Wine Expo

Good wines at all prices, and the owner is great. They also do art shoes, wine tastings and other events in their back room. Also they have a little nice happy hour most early evenings with good wine and small food plates.

While we were waiting for our dinner reservations, we wanted a quick glass of wine to enjoy, & this place was slightly disappointing. It’s a wine shop and inside to the left is the wine bar. We each ordered a different wine but they all tasted watered down, & the place itself lacks décor/​ambiance/​etc.
Eh overall the wine shop has tons of great selections, but this review is solely for the bar area.

My boyfriend tried to book a large event with Wine Expo, and found Roberto to be incredibly difficult to deal with from the start. After initially agreeing to a reservation a month in advance, Roberto abruptly cancelled the reservation two weeks before, saying that he suddenly couldn’t make the negotiated price work. After repeatedly asking why he changed his mind, his only response back was «I’m very busy, I don’t have time for this».
His guarantee doesn’t mean much, as when my boyfriend pointed out that Roberto had confirmed via email about the reservation and informed Roberto of his unprofessional behavior, Roberto interrupted him, saying that he didn’t care for «lawyer talk», and provided no reasonable answer.
It’s sad that this place is associating with such an unreliable and selfish person as Roberto, and thanks to him, we will be telling our friends to steer clear of this place.

There’s something about this place I just love. In addition to being a wine shop, it’s got a tasting room in the back, as well as a private room for events and parties. Last night I went to an event in the private room, and while it was tight (There were probably 20 of us in there) the furniture was nice and comfortable, and the room had a nice feel to it. There were built-​in lazy susans in the middle of each table, making it easy to share the plate of munchies that had been put out. When the event ended, we wandered into the main room where there was some awesome live music happening. I’ve been on Wine Expo’s email list for years, and it seems like every week, multiple times a week, there’s something fun going on, whether it’s the night where you can come taste 20 wines for $ 20, or a champagne and bacon tasting. The only subtraction of a star is for the food, which has never impressed me.

It’s a good local place and they have a great selection of wine. The salume plate was a good balance with the wine flights we ordered and the bartender was also very friendly. The décor is nothing special, but it’s not the focus of the place.
From other reviews and my own experience, they seem to dislike their Groupon promotion and other discounts. The Groupon clearly states it cannot be combined with other specials or discounts. The bartender said I couldn’t use the Groupon because the painting event I was at (which had a separate fee and included no food or drinks) was a special so it couldn’t be combined. I thought it was a bit misleading, but didn’t argue since it was a valid interpretation. They also had an events calendar which very clearly showed the paint night and 50% off until 7pm at the wine bar. It was before 7pm and I ordered several items at the wine bar. When I came to pay, the cashier said that 50% also couldn’t be «combined» with the paint night. This time I was upset since advertising a discount on the paint night calendar that can’t be used on the paint night is very clearly misleading, but he honored neither promotion.
If they were upfront about their promotions as it’s reasonably priced without them, I would have given 4 stars, but I left with a bad feeling about the place.

The name says it all. They are truly an exposition of wine, for any taste and budget. Robert and Al are truly knowledgeable about the spirits. I love their 20 for 20 events on Mondays and Thursdays. Taste 20 wines for $ 20. You cannot go wrong. You just might leave (a bit topsy) with your favorite bottles too. Win-​win. I love it.

More like negative a thousand stars, worst experience ever. Came here with 3 girlfriends on a livingsocial deal, had to coordinate pretty heavily because you can’t use it on certain days of the week.
The tasting room was empty when we got there, and we had mentioned that more than one of us have purchased this living social deal. The bartender ambiguously that the cashier may or may not let us use multiples, we can see later, but also happy hour was going on and that’s a better deal for the wine. We ended up getting a few flights all around off the HH menu, cheese plate, meat plate, a pizza and another few rounds on their musician happy hour, where you pay an extra $ 5 to the musician, but is able to order HH wines until 9.
It was a great time until we went to the cashier. I think he was angry from start that we had the vouvhers, and said we can only use one voucher OR take happy hour prices. We asked him what the difference was and he angrily punched in the numbers. Shouldn’t it be a given that you can offer up that information? Granted it was a lot of numbers, because we ordered A LOT (but I thought that’s good for your business, Guy?). Happy hour wine prices indeed ended up being cheaper, but he would not accept even the voucher for the food items, which were not HH prices.
At that point, 4 of us already standing at the counter for 5 mins having this ridiculous conversation, we’re like ok, can we just use the the amount we paid for the voucher, not even the promotional value, the angry guy said no once again. I don’t think I’ve ever been so frustrated at a business before. Anyways, not coming back, and I still get angry every time I see this deal on Living Social.

Went out of my way to redeem a Groupon — was very rudely informed by the cashier that the tasting room was never open before 5 pm and that I should have consulted their website before coming in… Seriously– why don’t you just post this on the stupid Groupon page! Will never ever return here– and I buy lots and lots of wine!

I really wanted to give this place five stars but I feel so disappointed with my experience here. Came here for a paint and wine evening and got to try the food and wine here. The wine selection is great. My problem was the food. We ordered the mushroom pizza (forgot what it’s called on the menu) and it was completely cold. I couldn’t even tell how it tasted because it was so damn cold.
If only they got the food right then this would have been five stars!

Agree with another reviewer that they are not nice about using groupons. The bartender wouldn’t let my friend and me each use ours because we were a «together,» even though the place was empty. We could/​should have walked in individually, but we didn’t, hence the prohibition. It would have made no difference, since we sat at the bar. The guy’s bad attitude will keep me from going there again!

Wine expo looks like a wine store. You might even go there several times without noticing.
Behind the check out is a utility room that leads into a tasting room and eatery that Elliot Ness would have never found.
Go on Monday or Thursday and its pretty special.
20 wines for 20 bucks. These are liberal pours of some truly incredible wine that might otherwise elude your radar.
The people who work here are incredible. They have all the knowledge of Miles from Sideways. They dont defer to high priests of a sacred art to let them know whats good.
Somm times you just know.

Five years ago this was my favorite little wine shop in town. Now it’s a joke. The bartenders/​servers/​clerks they now have working there are awful. Consider yourself lucky if you don’t have to wait five minutes while the cashier sits and watches shows on their ipad behind the counter before they look up at you from under their hoodie.
One star for great selection of wine and some good beer. One star for being open late.
The rest is just embarrassing.

These people suck! Bad service and they act shitty about the Groupon deal. If tou don’t want ppl using Groupon don’t offer it. Plus the wine and sampler are unimpressive! Yuck

CALLING ALL UnilocalERS! It’s time to stop being entitled douchebags and learn to recognize a good thing when you see it.
Wine Expo is a rare local gem that apparently some spoiled brats who bought a Groupon, expected five star service and a gourmet meal, can’t fish a stick out of their butts long enough to get over the fact that they paid half price for what is essentially a really special value to begin with.
Roberto and Ali continue to go above and beyond traveling to find unique wines from all over the globe (ok, mostly from Italy, because… come on) and bring them to you at fair prices. And when I say fair, I mean that they are often hurting their own bottom line because they don’t think you should have to pay more than $ 20 to have a decent bottle perfect for whatever you are serving. (You can, and if you want to spend a lot more, they will help you find truly phenomenal wines)
You won’t find Veuve Cliquot or Mumm or most of your recognizable brands because the business model is about finding truly great and unique flavors (and Veuve ain’t that).
You also won’t find a five course meal because this is not a restaurant. It’s a wine bar. One that they are making due with what they have in order to bring you great cheeses, meats and chocolates as well as a few hot options because they know that wine is always going to be better with food.
You WILL find amazing value in what they offer. From their $ 20 for 20 wine tasting nights (don’t drive home) to their special Bacon and Bubbly nights, and oh-​so-​much more. But remember! The bartenders are working really hard to make sure everyone gets what they want on these busy nights, so cut them some slack. (On one more important note: they know their shit. So if you hate sweet wine or can’t stand oaky chardonnays, tell them that, and they can curate your experience)
My husband and I have been a fan of Wine Expo for years. We’ve gone to wine classes there when they are offered, we ask for advice on vineyards and tasting rooms to visit when we go abroad and in the rare event that we are unhappy with a bottle we’ve purchased from them, they always make it right.
Ali and Roberto giveth. Unilocalers, don’t taketh away.

Bought a deal on Living Social or Groupon… can’t remember which.
The owner said it was open, go on back… a snotty bartender said it wasn’t open… and she sat at the bar while the nice & helpful bartender ran around like crazy.
It was open, the food was ok, the wine was good… but the snotty bartender, who wasn’t on the clock, but sat at the bar reading a book, ruined the place for me. I mentioned something to the owner as I left… he said people love this bartender… maybe she gives away free wine… I can’t imagine this bartender being good & helpful.
NOT a good experience.

A lovely wine bar tucked in the back of a plain wine store. The wine bar was decorated with Christmas lights and there was even a semi private room in the back of the bar — great for celebration or birthday parties. $ 25 per person for wine tasting.

This is a great store. And there is even a little «hidden» wine bar off to the left. You can’t really tell from looking on the outside. It looks just like a store. They have a great selection of wine and beer in their store (probably liquor too). The wine bar has different rotating tasting flights. So every time you come there is something new to try.
They also have the ever popular 20 for $ 20 deal. That’s right… 20 pours for $ 20. But because it is popular, space is tight and pours can be infrequent.
Came here also on a Saturday night toward closing and they just had a couple people there. I felt like we got the royal treatment. The bartender was able to tell us all about the wines we were tasting. It was a real treat for a wine lover.
I highly recommend checking this place out.

I came here after work with a group of coworkers for the 20 for 20 deal. When I first walked into the liquor store, I thought the place was going to be really ghetto. It actually was not bad, the way they designed and decorated the wine tasting room looked pretty nice. The bathroom was clean, but they only have one.
I always need to eat when I’m drinking, especially when I come straight from work and didn’t eat dinner. We ordered a few food items for our party, and all of them took forever to come. We had two different flatbread pizzas, which are frozen flatbreads that they bake in a toaster oven on the bar counter. They only have one toaster oven, but they have so many parties seated in here at one time, so each of these flatbreads took at least 40 minutes to arrive after we ordered.
I also ordered a cheese platter, which I assumed would be fast since it doesn’t require the one toaster oven, but it still took ~25 minutes to be served! It was ok, but overpriced like their other food.
I’m not big on wine, so I didn’t really like the wine part. My favorite was definitely #20! 20 for 20 is obviously not a wine tasting, but rather something where people in their 20’s go to get drunk off cheap alcohol. I may have enjoyed it more if I actually liked wine, but since I don’t, the ambiance here was not one that I would prefer. I prefer going to establishments where people go for a drink, not to get drunk.

When I used to live in West LA I would drive by here daily and would often think about stopping in to buy some wine and do a tasting.
I finally went for the 20 for $ 20 tasting and it was just fantastic.
Ali the owner is warm, friendly, and welcoming. There are knowledgeable servers who do the tastings and the space is pretty neat with local artists selling their paintings.
They bring in pizzas (which are lackluster) but at the end of the tastings you will need some sustenance. Suddenly as you move into the reds it starts to get a little hazy.
I left my car in the lot and was assured by Ali that it wouldn’t be towed and luckily it was not the next morning when I went to retrieve it.
I will be back to do another tasting as well as buy some bottles for home. When we first arrived it was really loud and busy. One of the wine pourers made sure we were acknowledged and began our tasting for 4 people right away. They didn’t ask us to settle up until later which I liked also. Most tastings I have been to you have to pay before you receive a wine glass.
What a great business with friendly and attentive employees.

This was a fantastic wine tasting. The $ 20 for 20 tastes of wine was superb. They also have flights of 5 beers in case you’re brining picky boys.
Jeff the great was our excellent bartender. He knew our names and our favorite wines before the end of the night and was extremely knowledgable about the wine.
The have an appetizer called orgasmo de la boca. I’ll let you read in between the lines lol. It’s a small bowl of delicious olives. I’d really suggest it along with the cheese plate. They pair excellently with the white wines.
My favorites were the number three and the moscato. I ended up buying two bottles of the moscato. It was that delicious. Jeff the great let us finish off our flight of 20 wines with the moscato. He deserves a raise :)
This was a great wine tasting. You should try it! Great number two of my daily wine tasting in CA for sprig break. Moms are the best!