If you love the 80s, you love wine, and you love great food, go here.
First: Yes, the decor is delightfully purple and eighties (right down to the piano key booths). But, I think this adds to the feel of the place and makes it fun! We went on a snowy night, sat by the fireplace with my parents (who frequent there and have never had a bad time), and kvetched over amazing noir, pinot grigio, and cab sav. The food is simple and comforting without being heavy - bruschetta, mussels, everything you'd expect from a wine bar on the coast.
Go. Eat. Drink. Be merry. Play fake piano on the booths (I may have done this. Maybe.).
Most wine bars are crazy pretentious and full of hoity-toity wine "connoisseurs" who have something to say about every glass on the menu. They're dimly lit, stuffy, and cold. If you want food, you're going to have to settle for prissy cheese plates and small plates that could feed a gerbil.
The Wine Bar is not that sort of place.
You walk up to the second floor and are greeted with this cool, chic coffee shop vibe. The furniture is completely mismatched in a charming way, and there's even seating at an old piano. High heels hold empty wine bottles for show, Christmas lights are hung throughout the Bar, and the wine menu for the night is written on various dry-erase boards and mounted on chairs all over. You even get the perfect view of sexy tourists wobbling on their heels on the cobbled Wharf Street, if you're into people-watching like I am. It's definitely the most relaxed upscale place I've been to in a long time, and I'm sure the rest of the people who were in there that night agree with me.
Even the flaws that my BF and I noticed throughout the night were crazy charming. There was only one guy with a nose ring working when we came in on the Thursday night. Seriously, he was doing EVERYTHING: taking orders, cooking the food, making cocktails, you name it and he did it. No surprise that the service was a bit spotty, but we gave him a huge pass since he's not an octopus man with eight arms to do everything. Even when he apologized for not having enough spring mix for our veggie antipasto so he had to use spinach, it wasn't even a big deal. He was just the kind of guy we wanted to encounter while we were in Maine.
If you take away anything from this review, remember this: get the Pear & Gorgonzola Pizzette with a Little Cream Soda. Your life will literally change for the better, if only for a night.
The Wine Bar was the perfect place to sit end enjoy a quiet, calm and relaxing time in the midst of the madness of downtown Portland on a Friday night. The adorable upstairs nook has a great drinks list, several wine options and, this being Portland, an impressive array of beers.
We came in from an absolute downpour and sat near the fireplace, which added even more coziness to the cozy exposed brick-and-beams of the room. The waitress came right over, and had our drinks to us pretty quickly, as well. I went with the house cabernet, which was rich, ripe and bold - perfect for taking the chill off. One of my companions had a martini, which came with it's own sidecar on ice, which is always a nice touch.
We were able to sit for hours, have a conversation without screaming and the waitress only appeared when the drinks were almost drained - perfect timing for refills. My only gripe is that it's a little hard to find if you don't know where it is, and the decor is a tad out-of-date. But whatever - this place is a wonderful find and I loved it!
We have been to the wine bar many times over the last couple of years and have given reviews of 4. Â Our visit last night is showing a decline. Â The list of available wines is shorter and two of the wines we tried were disappointing. Â The place is starting to wear down. Â Appetizers are not as carefully presented. Â With the by-the-glass wine lists at local restaraunts being as extensive as they are, a wine bar needs to provide wines that are noteworthy, and whoever did that for the wine bar must have left.
Review Source:We went for a before dinner drink, in part attracted by sign outside that listed wines and had "Mojitos" written in large letters. Â We were only ones in the place, but it was early. Â The bartender admitted she had never made a Mojito before, and she tried her best, but it was unlike any Mojito I'd ever had (and not in a good way). Â Surprised they would so prominently put Mojito on their sign, and then not even know how to make one. Â List of wines by the glass was good, but not extensive. Â The Malbec was fine, but nothing special. Â The bartender was on a personal phone call . Â We had to ask twice for our bill, even tho we were still the only ones there. Â Also we found the atmosphere a little tired and dreary. Â It may be cozy on a winter night, but on a beautiful day it just seemed a bit worn out. Â We won't return. Â Better to go to Harbor Hotel patio or just directly to the restaurant to have a drink.
Review Source:Located up stairs off the cobble stone street(Wharf St), this wine bar is a fun place to come for a nice break or pre dinner drink. I walked in and tried to pick out the most conformable seating there was. The large leather chair seemed to fit my style best. My girlfriend sat across the table from me in a reupholstered violet crushed velvet wing chair. The plush couch adorned with throw pillows was taken and the booths designed to look like piano keys were a little big for 2 people. There was a large selection of wine, I selected from the white board our waitress brought over. i did not try any of the apps but looked over the menu that seemed tasteful.The room was very relaxing and homey. The 2 women that made up the staff (owners?) were very nice and attentive and new how to rock a cowgirl hat. We enjoyed our glasses of wine comfortably and would've returned after dinner if we were so stuffed! Will definitely return on our next trip to Portland to scope out the late night scene.
Review Source:Since we had reservations at Street & Company, we decided to get a few pre-dinner drinks here.
We sat at two living room type chairs with a round table. Â Our first server was unpleasant and looked harried, as well as a bit unkempt. Â Thankfully, a second one replaced her and she was very nice. Â The atmosphere was kind of strange - half loungey and then half bar with tables. Â There was actually a blind or dating site date going on behind us; I think they hit it off though. Â My drinks were alright and it was a bit more expensive than I expected for Portland.
Maybe next time we would come for drinks after dinner since there didn't seem to be much of a selection, unless we wanted to do $1 jello shots at this college-type bar.
This was a really cute stop to get a drink. It's a quiet place where you can actually drink and have a conversation vs the loud bars on the street. The decor was very comfortable. Scattered chairs, a small bar and table seating. We actually met an awesome couple from Portland at the bar and hit it off. We stayed and enjoyed another drink with them.
The drinks were poured stiff! The cheese platter could of been presented better but wasn't bad portion wise for $10.
I would come back here again. A good place to unwind before or after dinner.
Let's start by asking the waitstaff an easy question "what comes on the cheese plate?" Â The response: "whatever it says on the menu". Â The menu, by the way, says "cheese and fruit". Â We opted for bruschetta that was nothing more than crostini on top of a bowl of soggy tomatoes and powdered parmesan cheese. Â A shame, because it seemed like a place with potential, from the Elvis pictures to the painting of a cat in a birthday hat. Â The wine was ok but a rather limited by-the-glass selection for a place called The Wine Bar.
Review Source:Went here post-dinner with a large group of people. I'd never been in here before (I think) and I was more than pleasantly surprised. Mostly it was the atmosphere I found so comfortable. REALLY cute and classy for Portland, with a cozy compliment of music and soft but not dark lighting.
They have a full bar, and even a few beers on tap. Prices were $5-10 for drinks and beer, and varying for wine and fancy liquors. This was an excellent place for a group of people to go and relax and have a couple of drinks.
There were wine corks EVERYWHERE as decoration.
I was recently in Portland for a couple days and stumbled upon the Wine Bar. It was late and my best friend and I just wanted something to eat. We walked by the Wine Bar and saw "crab quesadillas and lobster ravioli" on the sign - I was sold. I had no idea just how amazing the meal would be!! We tried shrimp with garlic and oil over crusty bread, lobster ravioli, and crab quesadillas. The lobster ravioli was served in a brie cream sauce with roasted grapes and I can't possibly eat lobster ravioli again, since it won't come close to how savory and AMAZING this dish was. The crab quesadillas were stuffed with crab and delicious to the last bite. I highly recommend this place - a surpising find and one that I will surely visit again when I'm in Portland!
Review Source:I'm a Mainer by birth and family obligations have brought me back to the Portland area for many years. I've been very happy to see the renaissance in dining the city has seen.
I work in the wine industry, so of course my eyes lit up when I read the words, "Wine Bar".
The place seems cozy enough, but I wouldn't know. I left rather quickly.
I found a chalk board with wines listed - both by the glass and by the bottle. They were all at about $22/btl, which is more than fair. The wines on the board were all dull wines and may well have been purchased at a gas station Down East for under $10. I was sure this was just their "specials" board, but when I asked for a wine list, the woman behind the bar just pointed at the chalkboard. "There must be more than that," I said, "You're a *wine bar*". "Nope," she replied.
Back down the stairs I went, astonished. We walked a block to the Portland Harbor Hotel, bought a bottle of Neyer's Merlot (although 2003 Chateau LaGrange was tempting) and sat in a cute little courtyard with a waterfall.
I've eaten in enough restaurants in Portland to know that there are good wines available. Heck, the Whole Foods has bottles for sale that are reserved for restaurants-only in CT, where I currently reside.
This seems to be the place for a little pre-game before the weekend bar crowd in the alley.
the name is not as snotty as it sounds. great place to go with girlfriends. although it needs to be at least half full to make it feel cozy, otherwise the furniture feels imposing. and i do mean that in a billy bob thorton "i'm afraid of antiques" kind of way.
but overall, funky little atmosphere, light fare and nice wine selection by the glass. a good way to experiment with wine and sort out your personal preferences. plus, the chocolate shop is just a short stumble down the stairs.
try the pizettas, even if the idea of pear, honey and gorgonzola sounds silly, it's worth a go.
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