the tasting room

the tastingroom(uptown park) is a wonderful place, except . . .
 

the entire parking lot is coned off for valet . . . if you want to park your car yourself, it's not an option (except for a few spots out front)!  when i asked a manager about that, he said that the valet company is a separate entity from the tasting room.  either a very lame response, or they need to get some control over valet because it's part of the overall "customer experience".
 

i chose to sit on the patio with a friend.  after about 15 minutes, i ended up going inside to get served at the bar.  they supposedly have staff that covers the patio, but the only ones i saw were clearing tables.
 

very disappointed with the experience at this location.

let’s get right into it - the tastingroomin uptown park gets a huge round of applause for their new oyster bar! first, it’s located in a great spot in the restaurant, smack dab in the middle of all the action (for those that are familiar with the location it used to be the pizza bar). on to the whoo hoo moment - the oyster bar has it’s own bar area where you can order cocktails, wine or champagne! many will not understand why this is not only a whoo-hoo moment but a “wait what” moment. the tastingroomat this location only served wine and having a cocktail program is brand new, so this along with the oyster bar is a huge deal. now that you have the deets about the spot let’s talk about the oysters...

the kitchen of the tastingroomfar surpassed my expectations. instead of an afterthought created to sell more alcohol, it is a central part of the experience at this uptown spot. even non-drinkers should check it out, and that's a rare recommendation for a bar. my only regret was that i didn't have the chance to discover more of the delicious flavors that were no doubt hiding somewhere in the room.

great wine for $5.00. the tastingroomoffers a plethora of wines with ambience to boot! but the pièce de résistance is the $5.00 wine tasting every saturday from 2:00pm - 5:00 pm. you can taste from 4 to 6 wines based on whatever theme, region or varietal. the wine specialist on most saturday's is iris. she is friendly and very knowledgeable and she is not a wine snob. in fact, the entire staff is friendly, i haven't found snobbery to exist.

well done!. urban spoon newbie here - but surprised to be the first to review ttr based on the huge popularity of the place. the uptown park (galleria) location is huge, feels very airy and open, great windows all the way around, and a terrific patio. the wine selection is really interesting (not typical store stuff) and the hand-written tasting notes on every wine i've always found to be spot on, in addition to charming. plus the "wine wall" wines are all under $30. the food is awesome! love the duck/cherry pizza. good place for groups, easy place to hang out (warning: it gets crowded!!!), they have live music sometimes, and there is a new viproomin the back which i've never gone into, but it looks real purdy from afar. ;) you can buy wine by the glass or bottle, and they offer retail too. great spot!! three locations, but i've only been to uptown park. others are midtown (supposed to be the young, hip crowd with a gorgeous skyline view from the patio), and river oaks.