Aviary

My favorite spot in Austin. Always a cool vibe. Marco has a great selection tapas and wines that are always changing. I like that he gets my particular taste in wine and makes great suggestions. The crowd is chill and talkative. Many nights buying bottles and chatting past close. Tuesdays are great for $ 4 Happy Hour and Wednesdays are ½ off bottles of wine and great live music!

Aviary offered a nice place to sit and enjoy a decent glass of wine, but that’s about it. Not sure what I did differently from some of the rave reviews on here, but this was nowhere near a five star experience.
We walked in to Aviary after reading the reviews, and were greeted by the cool art and neat furniture scattered throughout the interesting and high-​ceilinged space. It’s good that the furniture greeted us, because the bartender didn’t. No mention of the happy hour or what was included in it, so I just got a couple nice glasses of white wine. Bartender silently pours said glasses. Now, this is all well and good if it’s crowded and you don’t have time to chat or something, but the place was completely empty. At least give me a small anecdote about the wine, or some snippet about the grape or the country.
The wine list itself is moderately interesting. For those without a ton of experience with wine, Aviary will have some cool old world (i.e., France, Italy, Spain) wines for you to experience. Those with more wine knowledge will find a few fun items on offer, but nothing to get the cork dork buzz going.
I didn’t have any food, so can’t speak to that. That’s ok because no one really discussed food with us anyway.

Aviary is just minutes away from our new house, but we didn’t know what to think. The signage is kind of confusing, but my husband and I took the leap and we are more than happy that we did. This place is gorgeous on the inside (think lots of Windows, light and airy, modern furniture that fits in plenty of nice nooks) and the wine selection is superb. I am a champagne gal, and have yet to be even underwhelmed. The owner is also just the best (first wine place I have been to that was not snobby. In fact, he sat down with us the first day just to get an idea of what we liked and remembered what I have had each time I have been in.) and makes the art inside as well. Simply great. Also delicious: the small plates. Olives in particular. And the happy hour and daily specials just make it the bees knees. To sum up: will be here constantly. Oh! And the music! As a bonafide audiophile, is always top notch.

Awesome Wine Bar! I can’t believe that I haven’t discovered this bar before.
The owner sat down and asked us questions to find out what kind of wine we might like. Then we got a really good bottle. Good prices and great happy hour. We also had good appetizers: a cheese plate and olives.

Went in to this wonderful little find to have some wine before meeting friends for the evening. I had the best time, getting to know the servers, they were so sweet and kind, they even allowed me to show off pictures of my nephew! I was also educated briefly on wine and got to try a local red cabernet which was incredibly smooth. I definitely will return to this gem next time I get a chance to visit austin!

My old review for Aviary seems to be missing but I love this place so much I don’t mind at all writing another one. I’ve live/​worked within spitting distance of this place for about 5 or 6 years and love it just as much now, if not more, then I ever have. Service and ambience are just as crucial to me as quality and selection of food and drinks and Aviary has always delivered both. I love all the promotions they do during the week! It makes everyday seem special! The snacks are awesome too, I always get a little munchie when I’m drinking. I am chronically early to literally everything and I love meeting friends here because I can browse all the goods while I wait for them.

Cool place. The seating is a little awkward and I’m a fan of liquor cocktails but they had a nice selection of wine and beer. The grilled cheese sandwich was amazing and Tuesdays show some really nice deals. John, who was manning the bar was really nice and the music was really chill.

We have been here a few times and the ambiance and people working are always solid. Good vibes. Nobody is overly energetic or in your face but at the same time attentive and service oriented. It’s really a nice place to hang.

Great, comfy wine bar in South Austin with a super chill vibe. I came here on Tuesday where they had all night happy hour: $ 4 glasses of house wine and $ 4 bites. The pours were large, the service was friendly, and the atmosphere was relaxed. Great place to unwind from the workday.

I was told we were having a wine night at Aviary. Now, I’ve driven past it and have shopped at the other stores on that strip but I had no clue what exactly it was.
From the way she described it, it’s a furniture store that has a wine bar. I think to myself, ‘yay furniture shopping while drinking wine. Exactly what I want to do on a Wednesday night. NOT.’ Come to find out, it’s exactly what I wanted to do on a Wednesday night.
It’s a really cool laid back vibe with tables and chairs everywhere. It’s great for groups or great to sit back and enjoy a glass of wine solo. It’s really artsy and cute. I’ll be coming back weekly to knock back a bottle and unwind, responsibly that is.

This place is perfect to relax and sip a glass of wine or maybe two! Marco is awesome!

My wife and I were introduced to Aviary through friends who have been regulars for years. The location is great and parking hasn’t been an issue on any occasion. Every time I’ve gone, the atmosphere is just so relaxed and almost familial. We’ve met some really cool loyal patrons there and it’s a great change of pace from any other drinking establishment in town.
The owners and staff are friendly and knowledgable and along with a great selection of wine, they also have a rotating beer on tap. And they’ve got a limited food menu as well. We tried their Poké this past week and it was fantastic (see accompanying picture). It tasted even better than it looked. I’ve also enjoyed some of their other food offerings on prior visits and have come away impressed every time.

Really great spot that offers happy hour ALL DAY on Tuesday. Needless to say, $ 4 glasses of House Wine & $ 4 bar bites is quite the deal. The space is great and the staff was very attentive and friendly. Overall it is a relaxed vibe, with nice people, and reasonably priced food & drinks… tough to beat!

I love this place now that it’s started to serve food! John is a great chef, amazingly fresh ingredients from Johnson’s backyard. Marco as usual is smooth laid back and charming and really knows his wine. My husband says the only thing missing here is draft beer but only because he’s a beer snob. Marco really knows his wine and cheese. I had my baby shower here, perfectly arranged for 40 people, catered by Marco and John. Very easy and laid back. We even sang karaōke and the guests had a blast. It was an atypical baby shower but that’s what we wanted. Just to have a good time and Marco really made it happen!

I’ve been to Aviary a few times, and every time I find myself saying «why don’t I come here more often?». I love the décor, and the fact that everything is for sale. Marco is incredibly welcoming, friendly and knowledgable. Each time I’ve been I’ve tried a new variety of wine I’ve never heard of before, and usually fall in love with. It is typically many months between visits, but Marco seems to recognize me (or is really good at pretending to). It’s a small shop run by him and his wife. Don’t come here when you are in a rush as it can get a little backed up, just grab a seat at the bar, say hello and enjoy your evening :)
Last night I went to the Rose WIne Class with a friend. The class was offered free of charge, and we sampled 4 very different rosés. I love that Marco had us taste the wine and make notes first. He then had us share our thoughts with the group before explaining the wine. It was fun to learn that 1) I was actually tasting the things I was supposed to be tasting — hooray palette! and 2) why those flavors existed in the wine. I didn’t feel like we were being told what to taste or overloaded with info. The wine classes are currently offered every other Thursday, and I will certainly be back for another.
The small plates of food are very tasty. Highly recommend the cheese plate, it changes but is always delicious. Last night I had the shishito peppers with honey glazed walnuts and they were incredible. Marco helped me pick a wine to go with it based on his knowledge of my preferences and it was perfect (a Gamay, I believe). I also had the hangar steak bruschetta, which was tasty but didn’t match the Gamay as well, so I switched to a Malbec I had been eyeing all night (mainly due to it’s description as «grade A uncut shit»). It was incredible and I plan on going back on Wednesday when it is half price bottle night to stock up.
There is a reserved parking lot just South of the strip mall that I have always been able to park in (a huge fear considering you are right next to Black Sheep and parking for The ABGB now overflows all the way to Lamar). They have a patio out front with nice seating that is dog-​friendly (also had a lovely chat with Marco about my pitbull puppy, who now follows Aviary on Instagram). Other things to note:
— Wednesdays, as mentioned, are half price bottles
— Thursdays is $ 2 off glasses of wine
— They’ve started doing dinners with wine pairings that seem a little steep at first glance, but totally worth it
— Wine classes every other Thurs are currently free, but may be upgraded to include food pairings for a mere $ 10 in the future

We randomly made one final stop here instead of going home and I must say I’m impressed. The place itself and décor are a site to see. I’ve never seen anything like it. As soon as we walked in we received an Alice In Wonderland Vibe. One of the owners assisted Heather in picking her favorite wine and gladly opened a new bottle just so she could determine if it was the wine she wanted. He was quite generous and helpful. They serve food and although we didn’t order any, the cook was preparing a dish in the back and it smelled wonderful. There’s seating outside and a private lot to park in. Big windows will allow you to sit inside and get a great view of Lamar traffic. They have AWESOME specials throughout the week. I will say the place seems to be a hot spot for woman as the ratio was about 10 to 0 when I came. Nice little joint, I’ll be back to try the food Heather the wine I’m sure…

I hate to follow the crowd but just like everybody else I think this place is really AWESOME! The wine is amazing and the cheese plate we had was well put together and very tasty.
At first my husband and I were a little weirded out about the concept. A furniture/​décor store and wine bar? Super random even for Austin, but all fears subsided once we settled into a nice couch and started sipping some wine. It’s really a great spot!
Great for happy hour, day drinking or if you want to grab a glass of wine and do some work on your laptop!

I’ve been to Aviary several times and have had a lovely time on every occasion. This past Friday, I found myself sitting at the bar chatting with a friend after Marco (the owner) recommended this amazing Bonarda Reserva and all of a sudden stopped mid conversation to realize I was drinking the best wine I had ever had.
Besides the incredible wine and cheese, Marco was hysterical and a complete delight. We had some snarky conversation but mostly he taught us a lot about the wine choices we had debated.
It is quiet and intimate but also bright and open. I love everything about this place. I found myself frantically searching online to try to find more of this wine and when my search came up with nothing, I realized that Aviary has specials EVERY day. Turns out, Wednesday is half off bottles night.
Guess where I’m going this Wednesday?

Novel concepts are hard to obtain these days, especially in Austin, where delicious restaurants abound. Aviary has set itself apart with its combination of home décor and wine bar. This is no Kirkland’s home; rather, Aviary features local, eclectic artwork on display throughout the establishment. As for the wine, Aviary has a generous selection of whites, reds, and bubbles and has daily specials (Wednesday = ½ off bottles!) Marco is fantastic and does a great job of recommending the perfect wine for your palate.
In the past year, they started serving food. My friend and I ordered their brussels sprouts with shishito peppers and grapes as well as their small cheese and charcuterie plate. The vegetable assortment definitely emphasized aesthetics as it was beautifully presented but scant on the vegetables. That being said, the combination of shishitos and brussels sprouts was creative and thoughtfully paired. Our cheese plate came with a few cheeses, crostini, mustard, apples, and jam. Generally, I expect the charcuterie choice to be something like soppressata or salami. To our surprise, and not necessarily delight, the selection was a chicken liver mousse, which my friend was not too keen on. Overall, the food was good albeit, slightly overpriced. It will not keep me from going back to Aviary to enjoy their relaxed atmosphere, wifi, and wine. What a gem on South Lamar!

I am updating my review of this place.
My only complaint was the fact they had no dessert wine options. Well guess what… they have them now. I will admit that I am thrilled and because of this fact I plan to visit more often. The owner is such a cool guy and goes out of his way to make sure his customers are happy. The cheese and pâté are really good so make sure you give them a try.