Corkbar - Downtown - Los Angeles

Last week I visited Corkbar, new wine bar in downtown Los Angeles. Corkbar is not open officially - they had a soft opening for about three days and the place was packed with hip, trendy, downtown LA'ers.

The setting was nice and open. A lot of seating in and around the bar. There was an outside patio but it wasn't in use - most likely because it was very chilly. My friends and I found a nice spot towards the back and was immediately waited on. It took us a while to digest the "thesis" of a menu but it was very descriptive and easy to read.

The stemware - absolutely beautiful. The 3oz pour absolutely ridiculous. That was more like a taste than an actual glass. The waitress never even asked it we would like to taste before she poured the wine. This really makes a difference if someone is purchasing a $20 glass of wine. They are going to have to revamp this process I am sure and I would also suggest that they take another look at their pricing as well. For a 2008 Babcock, Shiraz it was about $9 - highway robbery especially for a 2008 3oz glass of wine. Question: Why did we get a 3 oz glass of wine and the person who ordered a beer got a 6oz bottle?

You would think with a name like "cork" and a little bit of cork on the wall it would do something to the sound. My friends and I could barely hear each other. The noise made it very hard to have a conversation. This would be an ideal place for a couple that's been together for a while - I would not recommend it for a first date.

Rhonda (one of the owners) visited our table to say thank you for coming and to give us a little history on the venue. It's owned by six couples with a passion for wine. Very nice lady with a warm and fuzzy approach. Since I am an event planner I immediately inquired about the space and she referred us to another owner I believe named Craig who was supposed to come by and talk to us - but never did. Oh well...I guess he doesn't need any help filling the place - which in my opinion could be short lived for them...a new wine bar seems to open up every other month around LA and you know how we LA'ers are "been there done that".

By the way this place sells lunch and dinner. I didn't have anything to eat but the smells coming from the kitchen were amazing. All the dishes coming out of the kitchen looked heavenly.

Overall, I probably would only recommend this location to visit once or for networking events on their private outdoor patio - other than that it's good to come if you love California Wines and Beers. On second thought I might come back to try out their food!