Main Street Wine Cellar

THIS BAR DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS LOCATION. My girlfriends and I went to meet up here and it’s a completely different restaurant that was not open. We walked up and down the street to see if it had moved to no avail.

Ah man I really wanted to like this place but the service was so terrible I just can’t bring myself to giving it more than about 2.5 stars (and I round down!). We went in on a Friday night (5 people) and were seated in a nice table, there was live music going on (the guitar guy was really good too!) and it was a nice atmosphere (couple nice tvs playing live sports, music, good crowd but not too crowded, etc).
We were really happy with everything except the atrocious service. The food was awesome (crepes/​quiche were exquisite), the wine was good (not too pricey) and the cheese/​meat plate was great too. All of the meals had nice presentation but the service…
I’m only going to detail a few of their mishaps since otherwise I’d be here all night! One of the girls we were with was drinking white wine and she ordered another glass. The waitress came back and said, «I think this is what you ordered, do you wanna try it and let me know?». Are we at a wine bar or TGI Fridays? Anyways, she tried it and it wasn’t the same one but told the waitress it was fine, she’d drink it anyways. At this point, our original waitress disappeared for about an hour and another one took over — yippee.
I ordered a bottle of red wine and when she brought it over I held out my glass for a sample. I’m no wine connoisseur but I know that you’re supposed to sample the bottle before you pour everyone’s glasses. I think they even do that at TGI Fridays! Anyways she poured out everyone’s glasses — no big deal to me but I could see how some people would get upset at that.
My friends mentioned to the waitress that it was my bday so they brought out 6 éclair type desserts. They were so so but when we got the bill, they charged us for them. Again, not a big deal since some restaurants charge when you get a bday piece of cake but I’m pretty sure classier places don’t.
On to the grand finale: the check. We paid with 4 credit cards and wrote down the amounts on the back of the receipt for three of the cards and I told her to put the remaining balance on mine. 5 years ago I know this might have been a lot to ask for but every restaurant on the planet is used to splitting checks by now. Anyways, 15 minutes later, yes 15 minutes go by and we still don’t have the check. I can see the waitress struggling with something at the register and she’s got the manager helping her but even with their combined brain power they still can’t figure it out. After about 10 more minutes, she finally comes over and tells us she incorrectly charged one of the cards and they can’t figure out how to refund the charge. The guy who knows how to do that isn’t here tonight. I won’t even get into how dumb that is but long story short, it took them 30 – 40 minutes to split our check.
When they finally delivered it, no free dessert, no apology from the manager nada. Obviously the waitress apologized but I still gave her a decent tip since otherwise I would have paid way less than everyone else. I wanted to drop a pi symbol or something annoying like that in the tip line but I refrained myself and for that I am proud.
I wanted to like this place because everything was awesome about it, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring myself to come back because of the crappy service.

New management here, and what a change!!! Better service! Better food! And much, much better wine!!! Awesome atmosphere, & I cannot wait to try the new menu after their upcoming remodel. Great new addition to main st!

Wine flight $ 15 — Delicious meat and cheese plate $ 14.00. This is a cute little bistro with a nice vibe and friendly servers. Great place to relax, have a couple (or three) glasses of wine and have a nibble.

I love the atmosphere here. Came to chill with a friend and had a glass of wine (or two) each with a cheese plate.
The bartender/​server was really helpful with recommendations for both wine and cheese. I must thank him for the greatest cheese I have ever met: cotswald cheddar. After coming here, I went on a search for the cheese at Trader Joe’s.
This place is great for a date, casual hangout, or a group. Will definitely be back.
Oh and it’s only ⁴⁄₅ stars because it was a little pricey…

I’ve gotta say, I was pretty disappointed in this place. I came here on a first date, and this was our second stop of the evening. My friend ordered a flight, and I got a single glass. I really thought that they underpoured me. I had less wine in my glass than my friend had in each glass for his flight. I also thought that the prices for both wine and food were a little over the top. It’s not like this is my first wine rodeo, I’ve been to plenty of wine bars, but this one just didn’t catch my interest enough to want to go back. The service was rather lacking, as if they had something better to do than serve the paying customers. Not much in the way of atmosphere either… little on the bland side.

We tried this place on a Tuesday night and it was pretty busy. Someone told me it was under new management. Not sure.
We started with some wine. They had a great list. Lots to choose from. I got the escargots and hubby got the cheese plate. Both were fantastic. For dinner we shared the Seal Beach crêpe — with salmon. It was really tasty. Never had a crêpe with salmon before. For dessert we shared the Crêpe Suzette. Fantastic as well.
We loved the food and wine, loved the ambiance, and bustling atmosphere. The only negative is that there appeared to have been only one waitress and she wS running around like crazy. I heard several patrons complain. We cut her some slack, but management should really consider hiring another waitress.

Decent prices. Good food. Good service. Cute Servers. Kelly and Robert. They just reopened so go on down and try it out. The white wine St. Supery is delish. Nice smell. Slightly sweet but not too sweet with a little kick

Walked by with my mom and daughter and thought we would stop in for a glass of wine and some appetizers. Before sitting I asked if it was okay I had an infant with me, the host said no problem, and helped me to collapse my stroller. Even going so far as to ask which table would be most comfortable, and if he could store my stroller in the back.
After getting my daughter out of the stroller, and into the booth a waitress walked up to inform us we had to leave. They are not licensed as a restaurant.
Now I understand. But… couldn’t you have informed me when I asked if it was a problem? I couldn’t believe I was allowed to get all settled, and then embarrassed.
The situation could have been handled much better. All staff members need to be aware of their policy.

Stopped here on a Friday evening after coercing the husband that it was a great idea.
Oops. Nearly every glass of red was out of stock due to a wine delivery not coming in. Really? Lucky for them there were no customers anyway. Skimpy wine selection. If I am at a wine bar, I am looking to try something off the beaten path, something that I’ve never had before. Definetly not an over priced glass of Chalone, BV, or Ravenswood that you can buy at the grocery store across the street.
Please do yourself a favor; drive south on PCH & stop at Brix instead.

I come down to Seal Beach every year for 3 weeks. I am actually shocked by the reviews or lack of because it is my favorite place in the area. Although it explains maybe a bit why it is never packed.
The shrimp scampi pasta was very good.
The sliders are awesome!
Service is always good, never have had an issue with the staff.
Another good place is the Hangout in SB.

Bad, bad, bad. The shrimp scampi was rancid. The wines are not fresh and the selection is pretty small for a ‘wine cellar.’ They didn’t have nearly enough staff for a ²⁄₃ full restaurant. Our waiter decided he didn’t need to write anything down and forgot half our orders. The place is open til 11 on a Friday but they close the kitchen at 9? even for dessert?
Please spare yourself the misery and save your cash from these thieves.

Came in here a friend for some vino. They have a long community wood table in the center of the restaurant, an actual wine bar space and then tables line the outside walls, of which have open windows to the sidewalk.
We were seated for quite a bit until we were greeted by a not so friendly server. The wine selection by the glass seemed a bit slim? Overall, the place seemed to be lacking any real design elements or ambiance. There was really just wine bottles on shelves and a surfboard hung. After waiting for a long time for our glasses of wine to actually be delivered, we realized there was only one server in the whole restaurant, so we gave him some slack.
Our server ended up comping our 2^nd glasses of wine because he felt bad about his lack of service, which was a nice gesture but combined with all else, I’m not in a rush to make it back here.

I’m a fan of this place — plain and simple. Me and a buddy discovered it by searching for places on google maps, and after our first time in there, we were hooked. We were welcomed with open arms, and turned into regulars.
Great wine, great food, and great service.

Dropped in here because the gf and i were looking for a chill place to get some drinks.
Surprisingly, for a friday night, it was pretty empty. 3 other small groups and 1 person at the bar, besides me and my girl.
Anyways, we were there strictly for wine, so we sat at the bar.
Our server, Johnathan A., suggested a couple of wines which i decided to try.
I, being a fan of stronger wines, enjoyed the selections very much. However, i also tried and liked their Merlot, the best. My gf ended up favoring the Rose.
Our server was very attentive and prompt to ask us if we wanted to try anything else.
The atmosphere is totally my scene. If you like relaxing and cozy locations without large crowds, this is that kind of place. The décor definitely adds to the atmosphere.
I do have to admit, the prices were a little higher than i expected, for wine that wasn’t anything particularly special or different (although I do go to wine bars to find and try new wines), but it wasn’t too bad either.
Overall nice experience here, and would definitely come back again if im in the area.

Their breakfast was amazing. Comparable to Crema Café down the street, which is usually our first choice, but there’s usually a line and we wanted to try something different.
$ 5 Mimosas got our attention. I ordered a crab-​something omelet and my wife ordered the one with Chorizo in it. Both were really good. Mine was better.
Nice atmosphere. Classy place. Surprised at some of the negative reviews, but breakfast is a good bet to try at this spot. Love the ambiance.
The server checked on us, but wasn’t overly attentive, and we liked that, as we wanted a lazy breakfast without being interrupted all the time.
Wide open windows gives you an outdoorsy feel, while you’re sitting in the shade and quiet.

I had a Beachwood raffle– acquired gift certificate for the Wine Cellar burning a hole in my pocket, so I took my cousin last Tuesday night.
Odd service. The owner was not welcoming or friendly, and spent most of his time talking to the one other party in the place. I got the feeling we were inconveniencing him because he’d rather be hanging with his friends.
We got a grilled white cheddar cheese with caramelized onions and the pork sliders. The cheese was a tiny strip, about 1-​inch wide, topped with tons of overpowering onions. I couldn’t even taste any cheese. The slider meat was tasty, but again, too many onions, served on King’s Hawaiian rolls. The worst part was the side of Ruffles splashed with garlicky truffle oil.
Very disappointing, strange atmosphere. I don’t know how they make the rent payments. Oh well, back to Beachwood!

TERRIBLE BUSINESS.
I went here today in response to an offer that they sent me (I am signed up for their mailing list) that was a two-​for-​one on their house wine and they refused to honor it!
I have never seen this before. The poor guy working there called his boss and the boss said that he didn’t authorize it and that he had some guy doing promotions for him, so it wasn’t valid. WTF? So! Some guy who works for you sent the offer out… um…you honor it, or you retract the thing before my posse and I drive 20 minutes to get there to be disappointed. Seems simple to me. it’s a small thing, but false advertising is still rude.
Who runs a business like that?
Plus there was only four people in the place on a Saturday evening – you would want to keep the customers that you have if your business is doing that poorly, don’t you think?
I will not go back if the owner of this place doesn’t give a shit about his customers and the service that he offers, then I am sure that I have many other, better places to frequent.

This review is based on Sunday brunch on the 4^th of July weekend. We had a Groupon and thought this would be a good time to come in.
First off, this is one of those places that tries to cram in as many tables as possible into a small space so you are pretty much fraternizing with the table next to you.
As for the service, it just sucked. It took over 10 minutes for someone to get our waters and mimosa’s over to us. I counted about 10 tables with customers and 4 people working, so the servers must of been doing to cooking too. They were not too friendly or attentive either.
The food was nothing to write home about. I had the potatoes which had bacon, cheese and onions. My wife had the breakfast tacos which were basically scrambled eggs in a tortilla. The portions were small.
The mimosas are not bottomless and the first round consisted of 90% orange juice and 10% champagne.
It just looked like that these people didn’t really know how to run a restaurant. It could be a great wine bar in the evening, but as far as eating here you can definitely skip it.

i got invited to a birthday from a friend. She kindly asked if I knew Main Street Wine Cellar.
Of course!!! (Thanks Hazel Q for giving me street cred!)
I was glad to have returned to Main Street because I had a very positive experience the first time. Now I can return and have a full experience. My friend’s birthday group consisted of 20+ people. I kept assuring my friend that Main Street can handle, and of course they did. The service throughout the night, I might add was very good. Always a big thumbs up for the staff and crew at Main Street.
I kept insisting to other they needed to try the Truffle Popcorn. They laughed but when I pointed out it was only $ 5 bucks they ordered some. One plate became 4 plates. :)
I sampled some of others’ plates while I envied others.
The Cabernet Prime Beef looked glorious. I wish I ordered that. I wasn’t that hungry but it looked so good. I spied someone’s Shrimp Scampi with pasta, which looked good but tasted unremarkable. The crab cake I ordered was very beautifully presented as well. No real complaints on the dish. The sliders I had were fantastic too — bonus because they were piping hot!
I also ordered the their market plate, which combines a cheese flight and a charcuterie plate. I opted for the medium & firm flight with the manchego, cotswald cheddar and gruyère berne. All lovely cheeses. On the charcuterie I opted for the Prosciutto de Parma, Duck Prosciutto and the Serrano Ham. All were stunning cuts of meat. I must say the plate was a very generous plate of food. One of the better meat and cheese plates I’ve had at a wine bar. Very pleased.
Dessert was their chocolate chip cookie. Its exactly like the Pizzookie at BJ’s. Individually cooked cookies topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. How can anyone say no to that???
I really enjoyed my visit to Main Street. If I lived closer I’d surely come often. If you’re in Seal Beach, you’re sure to win to visit a very elegant and non-​pretentious wine bar.