Great Seafood, But Skip the Wine List
North Scranton · Scranton · American, Bar, Seafood, Soups · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 14, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Cooper's Seafood House’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Cooper's has been a Scranton institution for nearly eight decades, and walking in, you feel that history — the dock-bar energy, the packed dining room, the smell of fresh seafood. The wine list, though, reads like it was assembled from a grocery store endcap circa 2012. It's a greatest-hits of mass-market labels that lean hard on name recognition over anything interesting.
The list clocks in at 20–40 labels, which sounds reasonable until you realize it's almost entirely populated by Kendall-Jackson, Meiomi, Santa Margherita, Josh Cellars, Barefoot, and Relax — the kind of roster you'd find at a casual chain restaurant, not a beloved local landmark. California dominates, with token gestures toward France and Italy. There's no depth, no surprises, no regional producers, and no sign that anyone curated this list with the seafood menu in mind. If you're hoping for something to complement a beautiful piece of fresh fish, you're working with blunt instruments.
By-the-glass options aren't listed explicitly on the website, so we can't tell you what's pouring or at what price. That's its own kind of red flag — if a restaurant is proud of its glass program, it shows it off. Whatever's available by the glass here likely pulls from the same mass-market stable as the bottle list.
Meiomi Pinot Noir — $34
It's a 70% markup over retail — the lowest on this list — and at least Meiomi is a crowd-pleaser that works with salmon or lighter seafood dishes. Not exciting, but it's the least punishing option on the menu.
Relax Riesling
Nobody orders Riesling at a seafood house, which is a shame because a slightly off-dry Riesling is one of the better matches for fried fish, chowder, and shellfish. Relax is as approachable as it gets — if you're at Cooper's and want something that actually plays with the food, this is your move.
Barefoot Moscato
A $7 retail bottle on the menu for $24 is a 243% markup on one of the sweetest, least serious wines in the American market. There is no scenario in which this is the right call at a seafood house.
Relax Riesling + Fresh fish
The gentle sweetness and bright acidity in the Riesling cut through rich, buttery fish preparations and hold their own against a bowl of chowder. It's not a glamorous pairing, but it's the one that actually makes sense on this menu.
Wednesday — Wine Down Wednesdays — half-price bottles of wine all day every Wednesday. Sparkling wines are excluded.
The Bottom Line
Cooper's earns its reputation on the seafood — the wine list is purely an afterthought, with steep markups on grocery-store staples. Come for the food and the atmosphere; if it's Wednesday, at least the half-price bottles make the math less painful.
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Mutant Brewing isn't a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be — but the all-Pennsylvania lineup from Maiolatesi is a genuinely thoughtful move for a taproom in Scranton. Come for the beer and the pizza, stay curious about the Sparkling Traminette.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Scranton Area · Scranton · Farm-to-Table / Wine Bar
Harvest isn't a destination wine list, but Wine Wednesday — 50% off every bottle — turns a steep-markup, crowd-pleaser program into a genuinely good deal worth planning around. Come hungry on a Wednesday and order the Rombauer without guilt.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Scranton Area · Scranton · Italian / Brewpub
Marzoni's is a brewpub that's very good at being a brewpub — order a house beer and enjoy the pizza. The wine list exists to serve guests who won't drink beer, not to give anyone a reason to seek it out.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Scranton · Italian-American Pizzeria and Restaurant
Alfredo's isn't a wine destination, but it's a pizza place with a functional, fairly priced list and one of the better midweek wine promotions we've seen in northeastern Pennsylvania. Show up on a Wednesday, order the Bonanza Cab at half price, and get a large pie — there are worse ways to spend a weeknight.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Downtown · Scranton · New American
POSH isn't a destination wine list — it's a safe, slightly overpriced selection that leans on brand recognition over discovery. Come on a Wednesday, grab the Colombo rosé at half price, and you'll leave happy; show up any other night and you're paying full markup for wines you could find at the corner store.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Downtown · Scranton · Italian
Sambucca is a perfectly decent Italian restaurant where wine is clearly an afterthought — steep markups on recognizable grocery store labels, no specials, no depth. Order the pasta, maybe a glass of something bubbly to start, and don't look at the wine list too hard.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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