Somar Wine Cellars

I come back to my home town on a regular basis, and I almost always stop at Buehlers for wine because they have better prices and hours than our friendly PA Liquor Control Board.  However, last time I was home I stopped at SoMar, and it will now be a regular pilgrimage.  I stopped here on a Monday, with my kids in tow, just after they opened.  Stephe  didn't flinch at my children climbing all over his lovely lounge furniture, thankfully the store was empty this early in the day and my kids didn't touch any wine bottles.  I think it takes some serious calm to not worry about a five and seven year old in a store full of wine .  Stephe helped me select some wines that were in my budget, and didn't overload me with info, enabling us to get out of the store with six bottles of wine for the holidays without my kids wrecking anything.  He even brought the box out to my car for me, chivalry is not dead!

So I'll give this place credit. They are REALLY trying. Here's the breakdown:

Space: Beautiful and modern. High ceilings, fireplace inside and a nice patio out back.

Wine: Strange to put it best. They mostly had  wines I could buy at the grocery store, but every once in a while I'd see a label for a gem like Darioush. Maybe they're waiting until the concept takes off to really invest in the pricier wines? Not sure. Basically, some good, some bad but not the quality you'd find in a larger city.

Service: They were very nice and personable, but unfortunately didn't know anything about wine--much less the wines in stock. They should be SOMEWHAT familiar with what they're selling.

That being said, I'd still go back. As long as you know what to buy and are not looking to learn about wine, you're good to go. Prices are decent too. Perfect place to buy a bottle since most of the places in town close at about 10.

GO, GO, GO! This place has the swanky appearance of a NYC wine bar with the prices of your local discount wine shop.

While visiting from FL, we were so happy to stumble upon this cozy wine bar. It's adorable inside and the prices made us almost fall on the floor! We had a cheese plate (excellent), two glasses of white wine (recommended), and ended up buying two more bottles of the same wine - all for $30!

You don't come across a place that has it all like this very often. You won't be disappointed.