Vertical Wine Bistro

This experience was turned into a 5 star because of our server Patrick. The food was good but the service was great. We came here for our friend’s birthday and Patrick was attentive to our table and really did everything to make sure our experience was pleasurable. Patrick is awesome!

We had our Vday dinner here with a large group. The food was good and the beer selection was ok. I know its a wine place, but it should still have a good selection if it is going to offer draft options. The place itself is nice and the atmosphere is pretty cool and fits Old Town Pasadena. Like I said the food was good, but nothing to rave over or a must have…

Even in the chaos of Valentines weekend, our server Chris was great. The ambiance was great.

I guess I wasn’t in love with this place because I’m not much of a wine drinker or alcohol drinker at that. One of my colleagues wanted to have her farewell dinner here, but it wasn’t much of a dinner. We all ordered drinks individually and then ordered some food items to share. The mac & cheese, fries, and calamari were shared between us. It was all good food and wasn’t overpriced like I expected. I’m glad I ate prior to coming here only because there’s not much on the menu to my liking. I had one vodka mixed drink and even got a free glass of wine/​champagne for checking in at the location.
The overall feel of the place is very chill and relaxed. It’s both good for a small or large group setting. We all just sat around and talked while enjoying our drinks and food. I thought that the bartender did a good job taking all of our drink and food orders. He was consistent about making his rounds and making sure we were taken care of.
I parked in a garage about a block away. If i remember correctly, I paid $ 7 for the nightly parking. It was well worht it as it would have taken forever to drive around looking for a parking spot.

Ambience is amazing. Great place to have wine and hang out with friends. Came during happy hour and the prices for happy hour bar menu was pretty reasonable. House wine was only $ 5! We practically ordered everything on the menu– I thought the sliders were the best, great taste to it. However the rest of the food was ok. Got the key lime pie for dessert — super yummy; also tried the soufflé and crème brûlée but nothing fancy about it — service was excellent.

This place is my go to every year on my birthday! It’s in a great location, the ambiance is sexy, and the oysters are a great deal during happy hour. The lounge is a good spot to chill with friends and have free glass of prosseco if you check in! Thanks vertical wine bistro!!!

Took my wife on a Saturday night date here and really excited to indulge gastronomically based on Unilocal’s reviews. The ambiance was perfect especially the dramatic entrance with the staircase. We were seated by the fireplace and it was perfect! 2 thumbs up for the look and feel…
Unfortunately, the gastronomic experience never elevated. The highlight was the arugula salad. The oysters were ok. The sea bass and seafood risotto fell short in flavor and texture. Again, it was ok. The 25 minute chocolate soufflé was also ok. To top it all, the prime rib night special was sold out and we had dinner at 7:30pm.
I would come back for a post dinner drink with friends.

My wife and I have enjoyed Vertical Wine Bistro for many years. But since Gail sold the business, it has really gone downhill. We were so disappointed tonight! The service was spotty, at best. They had one bartender and one server for all of the guests in the restaurant, and they neglected us for the most part. The wine selection was very good, however. Lots of nice California wines. Unfortunately the food was mediocre. The seafood risotto was too salty; the shrimp and lobster roll on a cold white bun was terrible. The French Fries looked and tasted like they were prepared hours ago. Time to press the reset button on this restaurant, folks. Sincerely, Adam and Eva

Let’s start with how awesome the layout of the restaurant is. The bar is nicely separated from the diners. This is really a great separation in noise level. Diners are able to enjoy their meals without having to shout at one another like their in a club. The bar attendees are able to be as loud as they please.
Being a pretty upscale restaurant it was nice to see that there were decent size portions and reasonable pricing. Wait staff was very attentive without being intrusive.
Half shell oysters
Fresh, and very clean with no sandy after taste.
Beet salad
Very healthy and colorful but average tasting
Braised Beef Bourguignon
Cooked to perfection! No knife needed to cut
Sunday lobster dinner
Comes with a whole lobster, whole corn on the cob, lobster bisque, spinach, half a lobster roll, and a bowl of fries. Huge portion, so definitely shareable. Whole lobster was really good. Lobster roll had a lot more water in it than used to, used to a creamier mixture. Spinach was simple and tasty. Lobster bisque was a bit tangier than the usual. Bowl of fries. Whatever the fries were sprinkled with it was so addicting!
Overall, would I come back again? Absolutely!

Since i had the prix fixe meal for NYE, I don’t know if i had the «full experience», but i thought it was good — could have eaten more :) but my bf’s ny steak was amazing and a very healthy portion (also from the prix fixe menu)…I really liked the ambience too. Dessert choices were l a c k i n g, but again, it was likely bc of the special menu. I will go back to try their renowned seafood!

We had dinner there tonight and not only was the service wonderful but our food was amazing! Had oysters, wedge salads, steak, prime rib and tiramisu. I have no complaints about anything! A champagne cocktail and a glass of Pinot were spot on… Also the restaurant itself was soooo cute and the ambiance was great. We are so glad we came and will totally be back.

Another New Years Eve saga. They mixed up the reservations a few times. Served barely warm soup. We sent it back. Menu was not as promised. Caesar fair. Steak fair. Shrimp a little creepy. Each request required several reminders: wine pairings, salt and pepper. Our friends were very disappointed. Way overpriced for what we got. Will probably not come here again. A real letdown when you spend NYE having to be preoccupied with the labor intensive task of getting what you need.

I will never ever come back here ever again!!! This was my worst experience on NYE and I hope no one will have to go through what I did. So, I made reservation prior and was looking forward in doing the countdown over dinner with good friends who were visiting LA. As soon as I got there, the hostess said I will be waiting for awhile. I checked my time and said that my reservation is at 9 pm and we are early, how much later will this be. She said it should not be too long, so we waited. 10 mins later she stopped by again and said that the check was paid and food has been packed, so we should be seated soon. 10 mins later, we were still waiting and I was getting pretty hungry. I went to grab the hostess and asked how much longer. She looked nervous and claimed that they overbooked and apologized that they were not sure how much longer we will have to wait now. I got pretty upset since we had reservations and she was confident the customers at our table would leave since they were there since 7 pm. I told them I doubt the customers were going to leave anytime soon since its NYE and why would they leave when it’s already 9:30 pm. Knowing we were upset, they said they will start letting their guests know we had reservations. But no one left and we were still waiting for almost 1 hour. At that point, I’ll was fuming on the lack of resolutions. They suggested that we order and eat at the bar but we must order the $ 75 prefix menu. Now why would anyone going to pay $ 100 to eat at the bar! This totally ruined the spirit of the true NYE experience. The hostess stopped coming by too. What was even worst is that the manager was not there either. They claimed the manager left right before 9 pm. So the bar manager was the only one in charge but he wasn’t helpful at all either.
In the end, we just left so upset and NYE was ruined!!! It just wasnt right that we had reservations but yet they didn’t have a place to seat us! They hired a DJ to host the countdown, but the DJ couldn’t set up either since they over booked and there was not an empty table to set up the turntable! This was just so unorganized and mismanaged. They should have set proper expectations with all their guests but instead they just lost about $ 1000 of revenue since we all walked after waiting for an hour, no dinner, and NYE ruined! I felt even more bad for my friends that were visiting. It was a poor business decision there was no manager unavailable on a busy night. The worst decision was not making proper expectation to other guests that the table was reserved at 9 pm. I felt this could have been prevented but it doesn’t matter anymore because I will never come back here ever again!!! Why bother making reservations when you will never be seated!!! This whole experience will make me think twice with the concept of making a «reservation»!!

Ambiance? Check. Decent wines and drinks? Check. Delicious Pre fixe menu? Just no.
Came here for NYE and was very disappointed to have our last meal of 2015 be a super sad NY steak and a very bland filet. Soup was also bland. Cheesecake seemed like it was frozen and it was nothing to write home about. I will say it wasn’t our best judgement for choosing a wine bar for a meal (it’s not really a place you come to for a good steak).
All in all, they get their stars for the ambiance and the libations but not necessarily for the food. I would come back to hang out for drinks again.

The night started off well, as a planned dinner with my girlfriends for a couple of birthdays. We had reservations but it did not seem too busy as we were seated as soon as the host came out to greet us. When we entered it looked like a bar/​lounge type of place but there was actually a separate dining area where we were seated for dinner. Our waiter was super friendly and nice, Eric, I think was his name. We ordered the tier #2 seafood tower which came with an ample amount of seafood. We realized that half way through eating when we were all getting full. Although, we had originally planned to order 2 more entrees but that was not necessary. The tower was huge and full of variety with lobster, crab, oysters, clams, a variety of shrimp, cooked appetizers, etc. We all started with a free glass of Prosecco, which was a Unilocal check-​in offer. After checking in we also noticed there was a 20% off dinner menu coupon.
When we were ordering our waiter clearly told us they had received fresh seafood in this morning so we were pretty glad to hear that. We were satisfied with most of the items on the tower but we noticed a couple of shrimps having a mushy texture. We notified our waiter about this situation and they brought out about 6 new pieces of shrimp for us. We still had other types of shrimp and seafood left on the seafood tower but after eating about four of the new shrimp, a server comes to our table saying he needs to take the shrimp back. We were all very confused and simply asked why. There may have been some kind of language barrier but we were pretty sure he said it was because they gave us too many pieces and that they needed it for another customers order. My friend told him «you cannot serve this to other customers, we have already touched the shrimps and it is not sanitary» and he replied with «we will wash it.» We all sat there in disbelief and just looked at each other, confused. After the two shrimps were returned to his plate he also snatched one of our original shrimp that was from our tower that we had not even touched and ran off into the kitchen! We were all shocked at what just happened and asked our waiter for an explanation of why the server took our shrimp and he said he didn’t know why he did that and apologized. To make up for the awkward situation, another plate of shrimp and clams was brought out to us but by that point we did not want to eat anymore. My friends and I thought we were on some kind of prank show but sadly that was not the case because it was a fact that the server inappropriately stole the shrimps from our plate! We would have never imagined this type of service in such a restaurant in Pasadena.

This is seriously the best kept secret in Pasadena, and I’m now telling the world! Come here for their SEAFOOD TOWER! If you love raw seafood, this is seriously the best deal in town.
Tier 2 is $ 85 and Tier 3 is $ 150. The difference between the two is that Tier 3 comes with extra lobster and king crab legs. And what you see in the picture isn’t even all the food! They brought out even more food on the side as it didn’t fit on the tower tiers! If you only plan to eat the tower and nothing else off the menu, Tier 2 is enough for 4 to 5 people, and Tier 3 is perfect for 6 — 8 people depending on how hungry and the size of everyone’s appetite.
Seafood variety is based on what’s fresh that day and what’s in season. There is both raw and cooked seafood: assorted variety of oysters, assorted variety of clams, sea urchins, king crab legs, whole stone crab, lobster, langoustines, whelks, geoduck sashimi, abalone sashimi, sweet shrimp sashimi, whole shrimps, octopus, deep fried soft shell crab. This is seriously every seafood lover’s dream!
Service is amazing! Our waiter came by often to check up on us, clear our plates and shell bowls, refill on the water.
Tip: Seafood tower is only available Thurs — Sat. If you plan on going for the tower, reserve it when you reserve the table. That way they make sure to save the best seafood for you!
Parking: Valet for $ 8. Street metered parking. Lot on Union and Fair Oaks is $ 6. One block north of the restaurant on Raymond has 90 minute free parking.

The lobster bisque (OMG wonderful it could be the best Lobster Bisque I have every had and trust me I have been around)
The Vegetable salad is good

5 stars for the ambience and the service.
3 stars for the food.
I’d come here again but solely for the bar. They have an extensive wine list and a nice cocktail menu. Perfect place to end a date night after dinner at another restaurant.

As a wine bar, it’s just OK. Cool atmosphere and very friendly workers, but it seems to attract a bit of a douche crowd.
That said, delicious grilled cheese (ish) sandwiches!

Vertical Wine Bistro is one of my favorite places in Pasadena. I love that it’s tucked away and the décor is just beautiful. I’ve been going to their happy hour for the past 3 years and have always had a pleasant experience and especially love that they offer happy hour all day on Sundays!
Normally, the food is just okay… the happy hour specials don’t really change much. However, I do want to mention that my boyfriend and I had dinner on Valentine’s Day there earlier this year. I was kind of hesitant at first because I knew the food is just kind of blah but since this was the place where we first met, we decided to keep our reservation. It was $ 70/​per person prixe fix menu and I have to admit, it was absolutely amazing! I had the lobster bisque, bacon wrapped scallops, the filet mignon and dessert. The filet was so tender, you barely even needed a knife. The scallops were fresh and cooked perfectly. It was a great experience!
I also want to make mention that there was finally a new option on their happy hour menu when I went this past Friday, which was the lobster roll. For $ 15, the sandwich came with a mountain of skinny french fries. The actual lobster roll was delicious and I was happy with the new choice! One last thing… you can never go wrong with ordering their Moscow Mule! :)

It was my first time going to Vertical Wine Bar. I met my date there and I didn’t know what to expect but Pasadena is a beautiful city.
I didn’t realized the restaurant was upstairs until I saw the string of light bulbs hanging along the walls as I walked up the stairs. It was also raining that night and I didn’t have my umbrella so I casually walked in and I really love the ambience. It was like a scene in a movie where you looked at a crowd of people enjoying their wine or cocktails with their coworkers or friends after work in the bar area and around the sofas.
My date had just arrived and we sat at the bar area after walking around the restaurant to look for seat.
We ordered wine for our drinks. I had the 2010 Château Mezain Bordeaux Blend which was pretty good. My date had the Malbec. They had a great selection of wine to choose from.
For appetizers, we had Calamari and a Margarita Pizza. The Calamari was pretty good with tomato sauce. The Margarita Pizza had olives in it and my date did not like olives. Poor thing had to dig out all the olives. My date noticed that the appetizers menu changed since he’s been there.
Service was pretty good, the waiter would check on us for drink refills or food orders. It was a bit dark in the restaurant but it’s a great place to meet a group of people or coworkers after work.
The atmosphere definitely set a nice chilled atmosphere to get to know someone new.
Parking is near by at the parking structure. The décor of the restaurant is really nice and spacious with fine dining, sofas, or bar area.
After our drinks, we left Vertical Wine Bar to meet my friends at Gyu-​Kaku and walked in the rain with one umbrella.

Ever since we discovered this hidden little gem located on the corner of Union and Raymond, I’ve always reserved a soft spot in my heart for «Vertical Wine Bistro.» This lovely wine bistro accepts reservation, has a simple and rustic décor, which embodies a high ceiling that, surprisingly, yields fairly good acoustics. Of course, what really makes Vertical Wine Bistro atop other restaurants within the vicinity of Old town, has got to be its delicious food and wines, which are lovingly paired with superb and attentive services.
Upon arrival, we were promptly seated. Our waiter patiently explained to my BF and me about what type of wines he’d recommend based on our food selection.
— Syrah, Melville: It was my understanding that Syrah usually is full and powerfully flavored. However, this is so not the case from this producer. This wine is somewhat light with just the right amount of fruitiness, it compliments the cheese and charcuterie plate extremely well.
— Pinot Noir, Hitching Post: This wine carries a very light note that’s not overbearing, my BF enjoyed it so much that he ordered two glasses.
— Malbec, Decero: I usually find Malbec far too bold for my palate, its aroma tends to subdue my enjoyment towards further feasting. Therefore, I was extremely delighted to learn to appreciate the subtly of this particular producer. The wine itself is still bolder than the previous two, yet, it carries a light and citrusy note.
— Cheese & Charcuterie plate (chef’s selection:) Our waiter first asked whether if we enjoy blue cheese or goat cheese, then he proceed with the order and brought this beautifully arranged plateful of indulgence. What really brought the cheeses to another higher level was the truffle honey, at a mere additional $ 3.
— Braised Beef Bourguignon: It came with potatoes, baby carrots, and pearl onion. Extremely dense and flavorful beef larded with lardons then braised in rich red wine sauce.
— Roast Lamb «Label Rouge:» Ordinarily, this dish is prepared with chicken. However, due to excessive order of lamb, the chef decided to prepare this with lamb on this particular night we went. It was absolutely amazing, tagine style lamb that’s tender, juicy, and incredibly fresh. Sans any type of gaminess whatsoever.
As I mentioned earlier, our waiter was attentive and knowledgable, and while he was busy with other tables, another waiter quickly took over our table and even offered me some wine tastings. BF and I were also pleasantly surprised on how even the busboy tried his best to cater to our needs throughout the entire meal. We had a fantastic evening/​dinner, and I absolutely recommend anyone who’s reading this review to pay Vertical Wine Bistro a visit.

I have been to many of Laurent Quenioux’s various «Fooding Around» pop-​ups such as White Truffle, Black Truffle, Sauce Nantua, & his infamous «4.20 Weed + Chinese Herb Din Dins» in collaboration with the zany & charming Nguyen Tran née Starry Kitchen way back in the spring of 2012.
However, Chef Quenioux out did himself at his pop-​up featuring Caviar de Solonge on Sunday, Mar. 22^nd in terms of the quality of ingredients, technique, finesse in modulating flavours to create subtle yet flavourfully sophisticated culinary creations. This 5 course dinner at $ 50 was an Absolute DEAL. Staff was enthusiastic, friendly, motivated, hospitable to create a casual yet thoughtful atmosphere. Joshua & Liz, I salute you.
0) Amuse Gueule was a riff from Japanese Sushi. Grist & Toll Charcoal Wheatberries flavoured w/​Sho-​yu/​soy sauce & Mirin/​Japanese Sweet Sake (sah keh) served as a substitute for rice & had a nutty texture similar to Natto-​/​Japanese fermented soybeans. The Spot Prawn was soft, velvety mush w/​sweet ocean minerality. 3 dots of wild sea briny Uni coulis/​purée sauce flavoured with gin & possibly meyer lemon zest. Along w/​Chorizo/​Spanish sausage that has smoky, well aged, salty, sweet porkiness.
1) Sologne Caviar was nobly placed apart & appeared like dark olive grey pearls in boysenberry form w/​every egg pristine, firm, unruptured, & Malossol/​lightly salted. Texture was slightly pasty w/​sea Umami & fruity finish. A rare sturgeon caviar found in one of the tributaries of the Loire.
A cup shaped millefeuille pastry held a bit of salty, meaty pink & fatty yellow tinged Torchon de Foie Gras that was flavoured w/​port & apple w/​a drop of strawberry port gel on the side. A stalk of pea tendril w/​flower buds had a refreshing greenness that could be eaten in between bites to clear the palate. The dry, grainy financier biscuit topped w/​Mezcal crème fraiche, to me, was superfluous.
0−1a) NV Champalou Vouvray Brut, France is of Chenin Blanc w/​fine bubbles, tart apple scent, flinty minerality, sweet/​sour cider which had an acidic tingly feel to cleanse the palate & leave a fresh apple finish.
2) Grilled, meaty dense, soft yet chewy Octopus tentacles seemed brined & coated w/​spicy, smoky chile & garlic. Whipped Mascarpone was sweet buttery, creamy. Diced mango sprinkled w/​Pico de Gallo chile powder was placed near Macédoine/​salad of small diced carrots, potato, & fresh green chickpeas & streak of Leche de Tigre/​citrus juice, chile, onion. Tiny yellow flower of Ruccola con folie argente verde & nasturtium leaf was the garnish.
2a) 2013 Meyer Fonne Gentil d’Alsace, France is of Pinot Gris & Muscadet w/​scent of lychee, honeysuckle, musky grapefruit & smooth acidic, lightly bitter chalky minerality.
3) Firm flesh Wild Sturgeon was smeared w/​carrot emulsion & still had a gamy fish undertone. Soba/​Japanese buckwheat noodle was coiled around a Baby carrot & fried. Fiesole artichoke was a bit fibrous, but pieces of lardon/​bacon made it palatable. Miso/​Japanese soybean paste Teff/​Ethiopian mini-​grain was an earthy touch to the gamy sturgeon.
3a) 2012 Château de Trinquvedel, Tavel Rose, France had apple strawberry scent & tasted of sour strawberry & waxy sweetness ending in refreshing bitterness.
4) Dense, moist, silky, herbed Lapin/​rabbit was a terrine covered w/​a demi-​glacé jus next to a micro thin sweet/​salty creamy earthy Morel mushroom crème brulee splashed onto the dish. Foie gras grille topped w/​minced rhubarb was meaty, fatty, melt-​in-​your-​mouth garnished w/​candied kumquat & an earthy, sweet morel meringue.
4a) 2013 Château Thivin Cotes de Brouilly, Bourgogne, France is of Gamay which is neutral in bouquet tasting of blackberry, raspberry, waxy «mothball» spiciness.
5) Dessert: Hazelnut cake piped w/​lightly sweet hazelnut crème, gritty praline feuilletine, chocolate ganache, drops of sweet, orange scented Meyer Lemon gel & pieces of mandarin tangerine. Mostly an exercise in not too cloyingly sweet, soft, creamy whipped textures & a touch of grittiness from the praline feuilletine.
5a) 2012 Regis Bouvier Masannay Rouge «Vielles Vignes», Les Longeroies, Bourgogne, France is of Pinot Noir from 50 year old vines. Smelling of dried sage, touch of oregano, dark cherry/​creosote & tasting like strong brandied cherry «cough drop», spicy cloves & cinnamon.
A truly great meal is often one where the times flies too quickly. I came at 8:30pm and stayed until almost 11pm. To his credit, Chef Quenioux is often daring & experimental which means not all his experiments end happily. However, imo, this menu de gustation in terms of tres haute cuisine is Chef Quenioux’s chef d’oeuvre. Bravo & Encore! 4+ Unilocal stars.