottles and bottles up and down this place) and they also have a few beers as well. There is a good amount of standing room, but the seating can be limited if the place is packed. Too bad this secret cellar is so far away from me. If I lived in the area, I could see this as a place I'd frequent often.
I may as well move to the city I loathe the most in OC. I work there, I go to an event there on Wednesday, and a buddy is sitting in with the band here on Thursday. Plus Laura S suggested this place for our before event imbibing. So now I am already a Yelp check-in regular. Whats next? A wife, kids, and an SUV?
But you know what? Nothing like going to a new place 2 days in a row to decide if its to ones liking. And I like most everything about this place. Almost.
The good? Great service, nice wine selection, and very comfortable chairs and couches. And I guess the...ahem...mature crowd is good since I are one too. But since I am more used to the beach restos and bars, it was strange to see mostly 40 and 50 somethings. But there was also a smattering of 20 somethings and a large party of peeps in their 30's. A decent mix.
The bad? Well really only one. Cheapest glass of wine is $10, and they go rapidly up from there. Decent pour though.
I did see a wine tasting for $20 on the calendar, and the night Laura and I were there they were doing a beer tasting for $15. Live music 3 or 4 nights a week, and the night my buddy played it skewed to blues, with a couple of classic rock classics. Except, and WTF....Bobbie McGee? Uh boy, never thought i would be subjected to a live version of that song again in this lifetime.
The on-line menu lists just charcuterie/cheese plates and other assorted wine munches like hummus and olives. But the couple across from me had, what they said were delicious panini sandwiches. And they did look good. So they are expanding the menu. Otherwise they allow the neighboring pizza and Thai restos food.
So when I move to Irvine I will make sure I move within stumbling distance to my new favorite hot spot in the city I loathe.
JK............
I haven't been to this place in a while now that I work at a wine bar, but I used to frequent it pretty regularly. Â
The staff made me feel like Norm in Cheers. Â That mostly accounts for the high rating. Â The staff, they make that place. Â The wine....to me it's a little haughty and boring. Â
I like great, interesting wine. Â And I feel like they do have some. Â But I felt like mostly they had a lot of high profile, big sellers that were just ok. Â
At the same time, I give them 4 stars for space, service and knowing good wine. Â It just isn't my particular taste or price point. Â But it's a super cool space and effort.
I went here a few times after work with co-workers for a few drinks. Very cozy feel and the wine was pretty good.They have a variety of items on the menu to select from, but we always stick to their meat & cheese selections, which is a favorite for us. Great place to just hang out and relax after a long work day.
Also...Tuesdays they have a Magician that comes and performs his magic tricks. Great 10-15 minutes of entertain as he makes his way to the tables and show off his skills.
I like Bacchus. I used to live across the street, but never found the time to come. I think restaurants in the heart of Irvine leave me with a psychologically "scrubbed-clean" taste in my mind and I always expect something corporate and plastic and highly marked up. I am a victim of stereotyping. Or am I a perpetrator? Deep thoughts today.
This wine bar is larger than I'd thought. It's got a few living rooms worth of couches inside, with a separate bar area and additional dining seats. The walls are lined with  an array of wines, many with descriptions and all well lit by a generous ceiling. This may be the largest wine bar I have been to short of an actual winery. The sommelier was very knowledgeable about different regions and the product they carry and I liked the flight options they had.
Maybe it was just the selection I chose that evening, but I encountered a lot of Paso Robles wines that I enjoyed...Justification and Fist among the higher ones. Usually I'm a malbec fan, but the Catena was only okay. I
I will definitely be back. It doesn't get that packed in the evening, (we are in the heart of Irvine) which makes for a perfect conversational date. Except for my dates with HM, then it's not about the talkin' if ya know what I mean.
Ohhhhh Bacchus, I know we have had our differences but you redeemed yourself on my last visit.
Went for a quick glass of wine and the service was GREAT! I truly love this spot and hope that you guys trend with the Top Tier Service I experienced on my last visit; You have come a LONG way since my First Review! Â
3-Stars for now but I will be back and hopefully will have another great experience.
Went with the BF for a nice drink on 11/26 after a movie. Found it after Yelping for a wine bar.
OMG! The cutest place!
VERY VERY nice place with even nicer prices!
Had a VERY good glass of Codger Dessert wine and the BF had the "Liquid Love" glass of dessert wine. YUMMO!
We had a piece of 7 layer chocolate cage to go with it! OMG! Heaven! Served with almonds and black berries.
The place is kinda small, so be prepared.
We sat at a table with other folks, not bad and we weren't bothered.
Our waitress was also super cute and knowledgeable about everything on the menu.
Will certainly be back!
Check out the "Half eaten" chocolate cake slice pic I added too! Ha!
Tuesday night is Magic night, so that was the big draw for me, the bf, my friends Andy T. And Mike D. to come to Bacchus. We are so happy we did!
The location itself is a bit hard to find. It's in the corner to the right of Albertsons near the Red Brick Pizza.any of their food menu items come from next door establishments - talk about mutual collaboration! Â The space is pretty big, with lots of wines and beers to try.
They offer all their wines in either flight size (4 oz) and regular (8 oz). On recommendation, I got the Murphy-Goode Cabernet. My friends and I split the meat & cheese platter, which came with smoked Gouda, goat cheese, prosciutto, crackers, almonds and dried cranberries. We also got an order of breadsticks while my buddies enjoyed flights of one (one named Que Syrah Syrah - cute!). But the real highlight was John George, champion magician who performed close-up magic and sent us into a "how did he do that??" tizzy. Â He really enhanced the experience.
It's a bit far for my liking but it's a solid wine bar, and I see myself coming back for wine and magic once again!
Yes you guessed it right, i was here again, on a sunday evening to hang with my friends! Its like everything I said before in my reviews. now some  tip for you!!!
- on Sundays they dont charge $10 corkage fee, so its wise to get a bottle of wine than ordering few glasses of same wine for your table.
From what I figured their glass prices (6oz) is what would cost for the bottle. Nothing wrong with it and that is how most wine places charge you. the reason I bring that up, is Bacchus bottle pricces are twice the markup in most cases, so if you were to get 2 glasses of same wine, atleast on sunday its cheaper to get the bottle. me and my friend got the malbec which is #17 on their menu , and paid 19+$s, for the entire bottle! sweet!
You pay for the place and the ambiance and the decor and people waiting you and such! you can always be a cheap alcoholic and get your bottle at costco for cheaper price and drink at home, but what is fun about that lol. try to get a band come play at your house haha. yep. live music on sundays!
so Bacchus on a sunday night - i think its bliss! :)
If you don't know where this place is, it's back in the "curve" of the shopping center, where all the other restaurants are. Â Kinda behind the fountain.
(I only give directions because we drove past it on the first try!)
After going to a really cool listening room in Philly, I wanted to find some live jazz music to listen to (and eat to!) Â This is place is about five minutes from my house, perfect!
Walked in at about 7pm on a Saturday, they were having a private event in the back, but the rest of the bar/tasting area was open. Â The man and I snagged a seat at the granite counter top and perused the wine/food menu.
I chose the second flight of white wine and it was pretty good ($15.50). Â I'd say the first white was my favorite, it was crisp and clean with some fruity flavors.
He and I shared the ahi tuna, meat and cheese plate (the one with salami) and beef satay skewers. Â I wasn't too impressed with the ahi tuna, it had an overpowering fish taste. Â The meat and cheese plate was delicious, especially the Gorgonzola. Â And the beef skewers were decent, though I'm not sure I'd get them again because they weren't the most pretty to be eating while drinking wine.
The owner, Jeff, introduced himself to us, which was nice. Â :)
And there was live jazz music, the guy was pretty good!
I can't believe I've never been here before and they are like 3 minutes away from my home. When my friend invited us to join him and a bunch of friends here one evening for drinks and to listen to the musical group play, I jumped at the chance.
The wine bar is really cozy with gorgeous hues once the sun goes down. There are high tables and stools or comfy sofas to sit on. If you like to sit outside, there is also patio seating.
The wine list consists of quite a nice selection -- bottles and wines by the glass. My friends ordered a bottle of red wine to share but I wasn't feeling it so I got my own glass of Riesling for only $7! That's about what I pay in a restaurant, sometimes even more.
There isn't really good here, but if you are early you can order from one of the restaurants in the same plaza ranging from Nalu Grill, Natraj Indian, Sharkey's Woodfire Mexican, Bamboo Bistro Thai. The food choices aren't stellar, and if you don't want that, Bacchus has a cheese and charcuterie platter they can offer you.
This is the perfect spot for a date or just an after dinner drink with friends. I would definitely return here again...... can't understand why I haven't come sooner!
As all true wino's do... we frequent as many wine related places as we can... and I found Bacchus' Secret Cellar right here on Yelp and had to give it a whirl.
The location is beautiful and typical Irvine Company... perfect landscaping, muted color but interesting building and pretty people driving their bmw 7 series' and benz suv's (us included... ha!). While it's not on the beaten path (it's up from the Irvine Spectrum, in Quail Hill), it's obviously well known. When we arrived it wasn't packed, but there were a good number of people already enjoying their fine wines and by the time we left the band was in full swing and the room was buzzing (and so were we).
We sat at the bar and immediately dove into our tastings... they've got some pretty high end stuff to try (like Caymus and Silver Oak). Of course you PAY for it... I think the Silver Oak 'taste' (a 1 oz pour) was around $25 bucks. WHEW. We also ordered both Charcuterie & Cheese Plates including Prosciutto with Smoked Gouda and Camembert and Salami with Gorgonzola and Smoked Gouda ($30 for both). We spent a lot this night... but we had a great time and tried some amazing wines that we'd never had before. The service was so-so and I supposed since the couple to our right was ordering bottle after bottle of silver oak and the couple to our left was ordering Opus One... our measly $200 tab was peanuts (though I always... well unless my service was awful... tip 20%), but even still we had a great time.
It's swanky, it's chic, it's pricey but it's worth it.
I ended up here a couple of weekends ago for a surprise birthday that was orchestrated for me and to my surprise it was actually a cool spot. Â I can't believe that I had never come here before when it is so close to where I live.
One of the better deals that they have is that you can buy bottles that they have around the place a decent retail prices and they only charge you a 10 dollar corkage fee to drink it there. Â They'll even take your whites back to chill before you want to start drinking it. Â The prices aren't bad and its actually much cheaper than going to the standard bar or restaurant to enjoy some wine.
They do a cheese platter themselves or contract with the local restaurants to bring in food to enjoy along with the wine.
My only gripe is that they decided to charge us a 20% gratuity on top of wine, appetizers and TAX before we wrote in a tip. Â Everyone in our group of about 15 ordered and paid for their own stuff and I bought an additional 3 bottles to share... come on - you really are worried about me leaving a decent tip when I already bought a couple hundred bucks worth of food and drinks in addtition to everyone else's stuff. Â THAT IS BAD on their part.
This is a great place for a date. Â Meet for drinks, have some appetizers and dessert. Â The food menu in the back is varied. Â There are the usual meat and cheese platters. Â They do have partnerships with some of the surrounding restaurants so it can take some time if you order say from the Sharkey's or the Thai Bamboo menus. Â They ought to let you know when you order to expect a wait from the partner restaurants so as you are made aware of the situation, but they do not. Â My dessert took over 30 minutes but they were kind enough to comp it for me due to the wait, so I'm grateful for that.
The wine list is pretty extensive. Â Lots of varietals and regions. Â The wine flights are some of your best bets. Â Try something and if you like it, you can buy yourself a bottle as well. Â I have it on good authority that the bottles are reasonably priced so you don't need to shop elsewhere, just buy from them. Â Definitely stop by for happy hour because glasses are $5. Â A great hang out, just check it out.
hmmm... I've only been here once so far... but will come back soon. They seemed to have a good selection of wine. I liked the atmosphere
The servers are really nice... one of the servers seemed to know his wine better then the other we had that night... I guess that's ok. We aren't wine experts in the least, but she wasn't really able to give us much feed back on suggestions.
On the weekends they have live music and it was Jazz night when we went. I liked the musician. He was talented and funny, relaxed and interacted with the crowd. His rendition of Hit Me Baby One More Time and Genie in a Bottle (as requested by a patron) was entertaining and good. The music over all was not too loud where you couldn't talk with your friends but good enough to just sit and listen.
Went with friend to chill, snack, and taste. My friend and i each ordered a flight (3 2.5 oz glass of wines, our choice or off their preselected menu). She ordered the old world reds set... I ordered a mix of whites. I apologize but I don't remember what we ordered... but all in all we were happy b/c it gave us a chance to taste a few. One of the servers was helpful with tips on the wines and explaining how it worked. My other friends ordered their own glasses. They have plenty to select from in red, but was a little surprised at how little whites they had on their menu. They have both flight sizes (2.5 oz) or glass sizes (6 oz).
For food we ordered a 3 cheese plate with the humbolt fog, smoked gouda, and cambert. It was 2oz of each cheese, plenty for the few of us to munch on. It was late but we were still able to order from the Redbrick/Bacchus menu. The bread sticks were yummy, the pizza was only so-so to me. But I really liked their menu and how they're working with their neighboring businesses.
Tons of great wines from Napa, Paso Robles, and other Central Coast wineries. I didn't get to see much of their international wines other than some from Tuscany, but I am overall, very impressed with this place for the wine selection.
I did not like the flights they picked, so I made my own and tasted others. I had a flight tasting of the Tobin James Syrah and a Pinot Noir from Tuscany. Both were exceptionally good. The Tobin James is really dry, bold, but yet very smooth on the palate.
They have Orin Swift's The Prisoner, which we tried to go to in Napa and searched all over for. It's not that expensive here and they also have the Pappillon which is a very nice reserve from Orin Swift. Very impressed!
***FOOD***
CHEESE PLATES were passed around all the time, but I'm not sure who got what. All I know is that the Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog was AMAZING. They gave us a large slice so I ate about 15 crackers with this goat cheese. yummm
CROSTINI FLIGHT was unimpressive. 1) Caprese  2) Olive Tapenade
3) Bruschetta  4) Prosciutto & Parmesan w/Pesto  5) Wild Mushroom & Goat Cheese  6) Gorgonzola & Roasted Red Peppers  7) Sun Dried Tomato & Hummus  8) Smoked Salmon with Crème Fraiche,  Red Onion & Capers.  You get to pick 4 for your personalized flight for $8. We got the bruschetta, the mushroom & goat cheese, the smoked salmon and the olive tapanade. They were all good but it was barely a bite of each. I guess that's why its a flight, but I still wished there were more to each dish.
We got some pizzas from Red Brick Pizza in the plaza....
VEGGIE WORKS GOURMET: Mozzarella, Mushrooms, Red Onions, Red Bell Peppers, Black Olives, Artichokes, Garlic, Tomatoes, Italian Herbs, Parmesan, Red Sauce (Vegetarian), or Garlic White Sauce $12. This was nice, thin, and pretty good. I needed mad red pepper flakes but the server was not very good in getting all the things needed for food that was not from the wine bar. So i ate a slice and passed it on.
MARGHERITA: Mozzarella, Provolone, White Cheddar, Basil, Garlic, Fresh Tomatoes, Red Sauce $11. Very light and fresh except for the fact that there was NO basil on the pizza at all. That's my favorite part! gahhh
PIZZA RUSTICA: Mozzarella, Parmesan, Fresh Basil, Spices, Ham, Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Garlic Sauce $14. I ate one slice and it was very thin. I thought this was one of the better pizzas, but it didn't do much for me. I wish I had red pepper flakes to add to this.
COOL SUMMER SHRIMP ROLLS: Rice Paper Rolls Filled With Vermicelli, Herbs, Shrimp, and Vegetable. $6 These came from Thai Bamboo Bistro in the same plaza. I was unimpressed with these rolls since I usually eat them in Little Saigon for less than $3, but they were very fresh veggies and the peanut sauce is very good. They didn't give us enough sauce for 4 rolls, so someone ate the last roll without any sauce, which isn't that good.
Remodeled, new and improved. Â It is so much more open, a great place to hang out. It is more of a lounge than a shop however, they still sell wine. They have collaborated with the other restaurants around them so you can have snacks and a glass of wine while hanging with your friends.
There wine selection is not as big as before however, very similar in style. You can purchase wine by the glass, bottle or flights. When you purchase any bottle and drink it there they have a $10 corkage fee.
I think it is great they are back in business. We need more wine lounges/shops in the OC. Cheers and happy drinking! :)
I was really surprised how great this place was. Â I was told this wine bar closed down for a time to remodel. Â After looking through some of the older pictures, the new place looks great. Â They put in tables and couches for more of a small intimate gathering setting. Â I went there on a saturday night and the place was almost full. Â There was a amazing live jazz band to set the mood too. Â The staff was also amazing. Â Despite almost being a full house, our waitress was always checking in on us. Â
If you're in the neighborhood, it's definitely worth checking out. Â If not for the wine, at least for the ambiance.
I heard about this place from a friend who lives nearby and was told about the grand opening tonight. This place is under new management and a great place to go on a date, with friends, whatever the occasion. Judging from the pictures posted before, this place was more of a wine store than wine bar but all that has changed. They completely started from scratch to create the perfect wine experience. It has a great selection of wines which you can buy by the bottle or glass. My girlfriend and I got the flight of crostini and were in heaven. You can pick 4 out of a bunch of options for the dish but we have to say the wild mushroom and goat cheese was our favorite.
The live music was totally fitting with a couple guitars and a standing bass. Perfect wine music. The new owners put a lot of thought into the atmosphere they wanted to create and nailed it.
No matter what your wine knowledge the friendly staff is there to give great recommendations for any taste your looking for. We tried a new wine called "The Ball Buster" and immediately bought one to take home. Â It was great to enjoy wines we like as well as try a few we have never heard of.
Overall, we are extremely excited that such a great wine bar has finally reached Orange County. We will be back for sure and can't wait to try more wine from their impressive selection. Cheers!
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it"
...Rumors are circulating like white on rice, like a fat kid on cake, like kanye on a microphone, like lady gaga on being kakarazy, like rhett s. on a hyperbole... Â Bacchus Secret Cellar has secured the adequate capital needed to reopen.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it"
-As the horticulturalists say, are those "green shoots" and or "mustard seeds" on thar fields over yonder? Â Or, simply put, that darn government induced "miracle grow"?
Time will tell....
I do hope Bacchus reopens soon.
Who ever would have imagined that a wine bar would be in the unsuspecting little shopping center at the bottom of the hill where I reside? Â I figured that surely any resemblance of nightlife in Irvine would be lacking, but as I do love wine, I decided to check this place out. Â
I was surprised to find, when I walked in - well, first, that it was karaoke night, and second, that there were drunk people everywhere, ranging anywhere from late 20s to middle aged. Â I guess OC does like its karaoke. Â
So its a wine shop and a wine bar in one. Â You can walk the aisles and pick out a bottle of your favorite Paso Robles red, or you can sit at the bar, outside, or even at a few tables amongst the inventory and enjoy wine and light snacks served to you. Â The wine list is extensive, and features tastes from all around the world. Â It also includes a beer menu, cigars, ports, dessert wines, and your choice of a number of designer waters. Â The food menu includes cheese and crackers, tapenades, and chocolate meant to be paired with wine. Â
Bacchus boasts a wine flight selection that would put The Winery (OC's newest wine bar in Tustin's The District) to shame. Â While The Winery only served several flights of both reds and whites, Bacchus has flights categorized anywhere from wine type to region to rating, and also has substitutions available. Â My friend and I tried a cabernet flight, in addition to a merlot flight - both offered a pretty fair range of our respective wines.
Service was friendly and knowledgeable, though I honestly didn't ask too many questions my first time there. Â The waitress was pretty efficient, though she never did bring us the water we requested. Â The atmosphere was pretty laid-back, with plenty of boisterous, drunk people willing to try their hand at karaoke. Â People pretty much stuck with the groups they came with, and it certainly didn't have a meet new people sort of vibe. Â
All in all, I appreciate that Bacchus' is a decent wine bar with an awesome wine selection. Â I would enjoy it even more, were it a place to meet like-minded individuals as opposed sitting next to the plastic OC types. Â But bring your own pleasant company, and this may just be the place for you! Â The only downside is that it closes at an early 10pm on weeknights, and 11pm on weekends - but I will certainly be back to check out the extensive wine selection on a *non* karaoke night - and at stumbling distance, no less!
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