Grocery Store Bottles, Brasserie Prices
Lincoln Highway East · Lancaster · French / Continental · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 18, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Brasserie Bar and Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The room has real brasserie energy — busy bar, good noise level, the kind of place you want a solid glass of wine with your steak frites. Then you open the list and find yourself staring at Kendall-Jackson and Josh Cellars, which is less brasserie and more airport terminal.
The list is essentially a greatest hits of grocery store California staples — Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, Meiomi Pinot Noir, Josh Cellars Cab, Cavit Pinot Grigio. There's a nod to Italy and a vague international presence, but no real depth, no interesting producers, and nothing that reflects the French brasserie concept the restaurant is built around. You'd expect at least a Côtes du Rhône or a simple Muscadet to anchor the theme, but that connection between concept and cellar just isn't there. It's a list built for zero friction, which also means zero excitement.
Around 10 to 15 pours by the glass, ranging $8 to $14, which sounds reasonable until you realize you're paying $14 for wines that retail under $15 a bottle. The selection doesn't rotate in any meaningful way — what's on the menu is what's been on the menu. There's no sign of a by-the-glass program that someone actually curated with intention.
Meiomi Pinot Noir — $38
Relative to the rest of the list, Meiomi's markup clocks in at 111% — the least aggressive on offer. It's still a mass-market wine, but at least it's approachable and crowd-pleasing enough to hold its own with the French onion soup or a lighter protein. If you're stuck here, this is your move.
Cavit Pinot Grigio
We're not calling this a gem in any serious wine sense, but if you're eating crab cakes on a warm night and want something cold and neutral that won't fight the food, Cavit does exactly that. Nobody orders it, which means it's probably the freshest bottle at the bar.
Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
A 162% markup on a $13 retail bottle is hard to stomach. Josh Cellars Cab is fine — fine being the operative word — but paying $34 for it in a restaurant when you can grab it at any grocery store for a third of that price is exactly the kind of transaction you should refuse.
Meiomi Pinot Noir + Steak Frites
Meiomi is soft, fruit-forward, and low enough in tannin that it doesn't fight the char on a steak. With frites in the mix soaking up the fat, you want something that stays in its lane — and this does. Not a profound combination, but a functional one.
Wednesday — Multiple older sources reference a Wednesday half-price wine bottle night at the bar. Status is unconfirmed and may have changed — call ahead before you plan your evening around it.
The Bottom Line
Brasserie Bar has the atmosphere and the food concept to support a genuinely interesting wine list, but what's here is a phoned-in collection of supermarket names at steep markups. Come for the steak frites and the scene — just don't come expecting anyone to have thought hard about what's in your glass.
Downtown · Lancaster · French Bistro
Barberet isn't a wine destination, but it's doing something rarer — matching a focused, honest wine program to food that actually deserves it. If you're in Lancaster and want a French dinner that doesn't embarrass itself on the wine side, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lancaster · Winery tasting room / Wine bar
Waltz Vineyards is a solid local winery doing honest work with Pennsylvania fruit and keeping prices in a range that makes experimentation easy. If you're in Lancaster and want to drink local without getting gouged, this is the right stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lancaster · American Fine Dining / Steak & Seafood
The Greenfield is a reliable, well-meaning wine program dressed up in fine dining clothes — it won't embarrass you on a special occasion, but it won't give you a story to tell either. Order the scallops, pick something from Pennsylvania if you can find it, and let the room do the heavy lifting.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lancaster · Cocktail & Wine Bar / Small Plates
Proof is doing something genuinely rare in the Pennsylvania mid-market: building a wine list that respects its customers' curiosity without gouging them for it. If you're within driving distance of Lancaster and care at all about drinking something you've never heard of, this is your spot.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lancaster · Wine Bar / Italian Small Plates
Vine Bar is a genuine surprise in a city that doesn't get enough wine credit — a small, Italy-obsessed red wine list with real depth and genuine curiosity behind it. If you know enough to appreciate Gamay del Trasimeno and three-cru Barolo in the same room, make the trip.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lancaster · Italian / Wood-fired
LUCA isn't trying to be a wine bar, but whoever put this list together has better taste than most Italian restaurants twice its size. For Lancaster, this is genuinely worth ordering a bottle over.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.