Fifty Pages of Serious Wine in the East Village
East Village · New York · Wine-Focused Restaurant · Visit Website ↗
Updated June 2026
Reviewed March 23, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Stars’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
A 50-page wine list lands on your table and it's immediately clear this place isn't playing around. The East Village doesn't exactly scream serious wine program, which is exactly what makes Stars so disarming. This is a list built by someone who actually loves wine, not someone who outsourced it to a distributor rep.
The real action is in France and Italy — Dard & Ribo and Thierry Allemand anchoring the Rhône side while Mascarellos and the Rinaldis hold down Piedmont with the kind of depth you'd expect from a dedicated wine bar. The 88-bottles-at-$88-or-less program is a genuine commitment, not a marketing gimmick — it signals that access to good wine here isn't reserved for expense accounts. That said, the top of the list climbs fast: a Dujac Clos de la Roche 2005 sitting at $2,550 is a legitimate trophy bottle, but at roughly 112% over retail, it's priced for people who aren't doing the math. California makes an appearance too, rounding out what is otherwise a firmly Old World-focused perspective.
More than 20 pours by the glass at $11–$19 is a genuinely impressive spread for New York, where most restaurants treat BTG as an afterthought. That price ceiling keeps things accessible without dumbing down the selection. We'd expect the pours to rotate with the same curatorial intent as the bottle list — if they're pulling from producers like Allemand and Dard & Ribo for the glass program, this is one of the better by-the-glass setups in the neighborhood.
88-bottle $88-or-less selection (any bottle from this tier) — $88
A standing commitment to 88 bottles priced at $88 or under from producers of this caliber is rare in New York. Pick almost anything from this tier and you're drinking well without the usual Manhattan premium.
Dard & Ribo (Rhône)
Most tables at a place like this will gravitate toward Piedmont or the trophy Burgundy. Dard & Ribo makes electric, terroir-driven Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph that most diners walk right past — their loss, your gain.
Dujac Clos de la Roche 2005
It's a stunning wine and yes, it's on the list. But at $2,550 against a ~$1,200 retail price, you're paying a serious collector's premium for the privilege of drinking it here. Save the splurge for a bottle you can't easily track down elsewhere.
Mascarello (Piedmont) + Pasta or braised meat dish
Mascarello's structured, earthy Barolo or Barbera cuts right through rich braised meat or a butter-forward pasta — the acidity does the work and the wine gets better with every bite.
The Bottom Line
Stars is the kind of place that makes you feel like you stumbled onto a secret, which is exactly how a great wine list should feel. The markup at the top end is real, but the depth of the list and the $88-and-under commitment mean there's serious drinking to be done at almost every budget.
Midtown · New York · French Brasserie
La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
BLT Prime's wine program is glass-only, which limits your options if you came for a big bottle moment, but the pricing is honest and the selection is more thoughtful than most steakhouses bother with. If you're keeping it casual and ordering by the glass, you can drink well here without feeling taken advantage of — and that's not nothing in this city.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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