Wine and Bars
Some food is usually necessary, but the focus on these establishments is wine, with food as a complement, and these are bars first and foremost. There are certainly some restaurants that are terrific for wine, but those just aren't included on this page. The focus of the best local wine bars, like the wine lists of the more interesting or top Houston restaurants, is the Old World: France and Italy, with Austria, Spain, Germany and others playing supporting roles.
Updated July 25, 2021.
The Best
13 Celsius - Food & Wine magazine and I think alike: this was selected in February 2017 to one of the best wine bars in the country. It has long been my local favorite.
Nearly the Best
Camerata - The city's most serious wine bar with the most knoweledgable staff, and usually filled with people in the wine business, it has a smaller selection of wines by the glass than other places and often in a particular theme. If you can afford to it - more so in terms of quantity - selections and prices are better by the bottle.
Vinology - Unique for Houston, this is not really a wine bar like the others, but a retail shop with a very well-curated selection of 350 or so wines, and about a dozen seats where you can drink wine, encouraged by engagingly selected flights of three wines that change weekly.
The Best of the Rest
How to Survive on Land and Sea - An breezy, relaxed place on Harrisburg on the light-rail line in the East End.
Mutiny Room - Housed in an attractive, built-to-purpose structure at the southern edge of the Heights, this seems to target those with fond memories of trips to the northern California wine country.
The Tasting Room - Down to a single location in CityCentre, this casual but quite nice spot might not be nearly as serious as Camerata or 13 Celsius, but can be fun.
Light Years - All natural with the best selection of natural wines in the city set in an old bungalow near the Menil; breezy and laid back if best-suited for the fans of the genre.
Updated July 25, 2021.
The Best
13 Celsius - Food & Wine magazine and I think alike: this was selected in February 2017 to one of the best wine bars in the country. It has long been my local favorite.
Nearly the Best
Camerata - The city's most serious wine bar with the most knoweledgable staff, and usually filled with people in the wine business, it has a smaller selection of wines by the glass than other places and often in a particular theme. If you can afford to it - more so in terms of quantity - selections and prices are better by the bottle.
Vinology - Unique for Houston, this is not really a wine bar like the others, but a retail shop with a very well-curated selection of 350 or so wines, and about a dozen seats where you can drink wine, encouraged by engagingly selected flights of three wines that change weekly.
The Best of the Rest
How to Survive on Land and Sea - An breezy, relaxed place on Harrisburg on the light-rail line in the East End.
Mutiny Room - Housed in an attractive, built-to-purpose structure at the southern edge of the Heights, this seems to target those with fond memories of trips to the northern California wine country.
The Tasting Room - Down to a single location in CityCentre, this casual but quite nice spot might not be nearly as serious as Camerata or 13 Celsius, but can be fun.
Light Years - All natural with the best selection of natural wines in the city set in an old bungalow near the Menil; breezy and laid back if best-suited for the fans of the genre.
