Where to Drink German and Austrian Wine in NYC

Whether you’re dropping into town for the bacchanalia that is Rieslingfeier or you’re a native New Yorker curious to get a taste of the latest and greatest in German and Austrian wines, here’s your hit list of bars and restaurants that make NYC the country’s best (if priciest) city to drink auf Deutsch.  

G = German focus 
A = Austrian focus

Noreetuh (G)

Manager and co-owner Jin Ahn has turned this decade-old Lower East Side Hawaiian spot into the city’s ultimate insider Riesling hangout. Ahn’s exceptionally well-informed list is divided into Rieslings “25 years of age or older” and “younger than 25 years.” Personal passions get plenty of play here. An entire page is devoted to the wines of Julian Haart, another to J.J. Prüm, a third to those of Klaus Peter and Julia Keller (spotted drinking here just the other night). German Silvaner and Chardonnay star, too. Meanwhile, Spätburgunder gets the spotlight here the way Côte de Nuit does at a Burgundy haunt: Harder-to-find producers like Bernhard Huber, Tobias Feiden, Jakob Moise, and Daniel Twardorski rub shoulders with stellar traditionalists like Meyer-Näkel. Wasenhaus gets a full page, all devoted to Pinot varieties. There is serious depth to the Sekt selections. I loved Lena Macht Sekt’s Brut Nature Mythos Réserve ($115) on my most recent visit. You could keep a party going late into the night with magnums from producers with Schaefer in their names alone. The umami-bomb-y musubi, glazed duck, and crazy addictive cabbage are ideal matches for most everything on the list. 
128 1st Avenue, Manhattan

Pavé (G)

The list at this gem of a midtown café is “baby Noreetuh” (Ahn is also a co-founder and manager here): German wine pared down to a few fine essentials. More likely than not, Ahn will stop by your table to pour a glass of Dr. Lippold Riesling Sekt ($9) or whatever hero of Riesling he’s highlighting that day. You could do way, way worse at midday in this neighborhood than to split an electric bottle of Egon Müller Scharzhof Riesling ($85) and a crackling jambon beurre with a friend or two. 
20 West 46th Street, Manhattan

Smithereens (G)

This pro tip comes from Robert Dentice, NYC’s most prominent and profligate pairer of German wines with foods of all kinds. “All white wine list, heavily focused on Germany, this would be my first choice,” he says. Take those last six words seriously. The tight menu centers around New England seafood classics tweaked with a 2025 sensibility. Order the hot-fried fish collar or lobster roll, then crack open the wine list. Fully half the offerings are German and I was very happy to see fresh-off-the-boat Rieslings from Domaine Lassak (Hessigheim, $120) and Weingut Schätzel (Petthental GG, $400) featured.
414 East 9th Street, Manhattan 

Chambers (A, G)

Chambers (A, G)
Chambers is the very serious sandbox in which Pasacline Lepeltier works out her philosophy of wine in actual, drinkable bottles. But this is no ego list. Lepeltier, despite her brilliance and accomplishments as a thinker and author, is an empathic somm. Her selections have a point of view. But she understands you have one, too. (NB: this is your best shot at engaging with one of the great wine minds of our time, still working the floor, listening carefully to her guests, and pouring wines for the ages.) Moreover, on a list that could go anywhere, Lepeltier lavishes significant attention on Austria and Germany. From latter, offerings are Mosel-heavy, but smartly sprinkled with excellent choices from other regions: Saale-Unstrut should feel honored indeed (Konni & Evi S**l*-*nstr*t Silvaner, $85). From Austria, Lepeltier plants a flag for Blaufränkisch. An aged Moric Lutzmannsberg Alte Reben ($250) would set off the beautifully inventive, seasonal menu nicely. Bonus: Chambers holds open a third of its seats for walk-ins.
94 Chambers Street, Manhattan

Kru Brooklyn (G)

This new Thai hotspot is closed for vacation until January 16, but do not let that stop you from locking in a reservation for the very next day. Chef Ohm has a deep affinity for traditional Thai dishes and beverage director James O’Brien keenly understands how German wines work here. Riesling stars. Although the offerings are compact, the selection is excellent, especially for Sekt (Peter Lauer Brut Reserve 1984, $210). Not feeling so spendy? Grab a glass of Lauer’s zesty, delicately off-dry Barrel X feinherb ($16). Don’t come here looking for German reds though. There’s just one, albeit a good one: Wasenhaus Pinot Noir ($99).
190 North 14th Street, Brooklyn

Terroir (A,G)

Founder, general, manager, and indefatigable Riesling evangelist Paul Greico has built a famously fun, sneakily educational, magisterially encyclopedic binderful of wines. Riesling is the (ahem) raisin d’etre here. Greico is of course the animating force behind Summer of Riesling, a punk move that transformed into a global phenomenon. There are Rieslings from everywhere, but Germany gets prime real estate, with Austria a close second. The edgiest growers rub shoulders with dyed-in-the-wool classicists. Greico is not shy about his love of Spätlese, which is getting harder to find on city lists. Austrian whites shine (Zahel Wiener Gemischter Satz, $114) and German reds are robustly represented. Go for Schnaitmann’s Trollinger Alte Reben ($82) if chilled reds are your thing or Steintal’s Spätburgunder Buntsandstein ($95) if German Pinot from ancient red sandstone terraces remains a gap in your tasting experience. 
24 Harrison Street, Manhattan

Four Horsemen (A, G) 

Although rightly treasured, this Brooklyn gem is not the first place that comes to mind for umlaut wines. The list is indelibly shaped by the late Justin Chearno, a founding partner. Chearno and I spoke a few years ago and he was candid about why German wines lacked an emotional tie for him. So any bottle that’s made it to this list means something. Trossen (Kinheimer Hubertus Lay, $132) and Tennstedt (Mauerfuchs, $180) represent a certain alpha and omega of Mosel natural wines. Keller (again) and J.B. Becker pin classical Rheinhessen and Rheingau as counterpoints. The food is smartly delicious, the service warmly attentive, the atmosphere feels like love.
295 Grand Street, Brooklyn

Pinch Chinese (A,G)

Wine director Miguel de Leon has lined up a short, sharp list with plenty of arrows aimed at Austria and Germany. You can’t go wrong with Hermann Ludes Riesling ($45), Straka’s Welschriesling ($80), and/or a mag of Rennersistas Waiting for Tom Zweigelt ($140 for the mag) and a slew of dumplings and friends.
177 Prince Street, Manhattan

Atomix (A, G)

At this Michelin two-star, beverage director Jhonel Faelnar finds on-point aged German wines perfectly suited to its elevated “New Korean” cuisine — in some cases for eminently reasonable prices. A glass of Künstler’s Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Riesling Trocken from the cool, classic vintage 2013 is $18, Eva Fricke’s V.5 Trocken (made expressly for Atomix) is $25. A full page of Rieslings by the bottle is scattered with gems superbly matched to this level of kitchen sophistication and artistry.
104 East 30th Street, Manhattan

Naro (G)

You might expect a subterranean restaurant just off an ice rink to be a tourist hole. Instead, it’s a pearl. Faelnar (also the beverage director here) puts Riesling in the spotlight. The Mosel is a particular strength (Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg, $95) while the Nahe (Emerich-Schönleber, Dönnhoff, and Diel) and the Pfalz (this is your chance to taste the miracles happening at Bürklin-Wolf) shine, too. It all illuminates classic Korean dishes polished to the smooth perfection of river stones.
610 5th Ave, Rockefeller Center, Rink Level, Manhattan

Aldo Sohm Wine Bar (A,G)

Just a short walk away, Austrian-born star somm Aldo Sohm’s clubby wine hangout invites high rollers to splash out on a glass of J.J. Prum Riesling Kabinett ($40) while the rest of us can sip Sohm’s own Sohm & Kracher Lion Grüner Veltliner ($16 BTG). There is also a good selection of cult bottles like Hofgut Falkenstein’s Krettnacher Euchariusberg Alte Reben AP8 Gisela ($125). An all-day menu of charcuterie, cheese, tarte flambee and a welcoming array of veg-heavy classics invites all sorts of high-low grazing possibilities.
151 West 51st Street, Manhattan

Wallsé (A)

This is classic Austrian cuisine in a classy space crowned by a refined, authoritative wine list. The list is packed with Austrian treasures from Sekt to seriously aged Grüner Veltliner and Rieslings.  If there’s a quibble, it’s with the shortage of Gemischter Satz here: Jutta Ambrositsch’s Ringelspiel ($80) is glorious, but shouldn’t there be more than one at a temple of Austrian wine like this? But there is Blaufränkisch for days. Favorites include Ernst Triebaumer’s single vineyard wines, especially the Ried Marienthal (2016 for $240), and virtually anything from Moric. If TBAs tempt you, there are Alois Kracher Scheureben going all the way back to 1996 ($190).
344 West 11th Street, Manhattan

Koloman (A, G)

This relative newcomer is named for the Wiener Werkstätte designer Koloman Moser and this place nails the Jahrhundertwende Vienna vibe. I can’t be sure, but it feels like head sommelier Maximillian Weber has tweaked the imperial list built by Austrian wine ace and previous beverage director Katja Scharnagl. Start of exploring the teasing roundup of offbeat whites (Stadlmann’s Rotgipfler, $75 or Werlitsch’s Ex Vero III, $150, depending on your wallet and mood. Then get lost in the classics, with multiple Rieslings and Grüners from Knoll and Veyder-Malberg. You can and should go all kinds of crazy with Austrian Sauvignon: Tement, Neumeister, and Sattlerhof are standouts. After that, I’d turn straight to the Blaufränkisch page and stay there. Dorli Muhr’s wines are back in the U.S. and this is a fine place to explore her beloved Ried Spitzerberg bottlings (Obere Roterd, $140). Nittnaus, Prieler, and Moric round out the offerings. Germany gets a very fair shake, here, too. The list is wonderfully Spätburgunder-heavy: Ziereisen Ried Tschuppen ($75) for the win. Bonus: A wider-than-most range of non-alcoholic offerings from Leitz and Kolonne Null.
16 West 29th Street, Manhattan

Cafe Katja (A)

Owner/chef Erwin Schröttner grew up in the Steiermark and brings classic Austrian comfort food to the Lower East Side. If Rieslingfeier revels leave you reeling, Sunday brunch at Katja offers Wiener Schnitzel, sausage plates, and beef gulasch with spätzle to soak up the excesses. From a tight, all-Austrian list, I’d pick a bracing glass of Langmann Schilcher rosé ($13 BTG, $42 for the bottle) to put you back on your feet. 
79 Orchard Street, Manhattan