Cellar 56
Wine bars are typically painfully expensive joints populated by hoity-toity types sipping $15 glasses and picking rare Spanish mountain-hog ham from their teeth with golden toothpicks. Get classily buzzed for less, at Cellar 56.
Decked out with a deep-chocolate wood bar, stone tile and wood floors, 20+ white-linen'd tables, and cream-colored banquettes, C56 slings high quality vino and chow at such reasonable prices, you'd think you were in an Irish Pub -- no coincidence, since the owners run the one directly upstairs. The "56" address dictates both the number of grapey selections and the priciest bottles (Roco Pinot Noir, Verget Macon Bussieres 2006...); however, thirty bottles (Hedges CSM, Kung-Fu Girl Riesling...) are priced at just $24 -- so when you order the cheapest option, you're not being a shameful d*ck, you're just going with the majority. Small plates are likewise inexpensive, with "Land & Sea" offerings (braised lamb shanks, "pork t-bones") at $5, "Garden" items $4, and "Sweets" like White Chocolate Cream Pudding w/ Krispy Kreme donuts at just $3 -- cheaper than a box of Ding Dongs, and there's pudding.
In the near future, C56 will host special events, starting with a dinner showcasing cigars and bourbons -- a hooch frequently enjoyed by non- hoity-toity types as they clean pimiento loaf off their tooth.
