Charming wine cafe pleases with quaint atmosphere
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

The spot: 5th Avenue Gourmet Wine Café & Market, 7128 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale

Happy hour: 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Friday

The vibe: Blink and you'll easily miss this quaint gem which sits amid a slew of touristy stores on Fifth Avenue in downtown Scottsdale. The bar is extremely small, but charming nonetheless. A few Marilyn Monroe photos adorn the walls — which are bathed in blue — and rows of various wines are positioned against a corner of the cafe. Alicia Keys, Ashlee Simpson and Bowling for Soup music streams through stereo speakers. Sadly, we're the only ones in this cute eatery, which offers everything from hearty salads to specialty sandwiches and features about 50 wines by the bottle. As a result, we receive better-than-the-norm service from a young employee behind the counter.

The food deals: Half off appetizers

The drink deals: $2 off all glasses of wine, $1 off all beer

The review: We split a small focaccia pepperoni pizza, which we're told is no longer on the menu a couple of weeks later. The pizza is average and has a surprisingly spicy bite to it. We love the jumbo shrimp cocktail, which comes with four plump pieces of tasty shrimp, so much so that we order seconds.

We're hoping we hit this wine cafe on a random off time. We adored it so much that we'll probably head back for a glass of wine one night after work.

The inside scoop: The cafe features a wine tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursdays for $15. Patrons get to sample two to three glasses of wine along with a cheese and fruit or antipasto plate.

Info:

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