Jersey City's Quietly Solid Wine Play
· Jersey City · New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · October 5, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Amanda's’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Thirty-four labels isn't trying to impress you, but Amanda's wine list earns its keep without making a fuss about it. The price range — $27 to $157 a bottle, $9 to $18 a glass — signals that someone thought about accessibility rather than just padding the margins. It's a list that wants to be used, not admired.
The whites do the heavy lifting here: two Pinot Grigios at different price points (Lagaria for everyday drinking, Jermann when you're feeling serious), a Chateau de Sancerre that earns its $60 ask, and a pair of Rieslings from Columbia Valley and Württemberg that show actual range. Reds are leaner — Allegrini Valpolicella, a Rioja from Bodega Lanzaga, and a Barberani Sangiovese blend from Lago di Corbara cover the Italian-Spanish axis without venturing far beyond it. The sparkling shelf is respectable: Piper-Heidsieck and Veuve anchor the Champagne section, while a Langlois-Chateau Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé gives you an affordable celebration option. The main gap is depth on the red side — no Burgundy, no Northern Rhône, nothing particularly adventurous past the Malbec.
Twenty-three by-the-glass options across a 34-bottle list is a high ratio, and that's genuinely useful when you're splitting dishes and want to go rouge one course, white the next. The glass program tops out at $18 — the Allegrini Valpolicella and the Foresco Barberani Sangiovese both sit there — and bottoms out at $9 for the Aveleda Fonte Vinho Verde, which is a legitimate value pour. The Langlois-Chateau Crémant Brut Rosé at $16 a glass is a crowd-pleaser that doesn't feel like a punishment for not ordering Champagne.
The Bottom Line
Amanda's isn't going to make a wine lover's heart race, but it's doing the honest work: fair prices, enough variety to match a proper New American menu, and a by-the-glass program deep enough to drink your way through a multi-course meal without getting stuck. If you're in Jersey City and want a reliable bottle without a markup argument, this list delivers.
· Jersey City · American Bistro
Court Street's wine list is functional and fair — no embarrassing markups, a couple of genuinely good pours hiding among the Coastal Ridge, and glass prices that won't wreck your dinner tab. It's not a destination for wine lovers, but it's a perfectly fine neighborhood spot where you can drink the Rioja or the Sancerre and have a good night. Send your friends here for dinner; just steer them away from the mystery Champagne.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Jersey City · Jersey City · Italian
Il Tavolo isn't trying to be a wine destination, and that's fine — it's a reliable Italian spot with fair pours, sensible pricing, and enough range to keep the table happy. If you're in Jersey City and want a glass of Chianti that won't cost you a car payment, this is a safe and honest bet.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Jersey City · New American
Anthony David's wine list is reliable without being exciting — it does the job for a casual dinner without making you work too hard or feel gouged at the lower price points. The by-the-glass program is legitimately strong for a list this size, and the Crémant de Loire is a smart pour. If you're a wine-first diner, this isn't your destination, but if you're coming for a neighborhood meal and want a decent glass to go with it, you'll leave satisfied.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Jersey City · Omakase
The food concept at Sushi by Bou deserves a wine list that actually thinks about raw fish, delicate flavors, and how wine interacts with a progression of courses — and this list doesn't come close to that. Seven bottles, mostly supermarket staples, with no pricing transparency and no clear by-the-glass program. If you're going for the omakase experience, consider asking about corkage or ordering Champagne and leaving it at that.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Jersey City · Cocktail Bar and New American
Dullboy is a cocktail bar first and a wine program second, but the eight pours it stocks are more considered than anything you'd expect given the setting. If you're in Jersey City and want a glass of something genuinely interesting — not just Malbec or Pinot Grigio — this list earns a detour. Wild Card badge, fully deserved.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Jersey City · Jersey City · Wine Bar and New American
Grand Vin is doing the right things for a neighborhood wine bar — honest markup, a deep by-the-glass program, and a few quietly good bottles tucked into an otherwise crowd-pleasing list. It's not the destination you plan a special night around, but it's absolutely the place you walk into without a reservation and leave happier than you arrived.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· McMinnville · New American
Thistle is the kind of neighborhood restaurant that McMinnville deserves — rooted in place, edited in approach, and situated in one of the best wine regions in North America. We can't name specific bottles right now, but the regional focus on Willamette Valley and France tells us the list has a point of view. If you're heading to wine country and want a real dinner, this is worth a reservation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Irvine · New American
Reunion Kitchen isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the list proves it. Three by-the-glass pours from mass-market California producers, priced at a premium — this is a wine program on autopilot. Order a cocktail or a beer and save the wine for somewhere that actually thought about it.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Decatur · New American
Miller Union is doing something unusual: a wine program with no fat on it, just four deliberate producers matched to a meal's arc. We don't have pricing data to grade the value, and the fixed structure won't satisfy anyone looking to explore freely — but the bones of this list are genuinely good. If you trust the kitchen, trust the wine program too.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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