Fifty Glasses Deep in Uptown Minneapolis
Uptown · Minneapolis · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed March 29, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Fifty wines by the glass at a neighborhood Italian spot in Uptown — that's not a typo. The list signals that someone here is paying serious attention, and when you spot names like Biondi-Santi and Ornellaia on a menu that also serves pasta to locals on a Tuesday night, you do a double take.
The list leans into Italy with conviction — exactly what you want from a place called Tavola — but it doesn't stop there. Napa shows up with Joseph Phelps holding it down on the California side, Domaine Serene represents Oregon Pinot with some weight behind it, and Burgundy rounds out the old-world credibility. The range from everyday drinking to serious-occasion bottles is genuinely impressive for a neighborhood restaurant, and the inclusion of Ornellaia suggests they're not just going through the motions. Gaps are hard to find when the spread is this wide, though South America and the Southern Hemisphere are conspicuously absent.
Fifty by-the-glass options is an absurd number in the best possible way — most dedicated wine bars don't hit that mark. At around $10 a glass as the entry point, this is where Tavola really earns its reputation; you can explore the list without committing to a bottle, which is exactly how a program this deep should be used.
Domaine Serene Pinot Noir — $10/glass
Domaine Serene is a serious Willamette Valley producer whose bottles regularly run $40–60 retail. Getting it by the glass at a neighborhood Italian spot at this price point is the kind of find that makes Tuesday nights worth planning around.
Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino
Most people at a neighborhood Italian restaurant are going to order the house red and call it a night. That means the Biondi-Santi — one of Brunello's founding estates — is sitting there waiting for the one table that knows what they're looking at. Don't be the table that walks past it.
Joseph Phelps Insignia
Insignia is a great wine, but it's also one of the most recognizable names in Napa and carries the markup to match. If you're spending serious money here, the Italian side of the list offers more interesting value for the dollar.
Ornellaia + Wood-fired pasta
Ornellaia's Super Tuscan blend — Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot — has the structure to stand up to wood-fired char and the fruit to complement a rich pasta sauce. It's the kind of pairing that makes the whole table lean in.
Tuesday — Half-off bottles of wine every Tuesday
🎲 The Bottom Line
Tavola is doing something genuinely unusual: running a deep, producer-focused wine list through a casual neighborhood Italian frame, and doing it at prices that don't punish you for exploring. Tuesday half-price bottles alone make this worth putting in your rotation.
North Loop / Warehouse District · Minneapolis · Modern Argentinian Steakhouse
Porzana punches above its class for a Minneapolis steakhouse — the Italian and Argentine selections show genuine curation, and the Fenocchio Barolo alone justifies a serious wine order. Just go in with eyes open on markups and skip the entry-level bottles unless you're pouring by the glass.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Lowry Hill · Minneapolis · Steakhouse and Wood-Fired Pizza
Burch has the bones of a genuinely great wine program — knowledgeable staff, proper storage, and a list that respects the classics — but the pricing strategy on the mid-tier and entry-level bottles will test your patience. Go big or go home: the value-to-quality ratio only really clicks once you're spending $200+.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / North Loop · Minneapolis · New American / Contemporary American
112 Eatery's wine list is punching well above its weight for a Minneapolis neighborhood bistro, with a genuinely distinctive Old World focus and producers that belong on serious lists anywhere in the country. The markups sting on a few bottles, but the curation earns enough goodwill to keep us coming back.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Uptown · Minneapolis · French Bistro
Barbette is a wine list built by someone who actually drinks wine and wants you to as well — it's small, French, and surprisingly legit for a neighborhood bistro in Uptown. If you're a natural wine fan or just someone who wants good Beaujolais with steak frites, send your friends here.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Loring Park · Minneapolis · New American
Cafe Lurcat is a reliable, well-staffed wine program in one of Minneapolis's prettiest dining rooms — just know you're paying a premium for the address and the ambiance. Ask the sommelier for help navigating the list and you'll drink well; go on autopilot and order the obvious Napa Cab and you'll leave having spent more than you should have.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Southwest Minneapolis (Fulton) · Minneapolis · Italian, fresh housemade pasta
Broders' Pasta Bar isn't a wine destination, but it's exactly the kind of neighborhood spot that gets the wine list right by staying in its lane. Fair prices, Italian focus, solid glass pours — bring a friend who orders by the bottle and you're in good shape.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
La Frontera · Round Rock · Italian
Macaroni Grill's wine list is functional in the same way a vending machine is functional — it'll get you a drink, but nobody's excited about it. If wine matters to you even a little, you're better off at almost any independent Italian spot in the area.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Wooster Square · New Haven · Italian
Tre Scalini is the rare neighborhood Italian that backs up a serious room with a serious wine list — 425 bottles, a sommelier, and real Italian depth all say someone's paying attention. Markups run steep on the prestige stuff, but value is absolutely findable if you know where to look.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
The Greene · Dayton · Italian
Bravo is not a wine destination, and it doesn't try to be — but Wednesday nights at the bar with $7 pours of Ruffino Chianti and a pasta dish is genuinely a decent night out in Beavercreek. Skip the wine list the other six nights unless you're okay paying chain markups for supermarket bottles.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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