Lenoir’s sun-dappled wine garden also offers savory dishes and desserts
Find your wine-soaked bliss paired with delicious food at these classy Austin wine locales. All these places will satisfy your cravings for delicious wine and food, and won’t break the bank if you plan ahead.
1/ Lenoir Wine Garden
Lenoir’s best kept secret is its wine garden. This is where the storied wine parties occur, presenting wine and foods of various regions and hues to Austin. Summer bean chaat, grilled quail and deviled eggs with kochikaru are examples of the delights that have been found on the seasonal menu in the past.
The wine garden serves dishes prepared in both the food truck and inside kitchen. Select items from the normally prix fixe menu are now available outside, where recent improvements have made the environment more comfortable than ever. If you’ve ever wanted to check out Lenoir’s celebrated food, now is the time!
1807 S. 1st St. – Website
2/ Patika Wine and Coffee
Curated wine and coffee accompany freshly-made pastries at Patika Wine and Coffee
Like a favorite little black dress that carries you from day into night, Patika transforms from a coffee shop into a wine bar as the shadows fall. By day, the handful of tables are home to diligent workers drinking the outstanding coffee, eating house-made pastries and tapping away on their digital devices. By early afternoon, a few people start filling the small but charming patio space to indulge in glasses of wine.
“You know good wine when you taste it,” co-owner Andy Wigginton explained. “We don’t have a lot of space, but we love wine. We keep a curated collection of lovely wines that we feel are good representations of that type of wine.” Patika has a few house favorites, such as their go-to pinot noir and sauvignon blanc that do not rotate. Otherwise, they change out the selection based on what they have newly discovered or are crushing on wine-wise at the moment. Each wine Patika carries is available by the glass or bottle. Happy hour is from 5-7 p.m. and different bands play each Wednesday and Thursday.
2159 S. Lamar Blvd. – Website
3/ Bar Lamar
Austinites know that at the flagship Whole Foods Market, the magic of organic, local and delicious come together for a lofty shopping experience. Bar Lamar, at the back of the store, supplies a meeting place for savvy shoppers. Wash down a meal or dessert from one of the restaurants/counters in the store with some fine wine. Or grab a glass of wine to smooth over your shopping experience.
Bar Lamar allows customers to choose a bottle of wine from off the shelves, open it and drink it right there with no corkage fee. This means the bar is—gasp!—a real bargain. If you don’t have friends to share with, you still have options. The friendly bartenders are happy to sell you one of several selected flights or wines by the glass. Perhaps because it feels a wee bit naughty to drink in the middle of a grocery store, Bar Lamar has become a favorite among Austinites, a somewhat under-the-radar wine thrill.
525 N. Lamar Blvd. – Website
4/ House Wine
Wash down House Wine’s gluten-free prosciutto and salami roll platter with a glass of white wine
House Wine is an intimate spot. Meet friends for wine and nibbles on the patio or in a cozy nook inside this transformed house. They have recently added wine classes inspired by regions, seasons and the whims of visiting sommeliers and industry experts who lead the classes. The weekly wine classes for beginners are theme-based and an easygoing introduction to wine.
For the more intermediate wine palate, the monthly Wine Geeks Club specializes in small batch, hard-to-find wines. Regulars get to learn about and taste three new wines, taking home a bottle of each. House Wine has specials every night including daily sangrias and a $5 glass of red and white each day.
408 Josephine St. – Website
5/ Winebelly
Winebelly has fast become a neighborhood fixture, with a seasonal menu and fine wine selection. This place is perfect for a relaxed evening with a friend or date. The menu changes based on what’s in season, though perennial favorites such as the Wagyu beef sliders with blue cheese and bacon jam, the chicken liver mousse, and the shishito peppers stay on the menu year-round. The staff is knowledgeable and personable. Sundays and Mondays offer a killer deal of half-priced bottles on a select wine menu.
519 W. Oltorf St. – Website
Remember, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to wine down in this town. Each of these five Austin wine venues draw a fun, wine-loving crowd on a regular basis. Cheers!
@theAustinot wants to know:
Where do you go to have wine in Austin?
Love the way this is written! Makes me hungry for some wine right now!!! Is it bad it is only 11:40am on a Thursday? ?
Haha!
Thanks Joleen! I love a number of these, but have never been to Bar Lamar. Will have to check it out! I do love Whole Foods 🙂
Cool! Sure! And me too.