Iron Bridge Wine Company

Excellent food and drinks. Gets very busy, you definitely need a reservation.

First visit for lunch. Had a mediocre pulled chicken sandwich. Shredded chicken in a bit of mayo with a single cut up grape Pretty tasteless. Ok fries but enough for five people. I’ll go back — I believe in giving places a second chance but not very impressive first time around.

Iron Bridge Wine Company is a restaurant that is also a wine store. You can buy wine to go, or of course order wine to go with your meal in house. You can put a cork in a partially drunk bottle and take it home with you at the end of dinner as well. They are of course knowledgeable about wine, have wine tastings relatively frequently (you need a reservation, but they are great!), and ALSO have really good food! I would say the food is the best food in Columbia. The only problem is sometimes parking is difficult if they are really busy.
We love Iron Bridge, but it can be HARD to get a reservation. You need to plan in advance unless you eat early (5 – 5:30PM) or late (9PM). We have lucked out with seats at the bar, but sometimes even those are reserved. Almost every day has a special, which is probably one reason every night is busy (Monday is steak night and always packed, Tuesday is win-​a-​case-​wine-​if-​you-​get-​the-​right-​crème-​brulee night, Thursday is no corkage fee, and Wednesday/​Sunday are prix fixe with the whole menu although you can also just order normally). If you are in the area for lunch you have a much better chance at finding a seat or reservation, especially during the week.
Service is great at both lunch and dinner. We had an amusing experience earlier this year where there were two reservations at the same time with the same last name, and they mixed us up, so they thought it was our anniversary. When we told them it was not, they were very confused. In the end we ended up with free champagne because they’d already poured it, and another couple ended up with an apology at the end of the night once they figured out that the mix up was two reservations with the same last name, which enabled them to find the couple who really were celebrating an anniversary. Oops. But after years of eating here as often as we can, that’s the only time something strange has happened to us. And hey, free champagne! (ok, ok…“sparkling wine”)
Food is seasonal. They changed chefs a year or two ago (time flies), and it was the right move. Their food had been going down hill beforehand, but the food now is awesome! So if it’s been years since you ate here and you felt lukewarm about it, give them another shot! The mushroom appetizer on the menu right now is to die for. We generally can’t make it here often enough on each version of the menu to eat all of the things we want to eat… mmm…
Oh, and ORDER THE BURATTA. Also order any meal that has that tomato-​fennel jam on it, like the eggplant sandwich that is currently on the lunch menu. We would eat here just for that.
Pro tip: If you eat here at least every other month, buy a «box» in December. You get a $ 100 gift certificate for every two months (Jan/​Feb, Mar/​Apr, etc) that is only good during those months, a free wine tasting seat, and some sort of bar ware. For each gift certificate you use you also get a free bottle of wine (wine of the month). There’s another version that gives you $ 100 to use each month of the year. I don’t recall the exact cost, but we figured out that as long as we used most of the gift certificates, even if we never would have bought the wine, it was worth it monetarily.
Second Pro Tip: Eat there in December as often as possible to get a red envelope. Then go back in January. The red envelope is opened by waitstaff, and you will win a free something (we usually get free dessert or free appetizer, but there are better rewards too). Is it a ploy to get us to all come back in January? Obviously. Do we care? Not at all! We’re in!

We made reservations for a celebratory brunch for eight people and everything was ready when we got there. There was even a card signed by the staff congratulating the anniversary couples.
The setting beautiful and the staff was amazing. Everyone loved the food, which was perfectly cooked, well portioned and delicious. The wine selection is, of course, great and the staff helped us pick our drinks.
I would go again any time.

Absolutely magical experience! Wine experiences, delicious food with impeccable technique, and — to my delight — even the cocktails were fabulous! Usually a place has only GREAT wine OR GREAT cocktails and IBWC has the both wrapped up in a delicious boozey package!
IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW: Yes, it’s loud and small. They are expanding, but just be ready for a packed humming place. YOU WILL NEED RESERVATIONS. Did I mention it’s a small space? And the food and drinks are major draws? Yeah. LISTEN UP. WORTH THE PRE-​PLANNING, so don’t be lazy and make a reservation!

Top five meals of all time. Yes, that good.
And what kicked off the fabulous meal wasn’t even the food or wine, it was the anniversary card signed by ACTUAL PEOPLE. Seriously. We can for dinner for an early anniversary and I put that in the reservation. (which you should totally do. this place was packed.) We get in and are directed to our table and given a card signed by staff members. How awesome and sweet was that. You can see on other tables similar things. That’s the personal touch that will elevate a meal beyond just the food.
So, on to the food.
Starters: Crispy Shitake Mushrooms on the recommendation of our server. Wow, Those were awesome. Nicely crisp, not mushy at all. The garlic ginger tamari glaze was the perfect mix of sweet and spice. We plowed through them and I wanted another serving or three.
Dinners: Hubby got the signature steak of the day and I got the pad thai. I was worried looking at the menu and didn’t really know what I wanted. I somehow overlooked the Pad Thai on the menu. I’m glad I finally saw it. OMG. Sweet fancy moses. The best pad thai I’ve ever had. Just right there on the edge of spicy and too spicy. Your mouth is warm but not in pain. If it wasn’t for the fact that I wanted dessert I would’ve cleared my plate. I had to force myself to stop eating. I’m not vegetarian at all but it was super filling and perfect. The hubby loved his steak. Perfectly cooked and cleaned his plate.
Dessert: Chipotle Brownie-​sweet lord above. I was nervous about getting it because spicy brownies are normally my thing but… yeah. One of the best desserts I’ve ever had. The brownie was super moist and decadent but then at the very back end you get the heat. Not too much, just enough. And then it’s set off by the raspberry sauce and cool and sweet milk chocolate mouse.
We talked about this meal all weekend where we had lots of other fabulous things too.
Key points:
1. Get a reservation
2. They have lots of great wines and beers too. I don’t remember what I got but it was good.
3. Get dessert.
Also, this place is owned by the same people that own Mutiny Pirate Bar in Glen Burnie. It seems they like taking run down old places and recreating them into awesome places to eat.

Nice gem!
Pros: service was excellent. Food was good. I had the seafood risotto which had plenty of fresh seafood! It was just a little bit too salty for me. Must try their crème brûlée– it was def one of the best ones I ever had!
Cons: tables were close to each other. You need to make the reservation early enough for weekends dinner.

I had a great time. We went for my father’s birthday and it’s the perfect hole in the wall fine-​dining experience. I can’t remember our server’s name, but he gave us a great tour of the wine list and suggested what would best for our meals. The entrée’s were pretty good, we went for lunch so the menu wasn’t that large. I want to see what they have for dinner.
However, the best part was their crème brûlée! IT was addicting. It was light and there was an inkling of chocolate mousse right at the bottom, which was soooooo new to me. mhmm downright love.

(4÷2÷2016) Precious little place kind of in the no man’s land between Columbia proper and Clarksville (not that there’s much in Clarksville). Place is quaint unassuming house-​like storefront right off Clarksville Pike (Rt. 108), go slow, you might miss the turn in. We had a late dinner on a Saturday night, place was pretty full and very, umm, «suburban» (OK, totally white and higher income horsey-​set). Interior is dark wood and wines in shelves from floor to ceiling, cozy, warm, dim, bustling with chatter.
Food is New American, mostly small plates (even the entrees are small-​ish). We started with a cheese plate, all 4 of what they had. These were very safe and pretty standard and together made a good sampler: a blue (Italian Gorgonzola Dolcelatte; a semi-​soft French St. Nectaire; a semi-​hard Spanish Drunken Goat; and sheep’s Manchego. There were «suggested pairings» like accoutrements listed on the menu (like truffle honey, spiced pecans, house pickles), which sounded wonderful but we wouldn’t know. Our cheese plate came with none of these things, it was unclear if we were supposed to order them extra. We got some crackers, a few slices of dry, pale, baguette (halfway between toasted and not), 4 shavings of Granny Smith, and a bowl of apple butter. I had a sampling of small plates, started with the Bibb Salad, very fresh, tender Bibb lettuces with plenty of chopped hard-​boiled egg, shaved crisp radishes, Gorgonzola, well-​dressed (I do like my condiments) with a lighter creamy, garlicky buttermilk vinaigrette (fanciest ranch dressing you ever had). The Crispy Pork Belly came with Carolina Gold Congee (my Taiwanese friend calls this «smushy rice»), crispy kale, mussels, and smoked pork jus. Smokiness was light, not overpowering, more like rounded out the savory jus. Pork belly meat skin was crispy, meat was crusted over with a few hard edges (I think the cubes must’ve been deep-​fried like chicharron-​style). The mussels were moist and not overcooked, but confusing. I enjoyed eating them separately, but found them extraneous and a little lost when eaten with the rest of the dish. Grilled Spanish Octopus was a very nice balance of flavors between the smokey, charred octopus tentacles and the tartly dressed white bean salad, lots of lovely lemon. I enjoyed the crunch of raw cucumber and onion in the mix. I think I like my cannellini beans a little more cooked, though (a few of those had a little crunch to them, too).
One dining companion deemed the Roseda Farms Burger one of the better burgers eaten in his history of burgers, but came a little cooler than the requested medium doneness. The side of Hand Cut Fries with Rosemary Garlic Aioli were addictive, crispy, fluffy, salty, perfection, def order an extra side of those. Our lone vegetarian got the lone vegetarian entrée, a Roasted Cauliflower Steak with butternut squash purée; we found it pretty boring overall. The cauliflower itself is a little sweet and the squash purée was overkill on the sugar, the red wine gastrique was not even enough to zip it up and there was nothing crispy about the promised «crispy» edamame. She wished she had gotten the Crispy Cauliflower small plate instead (at least it did sound more interesting).
Dessert was a Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with a white chocolate drizzle, which you really can’t mess up. It tasted like a moist chocolate chip cookie, lots (maybe too much) vanilla in the custard. Our square was super-​nuked (and unevenly so), we shared 1 piece for the 4 of us, I got the corner that was like 500 degrees, across from me the corner was cool and room temp.
Overall we had a lovely time, service was spot on (except for the forgotten sides of Crispy Brussels Sprouts we had to ask for), patient with us (we were chatting and slowing down the turnover), and polite. Several different servers and the hostess came to check on us. I wouldn’t exactly call this place a good value, it’s pricey, but splurge-​worthy. I would recommend a visit if you are out this way. It was a halfway meeting point for us. I think it’s better than most places in Columbia proper, it’s worth that trip for sure.

Iron Bridge is a delightful hidden gem in Columbia! This was our first time there and we were pleasantly surprised by the amazing food and lovely staff. For starters, we had the delicious Grilled Spanish Octopus. YUM! For our entrees, we had the Iron Bridge signature steak and the Vietnamese-​inspired Banh Mì. Everything came out fast and especially delectable. All in all, I highly recommend Iron Bridge. The ambiance is lovely and the food is absolutely ah-​mazing.

such a cute hidden place in columbia. loved the interior, wall filled with different wine, you can pick any bottle there +10 $ corkage fee. lots of affordable bottles. we shared a cabernet from napa valley for around $ 50.
the service was fine but extremely extremely slow. each dish took just way too long to come out. we finished our entire wine bottle before the entrees came out, actually, before even one of the appetizers came out. the dishes were all okay. brussels sprouts were crispy, flatbread was delicious, the pork belly i won’t get again, it was kind of dry. the hangar steak was meh i didn’t care for the kale side dish that came with it and it wasn’t very tender, didn’t care for the sauce.
dessert, they were out of the bread pudding and chocolate cake, so we got the crème brûlée which was good. loved the chocolate ganache at the bottom.
overall, super cute place to grab wine and drinks with girl friends! food could be better but pretty standard.

This restaurant was amazing. The food was incredibly good, with creative dishes, the atmosphere was likewise incredible and the wine list was one of the best I’ve ever seen. I would highly recommend and will definitely be back in the future.

I went here on Valentine’s Day and had a pretty nice time. From the outside, the restaurant doesn’t look like much, but it’s gorgeous once you enter! The walls are lined with bottle of wine and there was dark lighting which added to the nice ambience.
Food: We started off with the calamari which was cooked perfectly. For our meals, we ordered the 14 oz steak that was on special that night and the sea scallops. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium and the sea scallops were amazing! They were in a spaghetti type sauce with spaghetti noodles, so I loved it. And the sea scallops tasted amazing! For dessert, we ordered the bread pudding. I’m not much a desert person, but the bread pudding was amazing! It was very warm and the strawberries on top added to how great it was.
Drinks: There’s no shortage of drink options here, even if you don’t love wine. I ordered the sparking wine flight (3 glasses) and my boyfriend ordered a flight of 3 different types of scotch. I thought my wine was great, and my boyfriend seemed to really like his scotch. I also ordered a semi sweet red wine and that was also great. I do wish I would’ve ordered a flight of 3 reds instead of the sparkling wine, but maybe next time!
Service: Even though the food was good, the service could’ve been a bit better. We felt a little discriminated against because of our age (we were probably the youngest there). When we were sat and gave our orders for drinks and an appetizer, it took a while for our server to get back to us and then when we did place our orders, he gave us a blank look. However, the table next to us (an older couple) were constantly being visited by the server and we had the same server. Kind of ridiculous because if we didn’t have the money, we would’ve gone somewhere else. However, I will say that we were sat immediately (make reservations).
Overall experience: Iron Bridge Wine Company is really nice and a great place for a special date (anniversary, Valentine’s Day, etc). Food was great, but the service could’ve been better. Make reservations because the restaurant is not very big. Although I give it 4 stars, I’m not sure if I would return based on the obvious age discrimination.

Bottom Line: Very California. A culinary delight with a great wine selection.
Dining at Iron Bridge Wine Company reminds me a lot of dining at a nice restaurant on the Central Coast of California. The atmosphere is refined and quaint, the ingredients are fresh and high quality and the wine list is long. As I drive by Centennial Park to get to Iron Bridge I feel like I am headed to enjoy a refined meal in the countryside. The menu here changes seasonally so its easy to find plenty of reasons to come back to Iron Bridge. The crispy calamari is always spot on when they have rack of lamb, I can’t turn it down. I was last here on a Tuesday evening and it was relatively quiet here. But, with wine flowing, a smallish space, and lots of hard surfaces, I feel like it can get loud in here. As others noted, for dinner, expect to spend around $ 50 a person with an appetizer or salad and entrée and glass of wine.

Grass feed steak is amazing and burrata with the tomato jam is simply divine. I often call Columbia the city of franchise restaurants and it’s a nice surprise when you find a restaurant with local flare. Perfect for date night if you are looking for a low key evening with great food and service. Cork feed is very reasonable at $ 10, grab a bottle and enjoy your evening.
I would recommend at sitting at the bar /​have a conversation with the knowledgeable staff and see what they have on special. Parking can be tricky /​and doesn’t have an overflow lot so I would recommend going on non weekend evening.

The Iron Bridge Wine Company is not where I envisioned ending up on a Sunday night being that I live in Arlington, VA. My girlfriend and I were heading to Merriweather Post Pavilion to see a Sunday night show when she came across Iron Bridge on Unilocal and suggested we give it a shot.
Despite OpenTable being full, we called about an hour ahead and were able to get a 6:30 pm reservation for two. The building is pretty underwhelming when you pull up into the lot, but once you walk in it completely changes. Wine everywhere and the food smells coming out of the kitchen are wafting even out the front door.
We were sat at our table and given a complete rundown of the menu by our server. Luckily for us, Sunday night’s special is you get an appetizer, entrée, AND dessert for $ 40 per person. It’s a pretty great deal and honestly, if you aren’t THAT hungry, you could probably get away with splitting that with two people because the portions are pretty generous! Also worth noting, they do serve a plate of bread before your meal!
The food:
⁴⁄₅ — Crispy Brussels Sprouts with caraway mustard and Dijon aioli — These were indeed crispy as advertised! The Dijon aioli went really well with the sprouts. Large portion for a «side» too!
4.5÷5 Bruschetta trio — This appetizer was great, my favorite was the tomato and mozzarella, and the mushroom with truffle oil. When we had spreads leftover, our server asked if we needed more baguette to finish them off which I appreciated!
⁵⁄₅ Shrimp and sweet corn Carbonara — This is hands down the best pasta dish I’ve had in my life. The carbonara sauce was just ridiculous and my girlfriend said «I would bathe in that.» Take that as you will. The corn was so sweet mixed in the pasta and the shrimp was cooked perfectly. The entire dish was so heavy in all the best ways.
⁴⁄₅ Chocolate and cream cheese bread pudding — This BP was extremely rich. A lot of chocolate going on here! Cake was also very moist.
⁵⁄₅ Sorbet trio — I’m a sucker for sorbet, especially when it comes in trio’s. They had mango (my favorite), blood orange, and raspberry with biscotti on top! Delicious.
The service was also very good. Our server was able to assist with wine and food questions so we felt good about our menu choices!
The only thing I would say needs improvement is maybe the timing of the food coming out. Fortunately, we weren’t in much of a hurry so we were able to still enjoy relaxing in the restaurant waiting for our food but I could see someone on a tight schedule getting a little frustrated with the leisurely pace that the food comes out.
Overall, this place was fantastic and I’m really glad we came across it. If I’m up in the Columbia area again soon for a show or whatever, I’ll be sure to drop back in.

Ideal for a romantic date night, but MAKE RESERVATIONS.
The location is off the beaten path, which is good to get fresh scenery without driving an hour away. The service and atmosphere are great.
YOU WILL spend over $ 100. This is a farm to table restaurant (which is the latest buzz word in foodie-​land). The food IS good, the cocktails ARE good, but at times, the experience does fall just short of hitting the mark. That’s my only complaint, that the menu is slightly unimaginative. For the amount of money that you spend, you’re getting about 90% of what you would expect. For the same amount of money, I can go to Woodberry Kitchen (DEFINITELY NEED RESERVATIONS) in Baltimore and be completely blown away by the food. (Maybe it’s not fair to compare any restaurant to Woodberry… lol)
Don’t get me wrong, I will be back to Iron Bridge. I consider this a once-​a-​year restaurant. Nice for a special occasion like an anniversary or romantic birthday dinner, but not a place I’ll be back to weekend after weekend.

Iron Bridge is The Best.
The location in Columbia makes it super convenient to stop by to pick up a few to-​go bottles of wine, cheese plates, & seasonal bread pudding (which is amazing).
The dining experience is even better — the cozy atmosphere makes it the perfect place for date night.
My boyfriend surprised me with dinner at Iron Bridge for our anniversary. The staff went above & beyond to make us feel special. We were greeted with champagne & a Happy Anniversary card signed by all of the staff. Our waiter helped us pick out the best red wine to compliment our meal; he was informative & helpful — definitely not pushy or snooty like other places I’ve been. Finally, the food is delicious & has plenty of options for me (a vegetarian) & my boyfriend (he loved his steak).
I can’t wait to go back!

This is way overdue. I had another incredible experience at the Iron Bridge Wine Company. If I have not already stated in my previous review, this restaurant is my favorite restaurant in Maryland (by far – nothing comes close in comparison). From the warm intimate décor, wine retail store, friendly bar seating, amazing attentive staff and unbelievable scrumptious food (everything on the menu is delicious) this restaurant blows my mind.
If you are in need of a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion or just want to indulge in some wine, this should be your first choice. I highly highly highly recommend everyone trying dinner here at least once – do not skip out on dessert. I also recommend the chef and the management of Iron Bridge. The employees here honestly care and will do everything to make sure YOUR experience is an amazing one. Their product knowledge is an A+ in the wine category, being a true wine snob I always test my server to make sure I can trust their wine selections – they never fail! I recommend making a reservation through Unilocal/​Open Table, even though I have seen some fellow Unilocalers state in their reviews below that their experience using these e-​commerce reservation systems have been awful – I am proof that they work, you should always call ahead to verify your time.
I will be back super soon since I have a life event totally worth celebrating! I got engaged !!

Iron Bridge Wine Company has amazing wine and excellent food, insofar as you order the right thing.
Iron Bridge Wine Company is a heavily wine-​focused restaurant in a rather quaint-​ish little location to the west of Baltimore. While we went at night and didn’t see much, it looks like it would normally have a killer view. The interior is small (and might get a bit loud if it were too packed), but nice, and absolutely stocked to the gills with wine.
The wine was absolutely superb in every way — no complaints here. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten what we had! That being said, all of it was reasonably priced, especially for what some of it was.
The food was in one case perfect and in one case okay. I had the Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast, which was unquestionably the best duck I’ve ever had, hands down. The duck was cooked like pork belly — crispy on the outside, tender on the inside — in a way that absolutely blew my mind, especially in conjunction with the roasted apple demi-​glacé. Unfortunately, the pork entrée was just boring — it tasted like a lump of pork with too little spice.
I’d go here every day for the duck, but would definitely pass on the pork.