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 February 22, 2018.
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.
Public Services - Not a full wine bar in the sense of 13 Celsius and Camerata - it has a full bar and, it might be the best whisky bar in the city, certainly downtown. But, it has a very chosen wine and a knowledge and helpful staff.
The Best of the Rest
Rouge - Adjacent and owned by the Denis brothers at Le Mistral, the emphasis is French and there will be appealing and locally obscure wines to sample from bounty of Gallic viniculture. To enjoy them, you might have to put up with some mediocre live music some nights of the week, though.
Noble Rot - This small space in The Conservatory downtown has a much better-than-expected array of wines that are mostly priced at $7 or $8 per glass.
The Tasting Room - These casual but quite nice spots might not be nearly as serious as Camerata or 13 Celsius, but they can be fun, especially the Uptown location, which can serve as a meat market on Thursdays for a clientele of a certain age.
Sonoma - You might just stick to wine here and avoid the output of the kitchen, given my experience with their pizza, which was awful.
Beckrew - Fairly quaint and attractive place with a friendly staff that can work well as a date destination.
Updated February 22, 2018.
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.
Public Services - Not a full wine bar in the sense of 13 Celsius and Camerata - it has a full bar and, it might be the best whisky bar in the city, certainly downtown. But, it has a very chosen wine and a knowledge and helpful staff.
The Best of the Rest
Rouge - Adjacent and owned by the Denis brothers at Le Mistral, the emphasis is French and there will be appealing and locally obscure wines to sample from bounty of Gallic viniculture. To enjoy them, you might have to put up with some mediocre live music some nights of the week, though.
Noble Rot - This small space in The Conservatory downtown has a much better-than-expected array of wines that are mostly priced at $7 or $8 per glass.
The Tasting Room - These casual but quite nice spots might not be nearly as serious as Camerata or 13 Celsius, but they can be fun, especially the Uptown location, which can serve as a meat market on Thursdays for a clientele of a certain age.
Sonoma - You might just stick to wine here and avoid the output of the kitchen, given my experience with their pizza, which was awful.
Beckrew - Fairly quaint and attractive place with a friendly staff that can work well as a date destination.
