Baja Vibes, Neighborhood Soul, Serious Wine
Belmont Heights · Long Beach · New American / Wine Bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · October 11, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Taste Wine-Beer-Kitchen’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Taste, you get the feeling that someone actually cared when they built this list — it's a small, intimate room on East Broadway that leans into communal tables and neighborhood warmth rather than pretense. The Baja California focus is a genuine differentiator in a city where most wine bars default to Napa Cab and Willamette Pinot. A sommelier on staff means there's an actual human being behind these choices, not a beverage distributor's clipboard.
The list skews toward a regional focus that most Long Beach spots wouldn't dare attempt — Mexico's Baja California wine country gets real representation here, which alone earns points for conviction. We can't verify the full list from our sources, but the presence of a somm and the restaurant's stated identity as a wine-forward concept suggest the selection is curated rather than inherited. Expect a compact list — this is a small room, not a cellar — built around what's interesting rather than what's safe. Gaps likely exist in the deep Old World category, but that's not really the point here.
By-the-glass specifics aren't confirmed in our available sources, so we won't pretend to know the count or current pours. What we can say is that a wine bar with a sommelier on staff that doesn't run a serious by-the-glass program would be a contradiction in terms — and Taste doesn't seem like the contradictory type. Ask the staff what's open; that conversation is probably the best part of the visit.
The Bottom Line
Taste is doing something genuinely uncommon in Long Beach: a neighborhood wine bar with a Baja California identity, a sommelier who presumably knows why that matters, and a food menu built around dishes that actually want wine next to them. We'd send a friend here with one instruction — skip the menu and ask the staff what they're excited about right now.
Belmont Heights · Long Beach · Modern Latin / New Mexican
Panxa Cocina isn't a wine destination, but it's a Wild Card worth knowing — a kitchen-first list that actually shows some regional personality in a city full of lists that don't try. Send a friend here for dinner and tell them to order the Gruet just to watch the table react.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Alamitos Bay · Long Beach · Seafood, Steak, Sushi, and American Coastal
Boathouse on the Bay isn't a wine destination, but Wine Wednesday — 50% off bottles under $100 — turns a perfectly decent, crowd-pleasing list into a genuine reason to show up. Come for the views and the crab, grab the Eroica Riesling, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Downtown/Shoreline Village · Long Beach · Asian Fusion
PF Chang's wine list exists because restaurants have to have one, not because anyone particularly cared about building it. Grab the Riesling, enjoy your lettuce wraps, and don't expect the wine to be the reason you came.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Belmont Shore · Long Beach · Upscale American
Nick's on 2nd is a dependable neighborhood wine stop — solid list, familiar producers, nothing that'll blow your mind but nothing that'll disappoint a table of mixed drinkers. Send a friend here for a date night, just tell them to order the Duckhorn and leave the Jordan for someone else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown/Pine Avenue · Long Beach · Greek/Mediterranean
George's is a Wild Card because it's doing something most casual Greek spots don't bother with — actually leaning into Greek wine. Monday's half-price promotion makes it worth building a night around.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Belmont Shore · Long Beach · Seafood, American, Elevated Coastal
Roe Seafood's wine list is a crowd-pleaser in a restaurant that deserves something a little wilder, but Wine Wednesday — half-price bottles, no corkage, live jazz — is a genuine reason to show up on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. Come for the lobster roll, stay for the Sauternes.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
· Lincoln · New American / Wine Bar
Art & Soul is doing something that most restaurants in cities twice Lincoln's size wouldn't attempt: a by-the-glass program anchored by a 1975 Austrian white and a biodynamic Joly Chenin Blanc, at prices that don't make you wince. We don't have enough intel on the food menu or service to give this the full Rager treatment, but if you're in Lincoln and you care about wine, this is the room you want to be in.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlantic City · New American / Wine Bar
The Iron Room is the kind of wine-forward bar Atlantic City doesn't know it needs — cozy, staffed by people who care, and refreshingly serious about what's in the glass. If you're in AC and want something other than $14 Pinot Grigio at a casino bar, this is your move.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Acceptable
· Bentonville · New American / Wine Bar
Bar Cleeta is the kind of wine bar that shouldn't exist in Bentonville, Arkansas — and yet here it is, pouring Silvaner and Catarratto by the glass at prices that don't insult you. Send your adventurous friends here without hesitation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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