Best Wine Bars in Pittsburgh
Five wine bars make up this list, and three of them hold an exceptional wine program: Vallozzi's Pittsburgh in the Central Business District, Alla Famiglia in Allentown, and Allegheny Wine Mixer in Upper Lawrenceville. Vallozzi's Pittsburgh also holds Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence. Italian meats and cheeses are flown in weekly.
Bar Marco in the Strip District and Butterjoint in North Oakland pour curated lists that include natural wine and conventional wine. Bar Marco occupies a historic firehouse, where bartenders build cocktails without a preset menu and the kitchen serves locally sourced Italian small plates. Butterjoint adds artisanal pizzas, house-made pierogies, and an exceptional beer selection. Allegheny Wine Mixer keeps an eclectic by-the-glass list of global selections, serves fondue, and hosts Hot Dog Sundays.
How this list is chosen: Bars with an exceptional wine program, an extensive list, a Wine Spectator award or a natural-wine focus, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
Alla Famiglia
Exceptional wine program
A Allentown neighborhood fixture on East Warrington Avenue, Alla Famiglia draws Pittsburgh diners seeking the kind of Italian-American table that suits a proper occasion. The room rewards those who come with something to celebrate, and the address has built a loyal following among locals who treat it as a milestone-meal destination rather than a casual stop.
Allegheny Wine Mixer
Exceptional wine program
On Butler Street in Lawrenceville, Allegheny Wine Mixer occupies a position that Pittsburgh's drink-forward bar scene has quietly needed: a wine-centric room that doesn't abandon the neighbourhood bar instinct. The address at 5326 Butler St places it squarely in one of the city's most active strips for independent hospitality, where the crowd skews curious rather than performative.
Bar Marco
Bar Marco occupies a converted firehouse on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's Strip District, placing it at the intersection of the city's industrial past and its current food-and-drink ambition. The space trades on atmosphere as much as on the glass, making it a reference point for understanding where Pittsburgh's bar culture has landed in the past decade. It sits in a neighbourhood corridor that rewards explorers willing to move beyond the obvious.
Butterjoint
Butterjoint occupies a particular position in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood bar scene: a low-key counter where serious beer and spirit selection coexist with the kind of unhurried atmosphere that Shadyside's more polished rooms rarely permit. It sits on N Craig St at the edge of two distinct Pittsburgh worlds, and that geography shapes everything about the experience.
Vallozzi's Pittsburgh
Exceptional wine program
On Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, Vallozzi's has built its reputation as one of the city's enduring Italian-American dining rooms, drawing a loyal crowd that returns not for novelty but for consistency. The bar program and the room itself carry the kind of lived-in confidence that only comes with years of repeat business. A reference point for the downtown dining scene.
Planning wine bars in Pittsburgh
- Which bar on this list holds a Wine Spectator award?
- Vallozzi's Pittsburgh, in the Central Business District, is the bar on this list with a Wine Spectator award. The award is Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence. That Best of Award of Excellence sits with the exceptional wine program at Vallozzi's Pittsburgh.
- Which neighborhoods appear on this wine-bar list?
- The bars on this list are in the Central Business District, Allentown, Upper Lawrenceville, the Strip District, and North Oakland. Vallozzi's Pittsburgh is in the Central Business District. Alla Famiglia is in Allentown. Allegheny Wine Mixer is in Upper Lawrenceville. Bar Marco is in the Strip District. Butterjoint is in North Oakland.
- Which bars on this list have an exceptional wine program?
- Three bars on this list have an exceptional wine program: Vallozzi's Pittsburgh in the Central Business District, Alla Famiglia in Allentown, and Allegheny Wine Mixer in Upper Lawrenceville. Alla Famiglia pairs the program with Italian cooking and with classic cocktails and craft cocktails. Allegheny Wine Mixer pours an eclectic by-the-glass list of global selections, including natural wine and conventional wine.
More in Pittsburgh