Enoteca Meaning: What an Enoteca Is, and Where in NYC
By Nico Ferraro · October 7, 2026 · 7 min read
An enoteca is an Italian wine shop, literally a “wine library,” where bottles are sold and, often, poured by the glass with a little food alongside. In New York the closest thing to the original is Eataly Vino, steps from Eataly Flatiron’s 23rd Street entrance, with two floors of Italian wine from all 20 regions, while Tarallucci e Vino off Union Square is the wine-bar version, pouring a list of Italian wines by the glass from $15 to $23. Hours, prices and policies below were read from each place’s own site in October 2026.
What does enoteca mean?
The word comes from the Greek for wine, oinos, and for a case or repository, thēkē, the same ending as biblioteca, library. An enoteca is a place that keeps wine: in Italy, a shop where you buy bottles and can usually taste before you do, sometimes with cheese, salumi or bread on the counter. Italy also has public regional enoteche set up to showcase one area’s wines. The plural is enoteche.
In New York the word has drifted. It turns up in restaurant names, it gets used for Italian wine bars with small plates, and it is sometimes just a way of saying the wine list is serious. None of those uses is wrong, but they are not the same promise. The useful question on any menu or awning is whether the place is built around selling and pouring wine, or around dinner with wine attached.
Enoteca, wine bar, vineria, bacaro: what is the difference?
Enoteca. Wine first. Bottles to buy, often by-the-glass tasting, food as support.
Wine bar. The English equivalent of the drinking side of an enoteca: wine by the glass, a short food list, no retail shelf.
Vineria. Another Italian word for a place that pours wine, closer to a tavern than a shop.
Bacaro. The Venetian version, where small plates called cicchetti are eaten standing at the counter with a glass of wine, which is the tradition described in aperitivo vs happy hour.
Bar. In Italy, a bar is something else again: coffee standing up in the morning, a drink in the evening, and nobody expects you to stay long.
Where to find the enoteca idea in NYC
| Restaurant | Address | Best for | Key verified detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eataly Vino | Steps from the 23rd Street entrance of Eataly Flatiron (200 Fifth Avenue) | Buying a bottle, the original enoteca sense | Two floors of wine from all 20 Italian regions and a temperature-controlled Riserva Room; Mon–Sat 10am–9pm, Sun noon–9pm |
| Tarallucci e Vino | 15 East 18th Street | A glass with food near Union Square | By-the-glass list at $15–$23, nearly every glass priced at a quarter of its bottle; happy hour 3–6pm at the bar and outdoor area |
| Bar Pisellino | 52 Grove Street & 92 Seventh Avenue | A glass standing at the bar | Open daily 8am–11pm; no reservations |
| Bacaro | 136 Division Street | Late wine and shared plates | Shares its name with the Venetian word for a wine bar; menu lists wines by the bottle, spritz and digestivi; Tue–Sun 5pm–midnight |
| Nonnas of the World | 27 Hyatt Street, Staten Island | A destination meal | The former Enoteca Maria; $87 prepaid three-course meal including tax and tip; Friday–Sunday seatings |
Eataly Vino: the enoteca as a shop
Eataly Vino is the most literal enoteca on this list, because it is a shop. Its own description: two floors of Italian wine “carefully sourced from all 20 regions of Italy,” from a weeknight Chianti to collectible bottles kept in a temperature-controlled Riserva Room. It sits steps from Eataly’s market entrance on 23rd Street, and its posted hours are 10am to 9pm Monday through Saturday and noon to 9pm on Sunday. If what you want is the Italian experience of walking into a room of bottles organized by region and leaving with one, this is it.
Tarallucci e Vino: the enoteca as a wine bar
Tarallucci e Vino calls its Union Square location its “flagship restaurant and wine bar,” and the by-the-glass list is the part to read. As of October 2026 it pours fourteen wines by the glass at $15 to $23, each one labeled with its region — Prosecco from the Veneto, Lambrusco from Reggio Emilia, Gavi from Piemonte, Chianti Classico from Toscana, Etna Rosso from Sicilia, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo riserva at the top. On all but one of them, the bottle costs exactly four times the glass. Behind that sits a bottle list organized the same way and a riserva list running from $180 to $1,650, heavy on aged Barolo and Brunello. Happy hour, from 3pm to 6pm every day in the bar and outdoor area only, prices house wine at $10 and Prosecco at $11. The restaurant opens at 8am on weekdays and closes at 10:30pm Monday through Thursday and 11pm on Friday and Saturday.
Bar Pisellino: an Italian bar, not an enoteca
Bar Pisellino, from Via Carota’s Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, describes itself as a “classic, morning-till-late Italian bar”: espresso standing at a marble bar in the morning, “cocktails, spuntini and wine at the walnut banco” later on. It is open every day from 8am to 11pm and takes no reservations. It belongs here as the contrast. A glass of wine at a counter is part of what an enoteca offers, but an Italian bar is built around the whole day, not around the bottle.
Bacaro: the Venetian wine-bar name
Bacaro, on Division Street, shares its name with the Venetian word for a wine bar. Its menu tabs include wines by the bottle, cocktails with a spritz section and digestivi, and the food side runs to bar snacks and an eleven-plate antipasto list. It is open from 5pm to midnight Tuesday through Sunday and closed Monday, which makes it the late option on this list.
Nonnas of the World: the city’s best-known enoteca, renamed
The most famous “enoteca” in New York was never really about the wine. Nonnas of the World Community, at 27 Hyatt Street in St. George, Staten Island, describes itself on its site as the former Enoteca Maria, “a unique restaurant where grandmas from around the globe cook their traditional recipes,” with a different nonna cooking each day. As of October 2026 it serves seatings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 12:30, 2:30, 5:30 and 7:30pm and is closed Monday through Thursday. Reservations cost $87 per person, charged when you book, and cover a three-course meal, tax and tip; they open one month ahead, seatings last two hours, and cancellations are refunded up to six hours before. Wine, beer and coffee are sold on site for cash or Venmo, since the restaurant does not take credit cards. Its directions start with the free 25-minute Staten Island Ferry from South Ferry.
How to use an enoteca, or the NYC version of one
Decide whether you are buying or drinking. For a bottle to take home, a shop like Eataly Vino is the enoteca proper. For a glass and a plate, you want the wine-bar version.
Read the list by region. A list that names a region on every line, as Tarallucci’s does, is doing the job an enoteca shelf does. If you have been reading the food menu for its regional tells, the same logic applies to the wine; which part of Italy a menu is cooking from works for the glass list too.
Do the glass-to-bottle math. A standard 750ml bottle holds about five 5-ounce pours. Where a bottle costs four glasses, as on most of Tarallucci’s list, two people planning on two glasses each should simply order the bottle. For more on that arithmetic, there is a longer guide to ordering wine at an Italian restaurant.
Time it. Tarallucci’s 3pm to 6pm window is the cheapest glass on this list; Bacaro runs until midnight but is closed Mondays; Bar Pisellino needs no booking; Nonnas of the World needs one a month out and cash for the wine.
Eat with it. An enoteca pours wine with food on the side for a reason, and the bread section of the menu is often the right pairing, as covered in why bread is a paid course.
Frequently asked questions
What does enoteca mean?
Enoteca means a wine shop or “wine library,” from the Greek words for wine and for a repository. In Italy it is a place to buy wine and often to taste it by the glass, sometimes with simple food; the plural is enoteche.
What is the difference between an enoteca and a wine bar?
An enoteca is built around wine as something to buy as well as drink, so there are usually bottles for sale alongside glasses poured at the counter. A wine bar is the drinking half only: wine by the glass, a short food list and no retail shelf. In New York, Eataly Vino at Eataly Flatiron is the shop version, while Tarallucci e Vino off Union Square is the wine-bar version.
Is Enoteca Maria in Staten Island still open?
The restaurant now operates as Nonnas of the World Community, which its site describes as the former Enoteca Maria, at 27 Hyatt Street in St. George, Staten Island. As of October 2026 it serves Friday-to-Sunday seatings, with reservations at $87 per person covering a three-course meal, tax and tip. Wine is sold on site for cash or Venmo.
