Wine Bar in Midtown Manhattan: A Complete Guide to AYZA

There is no shortage of places to drink in Midtown. There is a shortage of places you would choose twice. A good wine bar in Midtown Manhattan has to survive a specific problem: it sits in a neighbourhood built for transit and tourism, competing with hotel bars, chains and whatever happens to be nearest the subway.

AYZA Wine & Chocolate Bar has been at 11 West 31st Street since 2007. This is a complete guide to what it is, what is on the menu, what it costs and when to go.

Where it is and how to get there

11 West 31st Street, between Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Three blocks south of Herald Square, about four minutes on foot from the Empire State Building, and roughly eight minutes east of Madison Square Garden. Penn Station is a short walk west.

Being one block off the main avenues is the whole geography of the place. You get the convenience of Midtown without the volume of it: guests can arrive from several subway lines and from Penn Station without anyone making a special journey, but the street itself is quiet enough that the room is not an extension of the sidewalk.

The two rooms

The indoor dining room is lit by 33 handmade iridescent glass lights created by artist Sinem Disli, hung at varying heights so the ceiling reads as a night sky rather than as lighting. It is a specific thing rather than a mood, and the practical point is that it is warm without being so dark that you cannot read a menu or see a face.

Behind the dining room is a heated garden filled with flowers. It is quieter than the front room and stays usable well into the colder months, which in Midtown is unusual enough to be a reason to come. Ask for whichever you want when you book, and treat it as a request rather than a guarantee.

The wine list

The list is organised by style and shows glass and bottle prices side by side, which lets you work out at a glance whether the second round is better as a bottle. Glasses run about $13 to $21 and bottles $47 to $99.

The New York section is the part worth ordering from. Five wines from the Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley sit alongside the French and Italian bottles, which is unusual in Manhattan and is something most visitors cannot taste at home. Our guide to New York wines covers the regions in more detail. If you cannot decide, the $33 Wine Flight pours three 3 ounce tastes: a Sancerre, a Sonoma Pinot Noir and the Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc. The full list is on the cocktails and wines menu.

Chocolate, and why it changes the menu

The second half of the name is not decoration. Chocolates are made in house, and they are paired with wine as structured flights rather than served as a dessert with a glass next to it.

All are shared for the table rather than priced per person, and all take about twenty five minutes. Then there is the Sweet Treats menu: two fondues for two at $31 and $29, with a choice of Callebaut milk, Callebaut white or 70 percent República del Cacao dark for $4 more, plus chocolate cake at $14, a gluten free coconut flan at $14, affogato at $12 and olive oil gelato with hot honey at $11. Boxes of chocolates run $14 to $17, including a three piece vegan M. Jardine selection.

Cocktails and alcohol free drinks

Chocolate Martinis have been the house signature since 2007. Classic, Espresso, Raspberry and White Chocolate are $19 each, the richer No. 19 is $26, and Six Mini Chocolate Martinis for Two is $57 if the table cannot agree.

Four house cocktails are $17: a Lavender Martini with gin, Cointreau and prosecco, a Fiery Mezcal with Aperol, prickly pear and jalapeño, a Chocolate Manhattan with chocolate bourbon and Carpano Antica, and a Melon Margarita. Two mocktails are $14 and properly made rather than an afterthought: the Floral Spritz with lavender, butterfly pea flower and sparkling non alcoholic wine, and the Midnight Bloom with cold brew, cacao, fleur de sel and rose water.

One thing worth saying plainly: a chocolate flavoured cocktail is still a full strength drink, so pace it like one.

What to eat

The kitchen is European leaning and built around sharing rather than three courses each. Start with a board: the Fromage Board at $35 with Tête de Moine, French Brie, Parmigiano Reggiano and Shropshire Blue, or the Maison Board at $39 with prosciutto and bresaola added. Either one takes 15 percent off any bottle of wine, which is the single best value on the menu.

From the dinner menu, the warm plates run from Truffle Waffle Fries at $11 and Classic Hummus Dip at $11 through White Truffle Pizza at $16 and Hot Artichoke Dip at $16, to Pici Cacio e Pepe at $24, Premium Angus Cheeseburger at $25, Cauliflower with Wild Mushrooms at $25, Roasted Chicken at $27 and Braised Short Rib at $33. Empire Steak Tartare is $21 among the cold plates.

Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free dishes are marked. The Cauliflower with Wild Mushrooms is both vegan and gluten free, and the short rib and roasted chicken are gluten free. There is no separate vegan menu, so if an allergy is involved rather than a preference, ask the team to confirm ingredients and cross contact.

Happy hour

Sunday through Friday, 4 to 6 pm. Saturday is excluded. Selected wines are $7 a glass or $25 a bottle across prosecco, white, rosé and red. Sangria, the Lavender Martini and the Classic Chocolate Martini are $10, and beer is $6.

The bottle price is the unusual part. Two people sharing a $25 bottle in the garden with a board is a genuinely good evening for well under half what the same order costs at eight o’clock. Which wines are included rotates, so check the happy hour menu or ask when you sit down.

What an evening costs

Two levers move those numbers more than anything else: ordering a board unlocks 15 percent off a bottle, and arriving before 6 pm on any day except Saturday puts you inside happy hour.

Tastings, groups and private events

Guided wine tasting classes run one hour with an AYZA wine expert: Wine and Chocolate at $59 per person with a minimum of eight guests, Wine and Cheese at $79 with a minimum of six, and the combined session at $89. Semi private tastings hold up to 35 guests, and off site catering has no limit. Prices exclude tax and a 20 percent service charge.

Group dining starts at parties of six. Private events start at $69 per person and hold up to 20 seated or 40 standing, with customisable menus, your own décor and DJ permitted with advance coordination, and photography allowed. Book three to four weeks ahead, earlier for weekends and the October to December period.

When to visit

Early evening is quietest and cheapest. After 7 pm the room is livelier. On a concert or game night the room fills quickly between 5:30 and 7 pm and empties again, which our guide to visiting as a wine bar near Madison Square Garden covers in more detail. Doors do not open before 4 pm, so this is an evening venue rather than a lunch or brunch option.

Wine bar in Midtown Manhattan: FAQ

Book a table

As a wine bar in Midtown Manhattan, AYZA is worth the one block detour off the avenue. Come before six for the price, after seven for the room, and order a board either way.

Menu items, prices, capacities and hours were checked against ayzanyc.com on September 9, 2026. Wines by the glass rotate; ask what is open on the night.