Pacific Heights hides a serious wine room
Pacific Heights · San Francisco · Californian, Southern American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 11, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Anomaly, you half-expect a neighborhood bistro with a safe, forgettable wine list to match the white tablecloths. Then you actually read the list and realize someone here cares — a lot. Ridge, Kistler, Château Rayas, and a Scholium Project oddball all sharing the same pages is not an accident.
The 150-250 bottle list leans hard into California and France, which tracks with the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, but Matthew Didier isn't just stacking Napa Cabs and calling it a day. You've got Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot sitting next to Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Louis Jadot Burgundy alongside Paul Hobbs Cabernet — there's genuine range here across price points and styles. Château Rayas on any list is a flex, full stop. The presence of Scholium Project signals that the buyer has a personality, which is rarer than it should be.
With 12-20 pours available, the by-the-glass program has enough to actually navigate a full dinner without committing to a bottle. We'd expect rotations to pull from the California and Rhône-heavy backbone of the list, giving you real options rather than the usual unoaked chardonnay and generic Malbec defaults. The Wednesday half-price wine night makes this program genuinely accessible — show up mid-week and drink well for not much.
Faust Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2021 — $76
Faust consistently punches above its Napa entry-level price tag, and at $76 on a restaurant list it's one of the more honest deals here. Solid Oakville fruit, easy to enjoy, and it won't crater your bill the way the Ridge or Paul Hobbs will.
Scholium Project The Prince in His Caves 2020
Most tables at Anomaly are going to reach for the Kistler or the Caymus and never notice this one. Scholium Project is Abe Schoener making wines that don't fit any easy category — The Prince in His Caves is weird, textured, and interesting in ways that $89 rarely delivers. The kind of bottle that turns a dinner into a conversation.
Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Caymus is everywhere. It's fine. But when Château Montelena, Ridge, and Paul Hobbs are all on the same list, spending your money on the most over-poured Napa Cab in America feels like ordering a Big Mac at a steakhouse. You came here — go further.
Flowers Pinot Noir Camp Meeting Ridge 2021 + Duck confit with crispy skin and seasonal vegetables
Flowers Camp Meeting Ridge is a cool-climate, coastal Pinot with enough acidity and red fruit tension to cut through duck fat without overpowering the bird. The earthy, briny edge on this wine finds a natural home next to crispy skin and roasted vegetables. Classic combo, done with good ingredients on both sides.
Wednesday — Half-price wine night every Wednesday — applies to bottle selections and makes an already fair list genuinely hard to beat mid-week.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Anomaly is punching well above its neighborhood-bistro weight class — a thoughtful list, a sommelier who clearly has opinions, and Wednesday half-price wine night make this one worth planning around. Yes, send your friends here for wine.
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Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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La Ciccia is the rare neighborhood restaurant where the wine list is genuinely part of the experience, not an afterthought stapled to a food menu. If you care about Italian wine — especially anything off the beaten Tuscany-Piedmont path — you should be making reservations here.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
SoMa · San Francisco · Steakhouse with Japanese influence
Alexander's is a serious wine destination dressed up as a steakhouse — the list is deep, the staff knows it, and the room supports it. Just go in eyes open: this is a splurge-or-go-home situation, and the markups reflect exactly where you are.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Embarcadero · San Francisco · Steakhouse, American
EPIC Steak is a reliable, well-executed steakhouse wine program that earns its stripes with real depth, a sommelier who cares, and a few smart curveballs buried in the list. The markups will sting, but if you know where to look — and now you do — there's genuinely good drinking to be had with that view.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
Embarcadero · San Francisco · Seafood, Coastal American
Waterbar is doing the work — a genuinely broad list with smart coastal instincts, fair happy hour pricing, and a dessert wine program that most full-service wine bars would envy. Send your friends here; just make sure they stay through dessert.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
Mission District · San Francisco · Californian-Mediterranean
Foreign Cinema is doing something most San Francisco restaurants aren't — pairing a genuinely thoughtful, terroir-driven wine list with an atmosphere that could've easily gotten away with phoning it in. The markups sting a bit, but the selection earns the trip.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.