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Vino Venue - CLOSED
Categories: Nightlife Bars Wine Bars Food Beer, Wine & Spirits Wine Bars, Beer, Wine & Spirits [Edit]
686 Mission St(between 3rd St & Annie St)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Neighborhood: SOMA
(415) 341-1930
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Parking:
- Street
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Best Nights:
- Fri
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Welcome to K&L Wine Merchants! Since 1976 we've been proud to offer the world's finest wines, great service and competitive prices. We offer thousands… read more »
78 reviews for Vino Venue
Review Highlights
"Pretty high tech stuff, but very cool."
(in 3 reviews)
"Magical machines that spout wine into your glass."
(in 15 reviews)
"It's a great concept all around- their wines are constantly..."
(in 4 reviews)
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78 reviews in English
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Review from Shiho F.
Carmel by the Sea, CA
9/30/2010 2 photos
This was a great concept at the time, I lived on Pine & Mason the year this place opened. My roommate thought this was a fun place to check out as wine was becoming more hip with the younger crowd ( I was 24 or 25 at the time). It was a unique concept that is for sure but it seemed like although it was self-serve after you put money on your "wine card", I think people still watned guidance. Let's be honest, not our group but I'm guessing other customers. We just wanted to get a little tipsy and maybe find a wine we wanted to take home with us... sounds strickingly similar to our relationship with boys at the time.
But anyways, Monterey's Terranova Fine Wines just reopened after being closed for a while and they offer this sort of wine dispensary however it does not take up the whole darn store which I think is key. You need a personal touch (welcome, suggestion, smile etc...) which this new place in Monterey should offer (if it's the same nice gentlemand owner as before). -
Review from mokirobinson m.
San Francisco, CA
2/5/2006
This place is basically a big snooze - it's where fun goes to die.
The stars are for running into an deeply drunken ex-coworker (who, I noticed, had filled his water bottle with wine**) at the end of some sort of binge *cough* tina* and being wildly entertained by his outrageous, top of the decibel register stories which included his niece giving birth in a bathroom and exactly what kind of sex he wanted to have with my companion. Watching the cluefree employees cower in befuddled incompetence...now that's the juiciest entertainment I've had in weeks - and, yes, I did see King Kong.
**that's the universal sign of a "no fucking around" all out tear. -
Review from Lise L.
Oakland, CA
10/8/2007
I REALLY loved the concept when I stumbled in for a networking thing. However, I definitely didn't stumble back out because the tastes really are marked up A LOT.
Some of the high end wines did taste fabulous, and I did really enjoy the opportunity to try such a variety without buying full bottles.
I think they need a large space and to have a wine bar of sorts as well so patrons can get a full flight of wine, with bread and cheese, or wander around getting shots.
Right now, I think it is best as a place for groups of folks that don't know each other well. Figuring out the machines, comparing wines, bitching about the pricing are all good conversation starters to get over the 'um hi wanna be my friend' awkwardness. -
Review from Holly F.
Oakland, CA
12/11/2006
Um, no.
This place left little impression on me (and barely a buzz). It's freaking expensive, & the ambience is truly lacking...it's not 'warm' or 'whimsical' or anything like that. I like reading about the wines & then pouring them myself, but what I read was usually far more interesting than the wine.
It costs about the same to buy a tank of gas & drive up to Sonoma for a day of tasting...and it's about 10x more fun.Listed in: Hell in a Jar.
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Review from Michael G.
San Francisco, CA
12/4/2007
Honestly, this place never realized it's potential.
A text book study of a great concept poorly executed.
BTW, these a$# clowns never called me to let me know a party I planned there was not going to be possible. I walked past them this week...I live at The Paramount...to discover that their doors were locked by the Sheriffs Office for non payment of rent and other naughtiness.
So I have a week to move this party to a new place.
I am going to hunt these jokers down like insurgents in Hindu Kush; you can run but never far away enough. Whew...ok...that felt therapeutically centering.
Now where is my SOPMOD M4? -
Review from Hong K.
San Francisco, CA
10/13/2006
This place is the Dave and Busters of wine. I almost was tempted to stick in my D&B Power Card. (What, like you don't have yours in your wallet right now. Oh you don't? Um, neither do I.)
Insert card, push button, drink wine. Repeat until card balance falls low. Recharge card. Repeat from the beginning until drunk or broke.
I had a really incredible Riesling that cost something like $150 a bottle. Admittedly I'm only about a green belt (blue stripe) in wine tasting but definitely the most honeyed, nectared wine I'd had to that point. This is a cool way for you to try wine that you would never have the money or the wherewithal to locate. -
Review from Suzanne B.
San Francisco, CA
5/8/2006
What's that word I keep seeing in the reviews on Yelp?
'Meh"
Yeah, this place left me feeling...'Meh". Shelf talkers and signage do not take the place of someone who's passionate about the subject telling me why I need to try this particular wine in order to live a full and complete life.Listed in: Vino Vino Vino!
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Review from Charles H.
Mountain View, CA
5/9/2006
I work in technology and tend to have an "ooh ahh" love affair with most gadgets. Somethings are classic and are best left well alone and wine happens to be one of them. That's how I feel about the self-serve wine machines at Vino Venue. The selection is decent and the refillable cards are kind of useful and neat at first. At some point, however, a wine bar is about some combination of interesting wine, interesting people, and a great ambience. Sadly, I felt Vino Venue was lacking in both interesting wine and ambience. I ended up standing most of the time I was there, which is fine if I am at a cocktail party or a happy hour bar but less than ideal when trying to socialize with a friend over a glass of wine.
Going here makes me realize how much I appreciate going to wine bars staffed by human beings who can give me advice, suggestions, or a kind word before I choose my drink of choice. Vino Venue just felt a little flat. -
Review from Daniel D.
San Francisco, CA
9/14/2006
"Please see an attendant.." Not something you expect to see when you're trying to taste wine.
Apparently I pulled the smart card out a little too fast after I got my taste. I can't be blamed; it didn't say how long to leave it in. It didn't tell me when it was done, either. For god's sake, give me a sign. COMMUNICATE. What's a man to do?
The wine here is passable. I suspect much of it is great, actually, but somewhere between leaving the bottles open for days at a time and using what is effectively a computerized turkey baster to pour it, everything tastes flat.
So give this place a shot, if for no more than to push a few buttons and try a few things without spending too much. But whatever you do, don't pull your plastic out too soon or you'll need help from the attendant, and that can get embarrassing. -
Review from Audrey B.
11/25/2007
This is a wine bar where you put money on a card (sort of like a European phone card) and then walk around and spend it down while tasting wine. When you find a wine you like, you stick the card in and push a button and then you get your wine and the card loses value. In theory, this is a neat idea. In practice, every time you taste a wine you are faced with the fact that you're spending ~$4 for 3 tablespoons of wine. The pours are ridiculously wimpy. And each wine has a different price, so some are $1.60 a pour and some are $5.00 a pour, which means you either leave with money still left on your card (that you're never going to use, cause you probably won't go back), or you have to figure out which cheap wines to taste to use all the money on your card. And then you're just drinking cheap wine.
Aside from the card thing, is the fact that the wines were just bad. I didn't find anything there to be very inspiring and they didn't have a really interesting selection. I think you get better value by going to K&L and participating in their tastings - you get more wine and the selection is really interesting.... -
Review from Geoff K.
San Francisco, CA
2/3/2006
Interesting concept but this place takes the "do it yourself" theme a bit too far. You spend more time wandering around looking for wines than you do talking with your friends, because you get so little wine for each taste. I put $20 on a card and it got wiped out really quickly. The place is also lit like a prison.
This would be a good venue for a corporate event where everyone gets handed a card with value on it. But this is certainly not a place to grab a drink with your friends...it's hard to relax over an ounce of wine. -
Review from Shayan S.
10/16/2006
So... as we were in the city today, we decided to walk into this wine bar that we've been meaning to check out for a while... Vino Venue. This place is kinda interesting, in the sense that you can taste over 100 wines, on your own, with nobody pressuring or servicing you. How does it work ?
Basically, you buy a rechargeable smart card (ya know, like the phone cards in France), and pre-charge it with 10, 20, 50 or 100$... and believe me... you'll need the dosh, cos' this place doesn't come cheap. Sure, you got some wines that you can taste for a buck, but the average tasting costs you $2.20 per ounce of wine, with some tastings going for $14 for an ounce. Un-f-ing believable.
We started off with what we thought might be a nice French Corbieres (les 2 anes)... which really tasted like donkey's urine... perhaps explaining the name. Oh well, it was a $1 tasting, and I guess that was to be expected !
We then got a few more expensive wines, including an interesting sauvignon blanc from California called 6 "sigma" (must be an IT / Business Consultant who made it rich and decided one day to buy a winery), which was very fragrant, full of gooseberry. Definitely a winner.
In any case, our 10$ card didn't last very long. We tasted about 3-4 wines... and left, thinking that we're better off tasting wine in Sonoma or Napa... and feeling less bad about how much they charge over there ;-).
Don't get me wrong. VineVenue is a great idea. Great wine selection. Great Atmosphere. The ability to "choose your own tasting" is fantastic, and quite brilliant. It's just... not a lot of value - if they could give you more than just the dismal "ounce" of wine, have a wider selection of low range tastings, it might be more worthwhile. -
Review from Marc M.
San Francisco, CA
9/13/2006
This was my anti-minna night, and it wasn't so bad. We went to a rather ditzy wine-bar and pushed buttons until nothing happened; I started off a bit ambitious, sampling only the finest $5 sips... then ended up knocking back a few single dollar samples. The decor works, though it lives with contradictions. Robitcs dishing out wine, in the surrounds of fine oak cabinets and snooty up-turned noses.
Plus there was a TV showing baseball - which seems really at-odds with the whole concept. -
Review from Scott R.
Westminster, MD
10/17/2007
We went before we read the reviews, just wandering down the street looking for a place to catch up with an old friend, and wandered into here.
We all said "wow, look at this cool technology, what a great idea!". As the novelty wore off and our smart card rapidly drained to zero, we said "$5 for that little sample?". As we picked out a bottle to enjoy, and realized we were paying far closer to restaurant prices than retail prices, we said "hmmm, this place is pretty expensive to just hang out here". And then we decided to go find someplace else because my wife said "it's too sterile".
In other words, Yelp works, because it turns out that's exactly what previous reviewers said.
But unlike a lot of other comments - we didn't have any issue with staff. They were pleasant and friendly to us. -
Review from John H.
San Francisco, CA
11/13/2007
Just like dinner and the IMAX is a creative twist on dinner and a movie, a glass of wine at Vino Venue is a creative twist on a social glass of wine. (OK, or maybe I'm just setting a low bar for creativity.) Look, I don't disagree with some of the other reviews that drinking a bottle of wine at a bar is a nice experience and Vino Venue provides a slightly different experience than that. I could also see the novelty of the machines wearing off if you overdo it. On the other hand, the machines are cool, the selection is broad enough that you'll likely try something you haven't tried before, and for $25 and an hour of your time you and a buddy, or colleague, or whatever, have something new to talk about every 5-7 minutes. What's bad about that?
As for the high-minded cooing below about how we're "supposed to enjoy our wine," honey, please. I was drinking Franzia from a box with Dionysius just last week and he told me Via Venue was cooler than Sharon Stone's icepick. So there. -
Review from Rey T.
San Francisco, CA
11/29/2007
GASP! Did I kill VinoVenue???
I brought my out-of-town friends here just last Saturday and since I drive by VinoVenue everyday for work, I noticed that the windows were papered up and there was a handwritten CLOSED sign on the door!
Did I kill it with my dissatisfaction????
Was it because I couldn't read the descriptions of the wines because it was so dark in there at 8:00pm?
Was it because although the prices for the tastes were 10% the price of the whole bottle, the AMOUNT of the tastes were a mere 2-3% of the bottle volume each time?
Was it because none of the Cabs I wanted to taste had working nozzles on them, much less bottles in the machines?
Was it because I erroneously assumed that pressing the button once would serve the maximum amount for the price of the taste? But instead got a teaspoon of wine when I failed to HOLD DOWN the button?
Was it because the loud house music made me want to throw back my teaspoons of wine, empty out my e-card and run out of there?
Far from a previous Yelper's description, VinoVenue is not the Starbucks of wine. It is the TILT of wine. TILT being the uber-expensive, trendy arcade at the Metreon.
I don't like that place either. -
Review from Kelly A.
Flagstaff, AZ
4/14/2005
I visited SF in January 2005, when VinoVenue was featured in Wired News. I checked it out late on a Friday evening. Surprisingly it wasn't as packed as I might have imagined.
I came to taste Zinfandels and that's what I did - they had a nice selection of California specimens, and my $10 got me four tastes of a variety of wines with different prices.
At one point I became so saturated with Zin that I tried a favorite pinot noir (Spy Valley, which I can't find here in New Zealand anymore!) to break things up. I ended up liking the PN much, much more than the Zins.
This place gets top marks from me due to the no-pressure atmosphere (nobody even talked to me!) and the variety of wines available for taste, as well as the very cool geek factor and wine-friendly storage conditions.
I just wish they'd had some dessert wines available to taste too! C'est la vie. -
Review from Jeff H.
1/17/2008
I'm sorry this placed closed - only because I didn't get around to writing my review before they disappeared.
Should I write anyway? Well, I will give a synopsis in case future business owners try the same thing. Maybe they will learn from Vino Venue's mistakes.
VV didn't really seem to know what it wanted to be. Was it a wine bar or a tasting room? The place lacked the decor and ambiance of a good wine bar (there are several in SF).
The tastings were small, so everyone seemed to complain. You could buy a bottle, but you didn't really want to stay there to drink it.
Taste in Berkeley seems to have it organized a little better. Decent food, wine by the taste, glass, or bottle.
But in the end, we live in a region of the world with a large variety of wineries in the near area. You can go to many of them and get either free or $5 tastings - and that is what people are used to.
Plus, at a number of the restaurants or wine bars I frequent, if I'm not sure about ordering that $14 glass of fine vino, the bartender or waitress will usually give me a small taste for free.
So the concept of paying $2 to $8 per each little tasting to decide what you want more of just doesn't resonate.
OR maybe I'm just old school and these new fangled places don't work for me because I am too set in my ways.
Good luck to the next venture. -
Review from Tom W.
Palo Alto, CA
2/16/2007
VinoVenue is a novel new concept where you come in and buy a tasting card and can then use this card to buy one-ounce samples of about 80 wines from ten different dispensing kiosks. They have lots of information about each wine and a coherent layout.
When I first read about VinoVenue, I was very excited by the concept. There are so many wines I have wanted to try, but not nearly enough time and/or money to get them by the glass at restaurants or by the bottle at home. And while I enjoyed wine tastings, the selections are generally way too narrow since they often all come from the same vineyard or bottler. And it seemed a great way to try out some really expensive wines without shelling out for a full glass or bottle.
But after my first experience at VinoVenue, I realize the prices will always make it too hard to really enjoy. While the prices range from $1 to $18 an ounce, but most of the wines tend to be about $4 to $5 an ounce. Typically it seems these $4 to $5 shots were for bottles that were being sold for $40 to $50. While I haven't compared their bottle prices to online, I'd assume these bottles were marked up more than they could be. So to sample a pretty good bottle that you might pay $7 by the 5-ounce glass to drink in a restaurant, you pay more than half that just to get a tasting squirt. So unless you are willing to spend a good deal of money, you'll either end up tasting a bunch of lower cost wines or tasting too few medium to higher end wines.
It seems they could benefit from a more reasonable tasting model that would encourage people to try more and then hopefully buy more.
For those on the east bay, there is a similar wine bar called taste that has a smaller selection, but somewhat more reasonable prices and a restaurant. -
Review from PeterDragon D.
San Francisco, CA
6/10/2006
When will Yelp allow negative stars?
This is a minus 1 star for overtly disinterested staff, and abject operational execution.
Enjoyed the $3 "pour" of foamy Oregon Pinot, which was slightly better than the mysterious Cab Franc (so ephemeral that it doesn't actually come out of the bottle, you just imagine what it would be like to taste for $4)....
When I dress up for Halloween this year as a flyover conventioneer leaving Moscone Center, I'll be sure to stop by again.
Don't waste your time or money at this sip-o-mat. -
Review from Mariangela S.
San Francisco, CA
9/13/2005
Cool concept - an idea that clearly could be franchised into many cities. And while I agree it's great to be able to taste a variety of different wines without having to drive to multiple wineries, there is a significant part of the tasting experience that is missing here.
First of all, the staff are not friendly, and no one seemed particularly interested in providing an overview or tutorial. There were not many people there during our visit, and so we just walked around and tasted a bunch of different things, squeezing out every last penny from our card. We even managed with $0 left to get a few drops of a $150/bottle Gaja Barbaresco which was by far the most delicious!
They need to make a more welcoming atmosphere and a better menu to create longevity long after the novelty of tasting is over. -
Review from Brianne K.
San Francisco, CA
8/13/2006
What? Magical machines that spout wine into your glass? Oh my! This place rocks.
I love the fact that you can try little tastes of super expensive wines...lord knows I can't afford a whole glass of that shit.
My only complaint is that wine cards run out too quickly! Oh wait, that's because I'm a wine-o. I forgot. -
Review from matt h.
San Francisco, CA
1/29/2007
Basically, a money tree. I'm giving two stars for the sheer audacity and genius of the idea - taking something that should be free and finding a way to cash in. They managed to make people pay for an ounce of wine in Napa, why wouldn't it work in SOMA?
Here's why it won't:
-They are charging crazy prices for an ounce of wine, without any kind of buyback or discount if you end up buying a bottle. I guess you're supposed to forget about that b/c it's so "fun," and I guess it was fun enough, because I managed to run through $50 in 10 minutes.
-Interior is seriously lacking. Smelled of bleach when I walked in on a Saturday night. Has all the charm of a high school cafeteria.
if you like wine in any kind of volume (ie, a glass, or perhaps two), this is not the place for you. If are an older tech-fetishizing divorcee on a first date, this might be just the place to get to know one another. -
Review from Wendy L.
San Francisco, CA
3/30/2007
If I hadn't been meeting somebody for a drink here, I totally would have missed this place. The storefront...looks like a store not like a wine bar.
I must say the tasting/dispensing machinery at the front of the shop was scary; I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But it's a cute, casual place to grab a quick glass of wine. Prices are decent, and the bartenders (winebartenders?) are friendly and helpful.
I remember trying to go to this place another time but there was a private event...and there was another private event the night I finally went to Vino Venue (just slipped in before the private event started). If you're planning on meeting people there, you might want to call ahead since it seems as though they have a lot of private events. -
Review from Cindy P.
San Francisco, CA
11/28/2006
YOU WILL BE REPLACED BY ROBOTS...
Vino Venue taught me that there are certain things we will always need a human for and that is to pour our wine.
I went here for happy hour with some coworkers and even though I had a good time, I probably wouldn't go back--we even knew one of the waiters and he was helping us pick out good wines to try. This is definitely an after work type of place but not THE after work place to go to.
Bottom line is that I LIKE when a human pours my wine. The vending machines are pretty fancy and the owner told me she got them in Italy but despite being a technologist, I couldn't be persuaded.
The upside is that you can try a lot of wines without committing to a whole glass. Each tasting is exactly one ounce and there are tastings ranging from $1.50-$20 each. They sell a cheese plate but you could also buy cheese and bread next door at A.G. Ferrari and bring it over--it's allowed.
The ambience could be worked on--there should be more tables and chairs. I got the feeling the focus was on selling bottles of wine and not on being a bar so they limit the amount of seats.
Other wine bars don't have anything to worry about as far as competition. This place is just novelty. -
Review from Bart V.
San Francisco, CA
3/8/2007
This place is changing ownership soon. Hopefully, the format will change also.
It was an interesting idea and I am glad someone tried it, but I wouldn't go back as it is now.
(Edit Dec 2007) This place closed in late November. It was an interesting idea that just didn't work. -
Review from Aaron M.
San Francisco, CA
3/29/2007
Where can you drink wine Dave & Busters style? Vino Venue of course!
I really think its a cool concept to get a card with money on it and use it to sample different wines by the ounce.....we got to try some very expensive wines for not that much money, such as Opus One.
The best one I tried was the Brogan Pinot Noir....its not cheap, but definitely worth trying.
Fun, cool atmosphere, not as packed as District, but still a fun spot. -
Review from Kat J.
Lavallette, NJ
4/29/2007
Went here with 4 friends on a Saturday night and there was a total of 7 people including us at the self-pour area and about 8 people at the bar area. It's a GREAT concept but such poor execution. There was no where to really sit and chat over the wine you were tasting, there wasn't even much standing room where you wouldn't be in people's way. Mind you, there was only 7 of us and I felt like I had no where to just enjoy the wine. Also, I tried about 7 different wines and not one appealed to me...I thought they were all pretty horrible. I love wine and I am picky but I'm not THAT picky.
Plus, the pours are like 2-3 bucks on average with the nicer wines at like $5 a ONE ounce poor...that seems a bit crazy as basically, a wine they sell for $26 costs $2.60 for a one ounce taste. That is how they calculate the price. I do flights at restaurants whenever I can and usually it's $15 for 5 three ounce pours...that sounds reasonable to me as they serve it for me and I'm getting all that variety. Plus, they are goo wines...these felt all cheap. I'm definitely not going back...we had a fun dinner and this sort of ended our night as well all just got tired and bored and went home afterwords. -
Review from C M.
San Francisco, CA
8/17/2006
I would like to preface my review by admitting I don't know alot about wine. But "Meh"
So I travel alot for work. I stay at the Courtyard Marriott more often than not. So when you get up at the Courtyard, you go down to the breakfast area. If you want juice you go to this machine, with pictures of fruit. There is a spigot under each picture, along with 2 buttons, one showing the glass half full, and the other showing a full glass. You put your cup underneath the spigot, and press the desired button, and out squirts the OJ.
Vino Venue reminds me a little of that, so instead of pictures you get little cards describing the wine. Insert card, press button out squirts wine. Taste away.
It is novel, the wine selection was quite extensive. The was a good crowd there. The space feels very sterile. I won't steer people away, go experience have a taste . . . decide for yourself. -
Review from Danielle C.
Huntington Beach, CA
2/6/2007
My boyfriend and I had been wanting to go here for awhile after reading about it in some magazine. Also, it's very close to the W hotel, which is where we stay when were in town.
First off, you have to admit that this place just looks pretty cool. This was the first and only time that I have seen wine dispensed in that fashion. But the machines being cool is pretty much where it stops....
You pay for the wine by the taste, and it turns out to be pretty expensive for each taste. The venue itself looks pretty cool, but it's actually pretty dull inside. When we were there, there were only a few other people tasting and a couple siting at the bar.
We had fun browsing all the different wines, but when our card was up...we were out! -
Review from Krista G.
San Francisco, CA
1/23/2007
Cool concept, poor on execution. The service on the cafe side was lacking and the cheese plate was completely uninspired.
I think the guy behind the bar was trying to compete with the machines for accuracy in pouring. He got down eye level with the glass to be sure he didn't get one drop too many. At $10 a glass, at least make me feel like you've got a free-hand pour.
The cheese plate was two kinds of white semi-soft cheese that were delivered without explanation, just a sigh when we said thanks. And to rub it in, later, we overheard the guy behind the bar asking his counterpart for another cheese plate - "Make it a good one." We probably weren't cool enough for a good one.
Wines were good but to me finding good wine is not terribly hard to do in the Bay Area. Wine bars should really be about atmosphere and service. I'll go back and try the little smart cards.. at least I expect cold, impersonal service from them. -
Review from david b.
San Francisco, CA
6/5/2006
lame.
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Review from Nikki S.
Redwood City, CA
9/17/2007
Sterile is a good word for the atmosphere at Vino Venue. While I appreciate that the robotic pouring machines do not judge me as they dispense my 100th tiny tasting of the night--and there's nothing I hate worse than teetotalling robots--the lack of staff interaction is kind of a downer. Still, makes for a fun stop over before you head to a real bar or out to dinner--a good place to bring a wine novice, or someone who is fascinated by simple technology put to good use to get people wasted.
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Review from Robert P.
San Francisco, CA
10/7/2007
After weeks and weeks of fun emails and compliments, Gregor G. and I decided to meet up for "a glass" of wine somewhere on Saturday afternoon. After we unsuccessfully attempted to booze it up a bit at Ducca, we wandered on over to Vino Venue. Not knowing what to expect, we were quickly filled in at the counter on how the whole "program" works. It's all very Dave & Busters. You buy a card, you walk around and stick it in the machine, and then it spits out wine for you. And just like Dave & Busters, you walk out saying "did I really pay $20 for that?" Except at D&B you usually (at least) get to walk out with a cool plastic ring, or a stuffed animal. Sheesh. With one $20 card, Gregor and I got to try a total of about 4 wines each. And by "try," I mean lightly splash our tongues with, because it literally splashes your mouth, no guzzling here folks. And before you get all trigger happy (ahem, Gregor!) you only press the button ONCE! If not, you will end up with a $9 taste of wine! So although Vino Venue wasn't my favorite place, I can't really complain too much about the five martinis that followed at the W, the Muni ride, my peeing on the street, and a final martini and food at Lime.
Vino Venue- Two stars
Gregor G.- Five stars -
Review from ELLIS D.
Petaluma, CA
6/6/2006
I am a wine geek and this place put me to sleep. It wasnt their selection of wines(which are good) but the place. Yawn!... The staff seemed uninteresting and unterested.
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Review from Leigh M.
Austin, TX
7/12/2006
I think this place is a lot of fun if you go with a big group and take over the place or if you happen to be in the immediate vicinity and too lazy to walk over to Hidden Vine. It's also a kind of fun place to take out-of-towners or wine-newbies who feel a bit intimidated and want to be left alone while they taste. I've enjoyed the wine and kinda dig the idea of wine-vending machines, but Vino Venue lacks the charm of an actual human-run wine bar.
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Review from Laurel B.
San Francisco, CA
11/10/2007
Didn't do the tastings, but did have a reasonable bottle of wine at a table with candle light. Now there's a good thing!
Listed in: Cafe Society, Wine Bars
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Review from LaSha G.
Oakland, CA
4/19/2005
Great wine bar. I went there with a few friends after work on Friday. I liked the fact that I could store my backpack behind the register and didn't have to carry it around with me. The "game card" concept for tasting wine is cutting edge and basically big fun for adults. The prices were reasonable for the tasting and the self serve concept is great for eliminating long waits, and the kiosks are complete with little notecards and pencils at each stand so you can remember what you liked and disliked. Good selection, fun atmosphere (it didn't feel pretentious at all to me). The only thing that could be better would be the decor. It did feel and look a little bit on the Ikea side, but hey, maybe that's where the non-pretentious feeling came from ???
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Review from Panthea J.
San Francisco, CA
10/12/2007
Basically vending machines that dispense wine. In very small amounts. This was not the way Dionysus intended for us to enjoy wine.
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Review from Andi T.
10/24/2006
Meh. You should go once just to see the technology in action and try some obscure wines from around the world. Bring a stack of money, because you'll need to charge up that card a few times if you want to get a buzz on (and isn't that really the whole point of wine tasting?).
Listed in: What do you do with a Drunken…, Wine is bottled poetry
