Franklin Square Wine Bar

I heard that this place is closing for good as of this Sunday (2÷14÷2010). It’s always been pretty busy when I’ve gone on weekdays, but I have to admit I haven’t gone there too often to know how it is all the time.
Sad to see them go. :(Had my first date w/​my bf here.

I should have written about this joint long ago.
I’ve been coming here for about a year — sometimes for drinks, sometimes for Dollar Wine Tasting, and sometimes for dinner — and I’ve loved it every time. The food is surprisingly good, especially the sandwiches with the potato salad. The wine flights are diverse.
The only bad thing about this place is the lack of paperwork to go with the flights. I used to receive a paper with each wine written on it, so that I could place my glass on top of the pertinent winery and actually remember which was which. Don’t know why they did away with that.
I take that back — another bad thing about this place is that it closes super early on Saturday. I suspect that the strategy with the early closing was to push people over to Luka’s (which has the same owners as FSWB), but sometimes you just want a mellow night with some wine and potato salad … not a raucous night of elbowing your way through beer-​swigging patrons (not to hate — I love Luka’s also, but only on weeknights).
For those two reasons only, I deduct one star. The first problem is easy to remedy. The second, I may just have to live with.

I like this wine bar better than Vine on counts of atmosphere and service. And it certainly is a nice alternative to the likes of Mua and Lukas if you are looking for a low key venue to enjoy a glass of wine on a night saturated with tight sparkly shirts and the sound of clopping heels.
They have a small hand-​picked selection, and offer up a good variety of themed flights. Their edibles are quality, if a bit pricey for the serving size. I’ll probably be back, but nothing blew me away about the place.

You can stop reading now if you’d like info on the wine. Didn’t have any :) Just had lunch.
SERVICE = Our waiter was nice.
FOOD = I had the grilled brie sandwich and I loved it! Mmmm… I can’t really speak for the other items on the menu since I didn’t taste what my coworkers ordered.
PAYMENT/​PRICING = The reason I gave them three stars is because the pricing was something I would roll my eyes at. It’s not a place I’d go to for lunch on a regular basis – that would be way too much money thrown away.
PARKING = Street parking. good luck.
*EXPERIENCE* = I came here for lunch w/​co-​workers. I wasn’t fond of a couple people in the group and I was eating at a place with limited menu selections and expensive dishes so I wasn’t exactly a happy camper. Thankfully the one person I could deal with, my boss, paid for everything. I’d probably come back for that brie sandwich, but I guess I could just make it on my own.

It was too loud outside with the band playing, so we sat inside. Looked at the wine list, ho-​hum. It’s ok. Nothing «wow».
Tried to get the Sauv Blanc tasting they had listed. Apparently they didn’t have it anymore. Tried to get the Riesling tasting they had listed. They had ran out of the first Riesling. Okies then…
Got the cheese plate and the meat plate. Both yum, but not enough bread served with the plates, unless you want to just eat pieces of cheese and meat with your fingers. Which is fine by me…
The positive:
They «recreated» the Sauv Blanc tasting for my friend, and they subed an Alsace Gewürztraminer for the first Riesling.
Live music on Wednesdays and apparently $ 1 tastes on Thursdays. I’m gonna have to go back for that…

Very classy and yet low-​key hangout if you want a glass of wine but don’t want to deal with the bar crowd. Friends and I came here and sat outside on a saturday evening and shared a bottle of the brut rose bubbles and a cheese plate to celebrate a new job.
Waiter is knowledgeable with the menu yet chilled enough to not push anything on us. The crowd is older and kept to themselves.
I heard they have a Thursday night $ 1 wine tasting. must come back for it.

Went for dinner before a show at the Uptown last night, haven’t been here in a while (no particular reason, just didn’t cross our radar) and it’s at a steady 3.5 stars.
JR ordered the Cuban sandwich and started with the tomato salad. I had the smoked trout salad with a side of the corn pudding. He had a glass of the Punta Aquila, Salento, Primitivo which I didn’t sample, but I had the Valle Dell’Acate, Sicilia IGT Grillo/​Insolia which was exactly as the server decribed– mild, with strong honey and chamomile notes.
The tomoato salad was rather bland– it was supposed to be an heirloom tomato mix with mozzarella di bufala campana, basil and extra virgin olive oil. The tomatoes didn’t have a good texture and lacked the flavor of summer. My corn pudding tasted a bit on the salty side initially, but what bothered me more was the gritty texture as if the dairy and eggs didn’t mix well.
My salad saved the meal– manageable tidbits of smoked salmon were sprinkled atop zesty meyer lemon vinagrette-​dressed baby greens and romaine, and sprinkled with pretty pickled chioggia beets and seeded cucumber slices. Their hard boiled eggs were just under, at the stage where the center of the yolk is still nice and creamy and not powdery. The salad’s flavors were balanced well and was sized as a dinner portion so if you order it, expect it to be filling.
JR’s sandwich was passable– it’s not as good as the one from Havana, but the bread was panini’ed nice and crisp on the outside. The potato salad was, as he put it, «too many flavors competing». I felt the mustard was far too strong and I lost the delicate flavor of the starchy tuber to mustard and chopped pickles.
It seems they have been steadily dropping in quality, but doing it at a very slow rate that only people that go often notices. I hope whatever is going on with their chef gets sorted out as I’d hate to see something like this go away.

Pros: Super nice staff. They let us try several wines before deciding on a glass. They didn’t rush us when we were just there for wine and dessert, even though they were closing. They had great salsa music on the stereo. Pretty nice small space inside and they have a little patio, though it’s right on Broadway.
Cons: Glasses of wine are very expensive, especially reds. I’d be ok with this small of a selection if they had a wider price range or the wines were really outstanding. With everything pretty much $ 11 – 15 per glass, it seemed like a small selection. Reds were served a bit warm, but not so much that it bothered me.

I came for a work function and we had the outside patio area which was nice, although I felt like people in the neighborhood saw that it looked like an event and tried to crash it. They had $ 1 wine tastings for 5 different wines. They were good and for $ 1? You can’t beat that. We had assorted cheese platters with olives and sides for $ 28 each. The cheese were tasty. I didn’t go inside the wine bar, so can’t say much about the ambiance.

As was the case with Luka’s, the owners had this pretty new toy that was loved and adored and had great reviews. Then they went and BROKE IT. What happened?
Stopped here with a Certain Someone and his roommate then Kiki and TA last friday. I was SO disappointed. Prices have steadily inched up. The staff has lost it’s personality (wherever Sophie and the other one went… go find them and pay them lots to return). And the always dull and small portioned food has gotten duller and smaller.
This last trip was probably my last for a while. I spent way more than I felt I should and anything that was good about this place is gone. There’s 2 other wine bars within walking distance of my Lake Merritt apartment — this one needs to step it up for it to rejoin the rotation.

I felt all growsed up here as I sat on the patio sipping my wine.
They have a dynamic wine list and a 3 course dinner to offer. It was really quaint.
When you ask for a glass as opposed to a ½ glass, they REALLY hook you up here. Now, that’s what I’m talkin bout!
The waiter that actually turned out to be a waitress had no personality but, meh. I had wine flowing so fuck it. I’m a total wino, so the idea of a bar full of just that warms my cold black heart.
I shall return and you should too!

This place has potential. I didn’t have a good experience here, initially, but I’m willing to give it another go. Their food menu looked good and I’d like to try their other wine offerings.
So, what was wrong? I ordered a glass of bubbles. It was barely bubbling and the glass was hot! I appreciate that the glass was fresh from the dishwasher, but come on! I would think that a wine bar would have this sort of thing down and not serve flat sparkling wine in a warm glass.

Wine selection was awesome, service was less so. It wasn’t that the service was actually bad, but for a place that calls itself a «wine bar» the waitstaff isn’t terribly knowledgeable about wine, let alone pairings. In the end, you’re just pointing at a random wine and ordering blindly in hopes that wine buyer did their job correctly.
The wine buyer did do their job correctly, but I would have greatly appreciated a more guided tour around their wine list. Although I am drinking more wine and I’m developing a taste for it; I am by no means a wine connoisseur or a wine snob.

Ok, admittedly, I am a snotty brat sometimes. Prix fix for $ 20 for 3 courses? Um, I like Michael Minna’s prix fix.
But guess what, I’m the one who was wrong!
The food was good, and the ambiance had a really nice neighborhood feel to it. It was busy but not packed and without a long wait. The food came out and for those of us trying to make it to the Maxwell concert at the Paramount Theater, we were in and out without feeling rushed or like we went to a fast food joint.
At this point I can’t even remember what I ordered but I know that amongst the 3 of us in our little dinner party, everyone enjoyed what they had.

Ok, so what are we looking for here? Wine, good eats, walking distance to the Paramount Theater? Perfect… you found your place. Plenty of street parking, busy — but no wait, and the food, well something on the menu is bound to bring out an «mmmmm» to some capacity. I had a bit of a mixed place with seared Ahi as I also mooched off my friend’s Prix Fix… at $ 20 bucks, not a bad call at all…
Yeah, it’s a bit unsuspecting being that Franklin Square Wine Bar’s neighbor is Louisiana Fried Chicken — BUT, think of it as just a convenient uptown intersection. The portions here are somewhere between plenty and modest — so if you have a healthy appetite and you don’t mind the fresh scent of grease, head next door for round two.

You can see all of Oakland drive by this place…
You can hear all of Oakland drive by this place…
…Pray tell, is that a Gershwin tune I hear from that bejeweled car?
«When I pull out up front, you see the Benz on dubs!
When I roll 20 deep, it’s 20 knives in the club!
(beep) heard I (beep) with Dre, now they wanna show me love!
When you sell like Eminem, and the hoes they wanna (beep)!»
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Word to yo’ mutha. I was here with my homegirls the other night for dat Oakland Art Murmur. Know what I’m sayin’? They don’t want me to use their real names, so lemme see… I was with hmmm… Christy Rae, Rose Marie, and Delirium Miriam. They’s no sassier chicks this side of the bay. Now Christy Rae, she from Colorado… her uncles so dope they pull teeth by tying rope to a tree and letting the accelerator rip. She my girl. Oh and Rose Marie, she one of dem New Yawkers… she laughs when she ripping yo head off. Oh yeah. Then there’s Delirium Miriam, a Jersey girl who knows all the lyrics to «Cinderella». Say what? And Jamie W. was there with his diamond mouth grill and pimp outfit.
We grabbed one of their outdoor tables on the wedge of concrete that faces the weird swerve of Franklin Street that merges into Broadway. The girls were yakking up a storm. It was like a lunch scene in «Sex and the City» where you have three Mirandas who think they’re all Samanthas and not a Charlotte for miles. No one wants to be Carrie. No-​no. Small menu but still appetizing. I can only speak to what I had, the $ 8.50 Basque Chicken with Mahon Cheese and Goathorn Peppers. It was served up on focaccia bread (see my very dark photo), Tasty. Oh yeah, and Christy Rae let me split half of her $ 7 Grilled Brie Sandwich. Mmmm, major melty, I liked that one even better than mine.
Service was rather chaotic as the poor, bare-​shouldered waitress looked frazzled after a ten-​hour shift. Poor thing… hey, where’s my drink? Chop-​chop, sweetie. I did try a $ 7 glass of rose, a 2006 Cune Rioja, Tempranillo. Refreshing on even a coolish summer evening. I was with women, so you knew the evening had to end with chocolate. We all split a $ 6 piece of cake. Christy Rae complained that she can’t eat cake with a spoon, but it didn’t stop her. So much for her spoon phobia.
An enjoyable time in a relaxing space even with the thug music blaring when the cars stop at the light. We had a robust discussion of gay marriage. A lesbian couple we knew was waiting in line to get married at City Hall but ditched it in favor of making a dinner reservation at Jardinière. Gee, I guess it is tough to get a table there. On the other hand, a gay couple gets married every time it’s made legal somewhere. We agreed that would make them marriage whores… wonder how many times they’ve registered at Gump’s…hmmm.
FOOD — 4 stars… reasonable bar fare, appetizing on a June evening after sauntering the art galleries
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… Aside from 50-​Cent, a nice urban spot for passing the evening
SERVICE — 3 stars… a weak spot… just a little crazed from overwork, I think
TOTAL — 4 stars… a worthy East Bay pitstop next time you’re murmuring for some art

Four of us went on a Monday night. Not at lot of action: we were the only diners at a table, while there were 3 or 4 people at the bar. I had a flight of whites (the Chalone chardonnays) and a half-​glass of pinot noir (from Southern California, somewhere near Santa Barbara). The wines were alright, especially the chard from A Donkey and a Goat, a tiny operation that’s based in Berkeley. I had two small plates: a foie gras dish with some sad-​looking strawberry fragments and a halibut. Neither struck me as inspired. The foie gras was simply not as good as the comparable dish that I had shared with a friend in Austin, TX 10 days before.
Around the table: a salad with blue cheese, an asparagus soup and a pea risotto were all quite good.
The prices are maybe a tad high here; otherwise, this would have been a 4-​star review. Service with a smile.

I enjoy trying different wines. I realize not every one will appeal to my tastes, but I like trying them… that’s why this is such a phenomenal place. I loved that their flights were all less than $ 20. That each pour was quite generous and that the sommelier took the time to explain what we were tasting.
Their Pork Pâté was «ok», but I’d had the fantastic duck pâté at Perbacco a few days before, so my taste buds were jaded! I would have also liked to see them offer their pâté with toast points as opposed to hunks of cold bread… just my preference.
Overall, a nice Friday night ‘chill’ sorta place. Esp after the horroring expeirence at Art Murmur… needed the charming vibe to «smooth the rough edges»!

Oh, I don’t know. The food just isn’t that good, when the lone waitress managed to get to us it was service with a snarl and a bang. She had no time to chat or give advice about wines, although come to think of it there weren’t many other customers on a Monday night.
Not a place I would care to revisit.

Went last Saturday evening with my wife and had a very enjoyable meal. Ordered a couple of the sandwiches, (The tuna and the duck), tried a few other small plate items, (the risotto was bright green and full of flavor plus the salted cod dish was excellent) and happily liked them all. Had a nice glass of Zinfandel, which went perfectly with the meal. Didn’t have time for dessert but will go back!
The wait staff was good but extremely busy (even the owner was waiting tables). There was a small lag time between our salads and 1^st course but that was made cool when our wait person brought over an un-​ordered small dish (mushrooms, white beans and spinach) saying, «just to keep you busy while you wait». Love the feel of this place (Cesar light?).