Branica Wine Bar

My work rented out this space for our holiday celebration. It was a huge success!
I’d never been here before but it’s easy to find in downtown Kirkwood. The wine bar is next to Trattoria Branica and is one big rectangular room. We had about 75 people and it was a great space. A mixture of high top tables, low tops, a couch area and a long bar. Everything is kind of dark and modern looking. It has its own private restroom too. They had a huge spread for us, which included a variety of pizzas, a meat/​cheese place, chicken skewers, stuffed mushrooms and toasted raviolis. There was a large menu to choose these items from, which our social committee arranged in advance. I only tried the cheeses and pizza that was vegetarian, and they were good. It was only about $ 10 a person for the food and with a reasonable cash bar. They didn’t charge to rent the space on a Saturday night.
The people working were friendly and kept the food and drinks going, and everything clean.
I’d definitely recommend this for a party rental!

Three of us came here for happy hour this week. They had half hour appetizers/​desserts and $ 5 house martinis. We had a calamari, great wine, and fantastic martinis. The bartender made a French Martini (this is not the house martini that is on the happy hour special btw), which I have never tried before. (I just googled it: the recipe calls for vodka, chambord liquieur, pineapple juice, and sparkling wine/​Champaign) It may have been the best martini I have ever had… perfectly boozy and refreshing. The calamari was tasty and the portion was large enough for three to share (all for $ 4…pretty awesome).
The wine bar is next to the restaurant but the two are not connected. The wine bar is essentially one big room, with some rather generic Pier-​one type décor. There were lots of seating (even some sofas in the corners) and tables. They dimmed the light so it was warm and cozy.
The bartender seemed very knowledgeable and he was nice to figure out the checks for us when we had some confusion over the happy hour pricing.
Give Branica wine bar a try if you are in the general area and are looking for a happy hour place. We are glad we did.