The Atrium Wine Bar
Fox & Obel’s newest addition, this wine bar offers a relatively upscale atmosphere at less-than-upscale prices. A modest selection of appetizers, entrees, and desserts—less than 20 in all—is joined on the menu by a couple dozen wines by the glass and half glass and several more by the bottle (at the store’s retail price). We started with a well-curated domestic cheese plate (Humboldt Fog, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, and an aged Vermont cheddar). The sweet crab flavor shone through in a blue crab cake special that went well with not only the curry aioli that accompanied it but also the unoaked California chardonnay the waiter recommended. Unfortunately the entrees were less successful. An overly sweet pomegranate sauce made the ginger-spiced chicken breast with sweet potato puree nearly inedible, and the pumpkin was virtually undetectable in an unremarkable pumpkin-and-roasted-duck risotto with spiced pecans. Still, service was excellent, the wine affordable, and by the time we left I’d all but forgiven the missteps with some of the food. —Julia Thiel
As at its parent restaurant, Bin 36, offerings on the seasonal menu here are annotated with recommended wine pairings, and if you can’t choose just one, there’s always the easy out of a flight, available by the whole or half glass. Under executive chef John Caputo there’s lots of good stuff. Tempura green beans, delivered in a little brown paper bag, had a delicious side of aioli. A hanger steak and pommes frites were expertly prepared, and what may just be the best monkfish I’ve had in my life came with tasty mushroom gnocchi and a whole-clove garlic confit. The roughly two dozen cheese offerings, American and European, are between two and four bucks a slice, opening the door to a huge range of flavors. On weekends, along with Bloody Mary and mimosa flights, brunch offerings include huckleberry-ricotta pancakes and a brunch pizza with spinach, frisee, and a poached egg. The sidewalk patio affords plenty of people watching. —David Hammond
This late-night lounge/wine bar/gastropub from the owners of Webster’s Wine Bar is a pleasantly understated space, outfitted in a sort of rustic-minimalist vein, with tables made from old wine casks and stools reminiscent of high school chem lab. On a Sunday night at least, it’s a nice mellow scene. For the most part the starters are great—lots of cured meats and funky cheeses, salads, flatbreads, and so on. The classic frites, simultaneously crispy and floppy and served with little cups of addictive curried ketchup and garlic aioli, are no-brainer perfection. The seasonal menu features dishes like ale-braised pork cheeks with a cress-strawberry salad and a free-range bison burger. By-the-glass options we tried from the wine list were excellent, and the extensive beer list is sophisticated and heavy on the Belgians. —Martha Bayne
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For a wine bar—not to mention a wine bar specializing, for God’s sake, in cheese and chocolate—Eno is blessedly free of frills. In fact, it’s downright manly inside this Hotel InterContinental hideaway, with dim lighting, dark wood paneling and red leather walls, and comfy leather-backed bar stools. Wines, cheese, and chocolate are all available a la carte or as flights of three; you can make up your own or pick one from the extensive menu. With the help of a friendly bartender/cheese pusher as refreshingly low-key as the decor I sampled a sinful truffled Gouda and two cave-aged Wisconsin cheeses, one of which—Willi Lehner’s Lil’ Will’s Big Cheese—was on special that month, and a charter member of the stinky-foot cheese club. Wines range from $9 to $110 a glass, and of the more than 700 available by the bottle, around 75 are under $30. There’s a second area location in the Hotel Fairmont Chicago (200 N. Columbus, 312-946-7000). —Martha Bayne
This laid-back wine bar is an extension of Letizia’s Natural Bakery, a fixture since 1998, and shares its charming back garden seating. It offers Letizia’s standard menu plus more than a dozen varieties of bruschetta, pizzas, dinner salads, and a number of meat, cheese, bread, and olive combinations in the tradition of rustic Roman cuisine. Larger plates include pork shoulder in red wine served over polenta, eggplant parmigiana, and lasagna with venison bolognese, but the salumi plates are enough for a light meal or ample snack for two. Enoteca Roma’s specialty is, of course, wine, served without attitude: says owner-manager Fabio Sorano, “You can get PBR or you can get Pahlmeyer.” —Susanah J. Felts
