Mari’s Wine Bar

This place is awesome! My boyfriend and I were trying to go somewhere local and a co worker of mine mentioned this cute wine bar in Downey so why not… The place was empty but then again it was the first week since they opened. They have a great wine selection the owners are very nice friendly outgoing couple, it’s a very nice place if your not into the huge crowd thing and if you like to drink wine. They also have a lot of parking space. I absolutely love this place!!! I recommend everyone to go!

Well first off i was excited about a wine bar in Downey. I usually go to LA or Long Beach for a good wine bar. That being said, i went on a Friday night around 10pm, the place has a few people inside. We sat down, and the guy behind the bar came to us, we asked for a wine list, he said i am the wine list. I think we all looked at each other and just knew it was a bad thing already. What are our choices, he sure didnt seem like someone who knew too much on the wine’s of different regions or local wines for that matter. We ordered our wines, i would say that was the last time we saw him before we waved him down to get our check. There was not enough people to lack customer service, it seemed that he was too busy chatting away with what seemed like friends. Lastly we could not get a receipt because the machine was broken.
Overall, i wont be stepping foot in this wine bar again. Needs a wine list first off, customer service needs better attention to detail, music overpower, tv on background needs something soft in the room to stop echoing.

Decided to head in with some friends when the Hookah Bar we went to didn’t offer drinks. We ended up really enjoying ourselves. It’s a very chill, mature atmosphere with a great variety of wines and beers. So glad that Downey finally has a wine bar! I’ll definitely be going here again.

Gotta say i am very surprised that a friend found a wine bar around our neck of the woods!
To let everyone know this is a nice local place to relax w a glass of veno and some little rascals playing on a big screen ;)
Fellow Unilocalers… I do agree with some of the reviews that stated their is no wine list or price list readily available, and the way wine is selected for you is kinda weird. When we walked in the back door enterance from the parking lot my first vibe was like i was walking into a 1920 – 1930’s clubs to get some libations. Dark with Little Rascals playing on a big screen, sofas and then a bar set up in the middle of the room. We sat down and was asked what type of wibe we liked (both of us are really into wine) we stated we usually drink bold cabs, but wanted a pinot. He poured us a glass of a pinot and didnt tell us anything about it… We took a sip and it was nice lil lighter then we would like, but drinkable. We thought it was kinda weird, but went with it. I did talk to the guy Anothony and stated we found him on Unilocal.I went on to stated his rating was pretty bad, and said he should he go on and comment back on the bad reviews… So, its a nice place to have some vino, but dont expect to learn about the wines like some other wine bars.
Anyways with all that, we did start to ask about a wine list and was told they didnt have one, BUT Anthony was glad to tell us what thing cost and give us recommendations of what he feels might please our palate, BUT you gotta ask first, it was our first time in so we didnt figure it out till the end. It would be a little nicer not to see the used wine glasses just sitting on the bar and the back bar counter a mess (my ADD), but All in all i would tell you to give this place a try!
We did tell Anthony (believe hes the owner) thst we would recommend having some cheese and meats available to go with out wine, but other than that i am a please patron and will be going back when im in town!

I came here about 5 months ago. I’m just reviewing because I drove by this past Saturday and noticed it was still empty (as it was when I first visited).
Wine: Well I’ve been drinking wine for 5 years now and I love it. It’s my favorite thing to drink. I wouldn’t know what their wine selection is because nobody could tell me. I asked questions about their wine selection and they merely told me «it’s a cabernet… or it’s a merlot». I paid $ 10 for a glass of cab and I don’t mind paying that at all if it’s a good glass, however, I wouldn’t know what it was. They poured my glass and took the bottle immediately.
Décor: Nice furniture but very empty. Definitely not executed well.
Ambiance: Not very welcoming. It has a cold feeling to the place and way too dark.
My experience (THIS IS LONG BUT IMPORTANT TO MY REVIEW) This is what shocked me the most. We sat at the bar and were greeted by a guy. He offered us some wine. I told him I like cabs and my boyfriend likes pinots.
He brings a bottle of cab and pinot. He pours and lets us try it. I say «mmm…what is this wine called?» he tells me «it’s a cab». I’m like «I know but where is it from?» he looks at the bottle and can’t figure it out. He turns the bottle over and says, «oh, it’s from California». I’m like «okay…where in California?». He then looks at me, annoyed, and says «hold on one second», and walks away. A woman comes up to us and says,” you have questions about the wine?”. Anyway, she tells us it’s a cab from California. I gave up and didn’t ask more.
My boyfriend and I start to talk to her and we tell her we live in the area and are happy to have a wine bar around. She tells us «oh cool, well hope you visit again. I’m the co-​owner and the guy is my partner.» We were shocked. I couldn’t believe that guy was an owner. He was not at all welcoming or professional. He didn’t know anything about wine or customer service.
Going to a wine bar you expect a better experience. You want to hear about the wine and have them give you any knowledge they may have about it. I’m hoping that the owners read this and try to change things around. I hope they’re business succeeds but I do think they need to make changes. Unless they are okay with offering the bare minimum.

This is a fun and sophisticated way to do any sort of celebrations! The atmosphere is calm, soothing and mellow so it’s make everyone comfy and at ease. The bartenders are really nice and helpful. The only recommendation is know what you want or know what you are into

This place is certainly worth the try. Came in, its new. and it may need some help but the wine was good.

This is my first wine bar experience and I have probably only drank 2 glasses of wine in my LIFE… that being said, on to my review! =)
I arrived to Mari’s Wine Bar around 7pm on a Thursday evening with NO prior wine experience whatsoever. The bartender (are they called bartenders? lol) was super helpful and brought over a few wines for me to taste. I tasted the first one and liked it so I got me a glass of moscato (sp?). It was really tasty and I began to wonder «Why have I not drank wine before??» hehe It was $ 10 a glass or $ 33 for the bottle… don’t know if that is a good price.
The atmosphere was ok… It was a little too dark for me. Especially since they are displaying artwork on the walls, it made it difficult to see. There are several comfy couches and chairs and coffee tables to sit and chat. Music was playing and there is a big screen on the wall that was playing old Our Gang (Little Rascals) shows on mute, which had me cracking up! Nothing like Spanky and Alfalfa and Buckwheat even on mute! lol
It was a nice experience and I will probably be back.

3.75 stars.
Bartender was very nice and helpful as far helping you chose ur beverage. Its a nice little set-​up they just need some music or something cuz its a lil quiet in there. There weren’t that many people in there and it was a Friday night.
But, thumbs up for the nice beer selections (Chimay, Delirium, La Fin Du Monde, etc) and for the bartender allowing you to taste before you purchase the glass of wine. I would definitely come back.

I AM LOL!!! go on and read my story it might warn you b4 you visit this place… this is my side of the story when I visited this business for the first and last time on 12−23−11. I was invited by two female friends to meet them at this spot, I was told it is a cool spot to hangout. OH BOY! I walked in happy to see my two friends and hope to share a drink or two with them. As soon as I walked in, I got a bad vibe from the bartender behind the bar (immediately, he let me know he was the owner, not a humble person for sure) As I approached my friends sitting at the bar, I saw an open seat to their left side. I immediately asked the bartender (tony, I refused to use capital letters for his name as I lack respect for him so I will refer to him as the DUDE) if someone was seating there? his response; don’t you see the drink there? I am seating there. I tried to ignore the first sign of BAD customer service and moved over and stood in between my two friends. I then asked I they had Guinness and the ignorant dude responded: «We don’t sell Supermarket beers here» which is kind of funny because by reading some of the other reviews, their wine list is full of supermarket wines!!!
After, the second wrong/​ignorant answer by the dude. I decided not to order anything and asked my friends if we could leave. About five mins later, the Dude came around the bar and sat on the seat a paying customer wanted to use. Then, he turned to me and loudly asked me: «why do you come to a bar and not order anything and I should leave if I wasn’t going to order» By this time, His IGNORANT FAT ASS needed to be put in place. I answered appropriately and reminded him that I did not needed to order anything since my friends were already consuming. I was so furious for his lack of customer service, lack of the laws that govern the type of business and his bad temper that I let him have it. He turned his back at me while I lectured his ignorance. A few minutes later, I was being harassed by the DUDE and some other customer. I was even told, I would get my butt kicked!!! Apparently, I got under his skin and couldn’t handle the heat he brought upon himself. I refused to leave because my friends were still enjoying their glass of «Supermarket» wine. At the end, even the Dude’s own friend knew he was classless and rude to me, you can tell he was embarrass for his friend actions.
Since, I refused to leave I requested immediate customer service and proceeded to order a Chimay beer; which by the way, they sell at most supermarkets nowadays!!!
I heard through my friend that the actual owner is a very nice and friendly individual. As a former and soon to be bar owner, I will suggest they send the dude to some customer service classes or fired him. It was apparently after reading their reviews, the DUDE has issues with guys. I had a gut feeling he was annoyed by me, a single male walking into the bar and talking with the only two beautiful girls seating at the bar. I probably ruined fantasy play for the night!
I have witness to verify this story, since there’s always another half to a story!!!
Sadly, If my experience had been a positive one, my review would be much shorter and I would recommend it to my Unilocaling friends. I would give this place HALF a star with their ratings because it looks ok inside.

New Wine bar in Downey really nice and full of art. As you as you walk in you all you see is wine wine wine. I came here on a Friday night I believe and it was empty for some reason. I asked the guy working there why it was soo empty and he said because they didn’t have an event that night. I saw pictures on there site and seemed loud and full of laughs and bubbly people. Still, I enjoyed the quite.
They have a fire place and a lot of comfy couches with free cheese and crackers. The music was loud and I was dancing to it as I was sipping on my vino :)
The waiter informed us that they have poetry night and wine tastings. I know poetry night is free but I’m not sure about the wine tasting. Will come back to try the Brazil wine bottle again.

It’s a great date place because of the dim lighting, comfortable seats and the wine selection. Plus, it usually pretty empty so you get a lot of attention from the bartender.

I had been curious to try this wine bar for a while so I finally did. I was a little skeptical at first judging by the lack of furniture but I was pleasantly surprised.
This is the type of place if you want to have a calm night and just enjoy a glass of wine. There is dim lighting and light music playing allows you to converse.
The owner attended us right away and gave us a «menu,» it only had like 3 different wines and some ales. I guess some wines you can only buy as a bottle and not by the glass. The bottles were decently priced but if you ordered by the glass it was a little overpriced (i.e. $ 10 for a glass of cabernet).
Overall I would recommend this place, it’s a different type of bar in the area and I like to support local businesses. The owner was really nice and he genuinely seemed like he wanted everyone to enjoy their time there.

We chose this place because it’s local and we like to support NEW local businesses.
We agreed that we would hold a meeting here for our crew to unwind and relax, and talk about our next BBQ. So we brought over about 12 bodies to absorb some of their current alcohol… a.k.a. = WINE!
They were hosting a wine & chocolate tasting…
I was trying to get the guys attention to purchase some tickets for the tastings and boy…
I really don’t mind waiting… but I REALLY WAITED FOR SOME TIME.
I stood there waiting SO LONG that some nice couple of girls who happened to be regulars there… actually called the wine guy and told him.“Hey, he wants to buy tickets for two.“
Then when more of our crew arrived i was still standing waiting.
WAITING!
I did have my tickets… but now I’m waiting for the guy to serve ME some wine… ANYTHING! I’M DRY!
AND WAITED…
My friend and his wife wanted to get some tickets also… but we waited… AGAIN! to be noticed.
(Did i lose you Unilocalers?)
I waited so long that the nice ladies that were there at the bar… shared their bottle that they had purchased and finally then we got his attention.
Since we finally had his FULL attention, we decided NOT to wait for the other wines! What tastings… Just filler up on the stuff you have in your hand Bartender.
They sold us tickets
Per person it was about $ 8.00 which was fine… so that was for 5 tastings and some cool chocolates.
This place is TOO fresh… too new! Not enough customer service… but the reason i’m writing about it… so they can grow their business.
The crowd was fun especially my lady friend with the FREE glass of her wine… So cool.
They do need some appetizers, cheese or something… since FREE BEANS next door closes about 9pm.
Please drop by and give them a try… they mean well.
Plus the wines are great.
Oh wait! (no pun intended)
They also carry some amazing ales and other goodies for those NON-​wine drinkers.
So stop by and try some type of booze!

This wine bar was by far the worst wine bar I’ve ever been to. I wanted to really like this place, but I will never be going back.
First off they have NO wine list. Almost everyone who walked in the door asked to see a wine list. I’ve been to wine bars where they don’t have a wine list, however at these bars all the wines and their prices not only per bottle but per glass are properly displayed. There were no prices on any of these bottle of wine, so you had no idea how much your paying for a bottle of wine, which the selection of wines are small and very over priced.
When I walked into the bar and asked for a glass of Malbec, the one and only bartender/​employee working said he didn’t have a bottle of Malbec open and that if I wanted a glass I had to buy a bottle. What if I didn’t want to drink a whole bottle of Malbec? So, I had to settle for a glass of Cabernet because the two customers that were there before me opened that bottle. I paid over 10 dollars for one glass of Cabernet I didn’t even like.
The place is too big with too many couches and tables and not enough wine. Suggestion to the owners, get rid of all those couches and bring in more wine, you are a wine bar, not a furniture store.
I know this sounds petty, but they have a movie screen and there was a movie playing when I walked in. The same movie played over at least 2 – 3 times. If the owners are trying to give this place a different look, with a silent screen and music playing like they do at a club, then that’s fine. I never been to any other wine bar in LA or Northern California that has a screen playing the same movie over and over. To me it was tacky.
In any case, I will never be going back and hope this wine bar improves not only it’s wine selections but also its customers service or else it will be out of business very soon.

One of the best wine bars I have ever been to. I have frequented wine bars in Pasadena, Downtown LA, and Ny. This is one of the best as far as feeling welcome, selection (although sadly, no Sherri, huge selection) is plentiful regardless of the sadder reviews claiming supermarket wine (WTF???) because here I have had incredible German and Spanish wines, ambiance, crowd (Shout out to Art, Art is the man: D, Sharone, Jen, Desiree, and the likes).
Good over all crowd. Such a good place. I switched my Pas, and Downtown LA destinations for this spot– pre, post, and otherwise party destinations– so incredible. Anthony is an very gracious host and truly makes this place what it is. I don’t bullshit in my reviews and only review worthy places. This is definitely a worth it spot. Go here if you want to have a chill, great, and amicable time. 5 stars fo def, son, lol. Especial shout to Bodhizzle, exceptional model in LA out of Colorado, u WILL love this joint. Worthy of your kind, cant wait for you to come hang out. Much like Zucca –save the food– joint worthy of your likes.
Bring your people, whomever you are, all are welcome. Lori K’s pro snowboarding ass was brought here and she loved it.
All in all, a great time.

Wine Bar in Downey… FINALLY AND YAY!
When we heard a wine bar in Downey opened, we jumped on it like white on rice. I love staying in the area and this place great because it’s not far from home. The owners are very sweet and the wine selection they have is great. Recently went and the set up they have is inviting, will definitely be going back in a group… salud!

Let me begin by telling everyone that I really really wanted to like this place because living in Downey the nightlife is limited to a dive bar and a pool hall. From first look the place is a little awkward with wine racks in the front with a strange selection of supermarket wine, local wine from Temecula and Los Olivos, and high end wine and champagne that I can not imagine there is a high demand for in Downey.
In the middle of the cavernous location there stands a bar where a couple who presented themselves as the owners will invite you to pull up a chair and enjoy a glass of wine, a bottle of wine, or a Heineken. There wine list is priced 8 to 15 dollars per glass plus tax however the selection that is provided is limited and consists of overpriced supermarket varietal wine with the owners knowing next to nothing about what they are pouring. The price per glass is more than the price of the bottle at the local Ralph’s and the bar is catered to people drinking wine for the first time and distinguishing it only by its color Red or White.
The owners seem like they lack any experience in the restaurant /​bar business and it really showed when the owners buddy’s came in drunk from the bar next door and started walking behind the counter grabbing beers and sitting in the lounge area in the back with the owner who neglected his paying customers in the front taking up a chair with his buddy’s.
The ownership needs to decide what they are doing here or they will be out of business within the year. If you are going to make a wine bar then do so, if you want a sleazy bar than that’s fine to but you can’t have it both ways. The whole place feels awkward and after paying 20 plus tax plus tip for two classes of ravens-​wood wine you kinda leave feeling like you have been hosed.
Nevertheless if you have nothing better to do and want to stay local its better than the wine selection at chili’s, but just barely.

Personally, I’m not into wine that much. My girl invited me here after her sister discovered this spot. Located on Firestone directly across the street from Porto’s Bakery.
They have plenty of parking in the rear. The best way to describe the inside is that it looks like an art exhibit. With the wine racks and comfortable couches towards the back. It’s a really good location. In talking with the owners they allow you the opportunity to bring a meal inside and pair it with some wine or beer.
This place has a lot of potential. Had a pretty good time here. The owners invest time on their guests which was nice for a change.

Driving by saw the sign and had to stop.
Great atmosphere, Great Wine, Wonderful Service
Highly Recomended.
Wine, Wine, WIne… It’s all I do.