Southern comfort food, wine list keeps pace
Downtown · Chattanooga · New South/American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 3, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Public House reads like a restaurant that actually thought about it — not a genius-level curation, but a solid 40-70 bottle program that covers enough ground to keep a table happy. Prices land in a range that won't make you wince: house pours in the $35-$40 zone, cellar selections bumping up to $60-$70. For downtown Chattanooga, that's honest.
The list leans on familiar New World anchors — cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir — with a genuinely interesting side door into South Africa via Simonsig out of Stellenbosch. Orin Swift shows up too, which signals they're not just buying off a generic distributor sheet. Australian wines round out the southern hemisphere play, though the specific producers there are murkier. The cellar tier adds a pinot blanc, which is a quietly smart move in a market where most restaurants wouldn't bother.
Ten to sixteen by-the-glass options is a respectable number for this format — enough that you can actually make a choice instead of just defaulting to the house pour. The house red and white anchor the bottom of the pour list and do their job without drama. We'd like to see more rotation here, but what's on offer is priced fairly for a casual fine dining room.
Cellar Selection Pinot Blanc — $60-$70
Pinot blanc is chronically underordered, which means restaurants price it honestly. At the cellar tier here, you're getting a food-friendly, aromatic white that will run laps around the chardonnay at a similar price point — and most of your tablemates won't even know what it is.
Simonsig (South Africa)
Simonsig is one of Stellenbosch's most established estates and it almost never appears on restaurant lists in mid-size American cities. Public House putting it on the menu is a low-key flex — it's the kind of bottle that makes you wonder who made the call, and then grateful they did.
House Selection Red
At $35-$40, the house red is priced fine, but it's the safe bet of the list — unnamed, unspecific, and doing the bare minimum. With Simonsig and Orin Swift both available for a reasonable step up, there's no reason to stay at the bottom.
Cellar Selection Cabernet Sauvignon + Steak & Fries
This is not a complicated equation, but that's not a knock. A proper cabernet sauvignon against a straightforward steak is a combination that works because it's designed to. The cellar tier bump earns its keep here — you want some structure and weight to stand up to red meat, not a house pour coasting through it.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Public House isn't trying to be a wine destination — it's a reliable New South dining room with a list that respects its guests. The South African angle and Orin Swift cameo give it just enough personality to be worth exploring, and the pricing keeps things honest.
Northshore · Chattanooga · American / Southern
The Rosecomb isn't a wine destination, but it's a genuinely good wine surprise — especially on a Tuesday when the whole bottle list goes half-price. Come for the burger, stay for the País.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Ringgold (Greater Chattanooga Area) · Chattanooga · Southern Coastal (Seafood, Steaks, Southern Sides)
1885 Grill Ringgold won't change how you think about wine, but it won't embarrass you in front of your dinner date either. It's the reliable neighborhood option in a part of Greater Chattanooga where that actually counts for something.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ooltewah · Chattanooga · Southern Coastal (Seafood, Steaks, Southern Sides)
1885 Grill is a solid neighborhood spot where the wine list does its job without doing much more. The selection is approachable, the BTG count is surprisingly high, but watch the markups on the low end — some of those glass pours are doing a lot of work for the house.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
St. Elmo · Chattanooga · Southern and Coastal
1885 Grill St. Elmo isn't a wine destination, but it doesn't need to be — it's a reliable neighborhood spot with fair prices, a comfortable patio, and a list that won't embarrass anyone. Send a friend here for dinner and tell them to order the Trapiche; don't send them here to geek out on wine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Northshore · Chattanooga · Portuguese and Mediterranean
Bela Lisboa is the most interesting wine list you'll find attached to a cozy neighborhood bistro in Chattanooga — the Portuguese focus is real and it works with the food. The markups are too aggressive on several bottles, but the soul of the program is there, and that's not nothing.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Lookout Valley · Chattanooga · Winery
DeBarge is the Wild Card Chattanooga deserves — a real working winery in the city's backyard, making honest wine at honest prices, staffed by people who actually care what's in the glass. If you want a Napa blockbuster, go somewhere else; if you want to drink something made twenty minutes from where you're sitting, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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