TasteVin Wine Bar & Bistro

San Carlos, United States

4.1

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 650-486-1740
Website:
www.tastevinandcheese.com
Address:
890 Laurel St, San Carlos, CA, 94070
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miSan Carlos
1.3 mi73 and 273 Buses
1.7 miBelmont
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dessert
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Classy
Noise Level
Average
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Carlos) 22:48 Tuesday, 27 May 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 3:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday 1:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Food and Wine Pairing, Small Plates, Bistro Food, Cheeses and Charcuterie served with house made jams, House Made Soups

History

Established in 2013.

TasteVin Wine Bar & Bistro opened in 2013, and is for those who are enthusiastic about excellent wine and world class culinary delights. When food and wine are expertly paired, the beauty, romance and passion that surround the experience of a great meal comes alive — that’s what TasteVin is about.

Meet the Business Owner

Sue S.

Business Owner

Sue Simpson, TasteVin’s Owner and CWO (Chief Wine Officer), opened TasteVin in August, 2013 after 10 years of dreaming about owning her own business.

Before opening TasteVin, Sue had a 25 year career in software sales and project management. In 2000, Sue moved from Virginia to California for her corporate job, and fell in love with the California fresh produce, the foodie San Francisco culture, and most of all, the wine. Always curious and wanting to learn more, Sue started taking wine classes, where she met Chef Cynthia Bloebaum. Chef Cynthia taught a food and wine class at Berkeley extension — that class forever etched in Sue’s memory the glorious magic of food and wine pairing. It was an epiphany! This is what she knew she wanted to do — have others experience the enjoyment of how wine enhances food, and how food enhances wine.

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20 reviews of TasteVin Wine Bar & Bistro

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Sunnyvale, CA
Great service! Good selection of wine, cheeses and small plates. Not rushed out despite the fact that the place was closed. Ambience a little spoiled by the loudish music and TV screens at the bar area.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Went to TasteVin with a few gals for a glass of wine. Appetizers and wine were good, however the service was slow. We were sitting outside and had to flag down the waiter indoors to grab our check because quite frankly I think he forgot about us. Overall I would go back, but if you are on a tight schedule, plan early in case you have to track down the waiters.
Place rating: 5
San Mateo, CA
Definitely bookmarking this place to come back to. A flight of sultry red wines… we loved the Radicle Pinot… and the little guy had a sparkling pomegranate juice soda and some chocolate chip brownies. Plan to come back soon to try a charcuterie and more wine!
Place rating: 4
San Mateo, CA
I had a very nice we experience here last weekend with friends. There was a Zinfandel tasting going on, and I learned that I like thinks I the «cool Zin» grouping. Lily the sommelier helped us select the pork sliders and pancetta-​wrapped figs to go with our tasting, and there was also a matched cheese plate.
I look forward to bringing other friends here soon!
Place rating: 4
San Mateo, CA
I came here with some friends on a weekend afternoon. They’ve got good cheeses to pair with a wide selection of wine. We had the Zifandel tasting.
Everyone was very polite and helpful.
At the end, we couldn’t resist trying the Tri-​tip sliders which were DELISH.
Thanks TasteVin!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
I came here with some friends in the afternoon for a Zinfandel wine tasting. It was fun and relaxing. They have a good cheeses to pair with a wide selection of wines. Friendly service! Can’t wait to come back!
Place rating: 5
Mililani, HI
Wonderful place!!! Fantastic wine and great food. The owner, Sue, is very knowledgable and her staff is great. If we lived in the area we’d be here all the time!
Place rating: 1
San Mateo, CA
Stood at the bar for 10 mins while no one made eye contact or acknowledged me. Only thing they finally said was, «can I borrow that menu?» Left and went outside and sat for another 10 mins with no acknowledgement. I don’t usually leave bad reviews but this was over the top bad.
Bye Felicia.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Fabulous date spot! Lovely bartender, great wine, and delish food. Highly recommend. Good ambiance for deep conversation.
Place rating: 5
Burlingame, CA
Love this wine bar. Food is good, wine is soooo good, and customer service is the best!
Place rating: 5
San Carlos, CA
I live this place! The servers always have great recommendations and are so nice. We went there for our anniversary last week and our server noticed my husband was struggling to read the menu. She handed him a pair of reading glasses which made all the difference! After we are and drank they comped us a dessert of our choice
Place rating: 4
Belmont, CA
While they are on the small side, Tastevin did an amazing job of accommodating our large group. We originally reserved for 10, and then had 8 additional people show up unexpectedly to our work wine + tapas happy hour. We really appreciate them accommodating us! Our server immediately pulled up another table and didn’t bat an eyelash. My only qualm was that our group paid separate checks and tips, and I still got saddled with an 18% mandatory gratuity on the entire amount at the end even though the waitstaff had already been tipped through the other checks. I’m all in favor of a waiter/​waitress getting a fair tip, but that seemed a little unfair to me. Other than that, they had great cheese and appetizers and we were very happy with the experience for our group.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Hmmmmm. Not sure how they’re getting all the 5 star reviews. My office has a monthly get-​together for our book group so we’ve been to a lot of wine bars over the past year. While it wasn’t the worst it definitely fell somewhere in the middle of the pack. We went with a group of about 12 and the table was set and ready to go but it took forever to get our food and drinks. There was also some confusion about what we ordered and at one point we were so hungry I said just bring us whatever you got. The plates were also pricey for the amount and quality of food you get.
Place rating: 3
San Mateo, CA
Been here a couple of times now, and always enjoyable.
I am not quite sure why their ratings are so high though. While they offer a great selection of wines to choose from, the prices of the glasses and flights are, not cheap. Now I understand a good glass of wine is worth every dollar but it’s just a few dollars too high in my view.
Their foods are also delicious, but not amazing. And the space itself is nicely decorated but nothing to write home about. I think in general I would give this place a solid 3 stars and upgrade to 4 if the prices were a bit lower for me to go often.
I’ll still go back though!
Place rating: 5
Redwood City, CA
Came here again with a girlfriend for wine and food (we went elsewhere for our first glass and were not super wow-​Ed by the other place so we defaulted to our fav Taste Vin!)
Sue and Johanna are super sweet! There must have been someone who called in sick cuz Johanna was the only sever we could see and even though she was swamped, she was always smiling when she came to us, spent time chatting it up, and took care of us really well.
Sue is super sweet, too! We had a great chat with her as we were leaving about Paint Nite and other tasting events.
I love this place… it really is a gem in the peninsula (and I’m glad it’s so close to me!). Kudos Taste Vin! :)
Place rating: 4
Silicon Valley, CA
Lovely selection of wines, food is delicious. The cheese plates are wonderful and the little tartines are heaven. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is that it’s priced a little high for what you get. If they had a better happy hour (meaning, better deals), I would rate it 5 stars. That said, food, wine and service are all top notch
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Lilian was our server and she was fabulous!!!
She took care of everything and helped us to make a reservation even when Unilocal said it was not available.
She was extremely attentive (but not too much) and ensured that we had the best food with our wines and champagne.
She even helped us to get a customized plate of cheese and had great suggestions for champagne and food.
Great ambiance inside and out and the food/​wine were amazing!
Thank you and we will definitely be back!
Place rating: 4
Palo Alto, CA
A great place to have a glass of wine and taste some wines with very knowledgeable staff.
Went here on a Thursday night and just sat outside. We were the only ones outside but it was perfect. We didn’t order food but each had two glasses of wine and our waitress was very attentive. She had great wine recommendations and even let us sip before we ordered a full glass.
I can’t wait to return and try the food.
Place rating: 3
Palo Alto, CA
Tried the Spanish wine tasting — 4 wines for $ 16.
The wines were brought out one by one and were not in the order listed on the menu.
They were all okay. I’ve definitely had more enjoyable wines from Spain. The server told us of the appetizer pairing on our 3rd wine tasting, after we had already finished the appetizers we had ordered upon arriving. Too late…
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
I went here for an event and had a good time.
The staff were friendly and I tried their Spanish red wine (sorry I can’t remember the name). I am not a wine connoiseur by any means but I really enjoyed my red wine. I liked that the staff were super friendly and chill vibe. Another great addition to Laurel Ave.