Meinl's Wine Bar

Description:

• Part of its allure derives from its role as a showcase for the wine-buying savvy of Vienna's most comprehensive delicatessen (Julius Meinl) and wine shop. It's small and cozy, set in the cellar of a food shop that leaves most gastronomes salivating, and accessible through a separate entrance that's open long after the delicatessen has closed. Within a decor that evokes the interior of a farmhouse on, say, the Austro-Italian border, it features a changing array of wines from around the world, and platters of flavorful but uncomplicated food that's deliberately selected as a foil for (what else?) the wines. You'll be amply satisfied with the dozens of wines listed on the blackboard or on the menu; but if there's a particular bottle you're hankering for in the stacks of wine within the street-level deli, a staff member will sell it to you and uncork it at a surcharge of only 10% more than what you'd have paid for it retail. Glasses of wine cost 3.80€ to 25€ ($6.10-$40); platters of food 9€ to 15€ ($14-$24) each. Open Monday to Saturday 11am to midnight.

• © Frommer's 2012

Other features:

Wine Bars