Half-price Wednesdays and Etna on the list
West Loop · Chicago · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 14, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Mart Anthony's Italian Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Mart Anthony's, the exposed brick and warm lighting do exactly what they're supposed to — make you feel like you're about to eat well. The wine list backs that up more than you'd expect from a neighborhood Italian spot on Hubbard. Italy and California are the twin engines here, and they've got enough range to reward a closer look.
The list leans into its Italian identity without being predictable about it. You've got Vietti Barolo and Gaja Barbaresco covering the Piedmont heavyweights, but the real signal is the Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso — that's a producer buying volcanic-site fruit on the slopes of Mount Etna, not a name you expect to see at a cozy West Loop trattoria. California shows up with Ridge Lytton Springs and Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot, two producers that actually mean something. La Spinetta rounds out the Italian side at a price point that feels approachable. Wine Spectator handed these guys an Award of Excellence starting in 2025, and you can see why — the list has genuine intent behind it.
By-the-glass specifics aren't published, which is a miss in transparency. Given the list composition, we'd expect the usual suspects — something from Tuscany, a California red, maybe a Pinot Grigio for the crowd. If they're rotating off-the-bottle wines as pours, that's worth asking the server about. Wednesday's half-price bottle program is the smarter play anyway.
Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso 2021 — $68
Terre Nere is one of the benchmark producers in Sicily's volcanic north — nerello mascalese with real structure and freshness. At $68, you're getting a wine that retails around $30-35, which is a reasonable restaurant markup for something this interesting. Drink it with anything on the menu.
Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021
Most tables at an Italian restaurant are ordering the Barolo or the Chianti. The Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot at $52 is the sleeper — cool-climate California Pinot with enough acidity to work with the food without demanding attention. Most people walk right past it.
Opus One 2019
At $285, Opus One is always a trophy pour more than a value play. You're paying for the name — the wine is genuinely good, but you could drink Gaja Barbaresco and have money left over. Save it for someone else's expense account.
Vietti Barolo Castiglione 2020 + Short rib agnolotti
Vietti's Castiglione is a structured, classic Barolo — tannin, tar, roses, the whole playbook. Braised short rib filling in pasta has the richness and fat to stand up to it, and the acidity in the nebbiolo cuts right through. This is the pairing you came for.
Wednesday — Half-price bottles on Wednesdays — the best reason to eat Italian mid-week in the West Loop.
The Bottom Line
Mart Anthony's punches above its weight class for a neighborhood Italian — the Terre Nere on the list alone earns goodwill, and half-price bottles on Wednesday makes it a legitimate weekly move. Send a friend, order the agnolotti, and ask about what's open.
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Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Antonetas isn't a wine destination, and it isn't trying to be — it's a family-friendly neighborhood Italian with a wine list that covers the basics and stays out of the way. If you're after a solid glass of something red with your Lasagna in a no-fuss setting, you won't be disappointed. Just don't show up expecting to geek out over the list.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Alpharetta · Italian
Crust is a solid neighborhood Italian spot where the wine list is a supporting player, not the headliner — and that's fine. Come for the rigatoni alla vodka and garlic knots; order a glass of whatever red they're pouring and don't overthink it. We'd send a friend here for dinner without hesitation, just not for the wine list alone.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Vespucci's isn't a wine destination, but it doesn't pretend to be — and that honesty is refreshing. The one move that earns real respect here is the Monday half-price bottle deal, which turns an ordinary weeknight into a genuinely good value. Show up on a Monday, order the Eggplant Parmigiana, grab a bottle at half price, and you've had a solid dinner without thinking too hard about it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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