NYC wine bar Black Mountain Wine House will open in Central West End in March

New York City wine bar Black Mountain Wine House will open a St. Louis location at 354-356 N. Boyle Ave. in Central West End in mid- to late March. Located partially in the former West End Grill & Pub space, the bar and restaurant will also feature a bottle shop. 

Black Mountain Wine House will utilize two commercial spaces at 354-356 N. Boyle Ave., each around 1,300 square feet. “One side is divided into a bottle shop and a lounge area for us, and then the other half is the restaurant and the kitchen,” said Joe Baker, who is a co-owner of the St. Louis location with Black Mountain Wine House founder Tyler Maganzini. 

On the restaurant side, there will be space for 15 customers at the bar, with room for approximately 25 customers seated at tables. The lounge area will seat about 15 to 20 additional customers, with a further six to eight to be seated at a table in the bottle shop. Maganzini and Baker plan to apply for permission to add 10 more tables outside to create a sidewalk patio. 

Baker previously worked at Black Mountain Wine House’s Brooklyn location, before moving to St. Louis during the Covid-19 pandemic with his wife. “Joe’s always been pushing me to do another location,” said Maganzini. Baker’s wife is an actress, and spotted an opportunity while doing a show at the Gaslight Theater. “She saw that this was available for lease and, next thing you know, we started looking at it and we thought we could make a run at it.”

Maganzini said part of the appeal of Black Mountain Wine House’s Brooklyn bar is an almost rustic vibe that offers customers a comfortable space where they can relax, read a book, or chat with friends over some wine. “You don’t feel like you’re necessarily in a city,” he said. Maganzini and Baker intend to recreate a similar ambiance with the St. Louis location, with incandescent lights and a warm vibe. 

The bar and restaurant side of the space will open first, with the bottle shop and lounge to come further down the line. The restaurant will feature a menu of shareable plates, with around 20 to 25 wines available by the glass. “A lot of that will be single varietals,” Maganzini said. “The idea is to have an unpretentious wine bar that is a place where people can come and enjoy wine.” A number of wines will be available by the half bottle and, of course, there will be a plentiful selection of full-size bottles. 

Baker described the menu as “comfort food,” with an emphasis on shareable items. “Really the idea is it’s an extension of the neighborhood,” he said. “If Tyler and I were going to go on a weekend expedition to northern Vermont, that's kind of what the menu is reflective of. It's comfort food in that it's warm and it's hearty.” 

Maganzini and Baker described the typical menu item at Black Mountain Wine House as “larger than tapas, smaller than full entree.” “It's usually three or four things for two people, it’s a good amount,” Maganzini said. The menu will feature similar items to the Brooklyn bar, but with a larger kitchen at the St. Louis space, Maganzini said the new location will offer around 10 to 15 dishes with a couple of rotating salads. “There’ll be a lot of charcuterie and and cheeses as well,” he said. “I have a meatball recipe that I've developed over the last 15 years that I'm very proud of, so we’ll be serving those meatballs. The mac and cheese that's a flagship from the other store, Gruyere and mushroom mac and cheese, so that's really delicious.” Other items will include cassoulet, crostini, salads and a couple sandwiches. 

When the bottle shop opens, it will offer a range of wines from around the world, as well as some beer and liquor. The bottle shop will also double as a private dining space, with one table seating six to eight people. That table will be the solitary space that will be available for reservation at Black Mountain Wine House. Maganzini said that as the bottle shop evolves, it could potentially host wine tastings, but the initial priority will be hitting the ground running with dine-in customers. “That's something that could come to fruition down the line, but right now we're really focusing on getting our restaurant and bar program dialed in to where we really feel very comfortable with it,” he said. 

The bottle shop will be a new development for Black Mountain Wine House – due to New York’s liquor laws, bars and restaurants are barred from operating retail outlets on the same premises. Maganzini said he believes Central West End residents will appreciate what the bottle shop has to offer. “We think the neighborhood will like it, we think it can provide a nice service to the neighborhood of having a little bit more of an eclectic wine retail experience,” he said. 

Black Mountain Wine House is aiming for a mid- to late March launch, pending approval of the bar’s liquor license. If staffing allows, the plan is to be open seven days a week, with initial hours likely to be 3 to 11 p.m.

Editor's Note: This story was edited on February 27, 2023, for clarification regarding the menu at Black Mountain Wine House.