Restaurants with half-bottles...?

Just back from a recent trip to Puerto Rico, where I noticed that many of the places that served wine offered 1/2 bottles on the menu. The same was true when we were in Spain. It's a great option for my wife and I, since we often have different preferences. And sometimes you can get more interesting wines than offered by the glass...

Any recommendations for places in Chicago that include 1/2 bottles on their wine lists? I know they're out there, but the only place that comes to mind immediately is Tizi Melloul.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Zee

Avec serves wine in 250 ml portions, though not half bottles. It's a great size, and one that allows either for sharing or just getting a better sense of the wine than a glass would allow. It seems that the Spanish way of eating is "the thing" lately, which would lead me to believe that more restaurants will start pouring this way. We can hope!

I posted my review of RL http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3365&highlight=rl.

They had a surprising half bottle selection. Lots of great half bottles - a little pricey, but not ridiculous.

Zeeshan,

I would say that out of the last 10 places I've visited that had wine lists, eight of them had some half bottle options. The last couple places I can think of are Opera and Sabatino's (two drastically different places). I generally don't order half-bottles unless there's a specific wine that I want and I'm the only one drinking it. Generally, I find that they're priced rather high, relative to full bottle or glass prices.

You might also want to consider stocking up on some of your favorite halfs from Sam's and going the BYO route.

Best,
Michael / EC

I think that at Avec, the 250 ml prices are essentially the same as the whole-bottle prices, proportionally. Ie, a thirty dollar bottle of wine would be $10 per 250 ml, so you're not getting punished with a higher price to sample several wines, or just to drink less wine. (Although the latter is never really my issue )

So truth be told, sans 1/2 bottle options, if it's a true night out, we can usually find a compromise bottle. No matter our initial hesitancy, we usually find our way to the bottom of the bottle.

I'll have to try out Sam's again. Last time I went with the intent of bringing home a few 1/2 bottles, their selection seemed skimpy. But that place is like Home Depot to me -- to easy to wander and lose focus.

Zee

A long time ago, a friend taught me a trick to avoid wasting wine when you're only going to be able to consume a half a bottle:

1. Buy a half bottle of something exciting and drink it.
2. Wash the empty bottle and remove the label.
3. Keep it.
4. Next time you open the whole bottle you know you won't be able to finish, immediately fill your clean, empty half bottle from the just opened bottle (use a funnel).
5. Cork it with a saved plastic cork or whatever you have around (like the cork you just removed from the whole bottle).
6. Put it in the fridge.
7. Enjoy the other half guilt-free and with the anticipation of enjoying the rest sometime in the future.
(8. And, if you're like me, take the other half back out of the fridge and pour it. Who has the willpower to keep such delicious wine just sitting around?)

It works and the wine has such a brief period of contact with the air that it's almost as good when you open it a week or two later (in some cases, maybe better).

Anyone know similar tricks?

k.

My sister gave me one of those vacuum pumps with rubber bottle stoppers for Christmas a couple of years ago. I find it works pretty well for extending the life of an opened bottle of wine.

mod restaurant in wicker park has about 8-10 half-bottle selections.

Atwood Cafe at the Burnham stocks a number of half bottles.

Though I cannot recall any names, I noticed at La Sardine last night that they had several half bottles on the wine list. At my table, we passed over these novelties in silence, but I made a barely legible mental note that they were there.