Wine Bar in Midtown Manhattan
A Midtown wine bar, open daily from 4 PM
Ayza is a wine bar at 11 West 31st Street, three blocks south of the Empire State Building. Doors open at 4 PM every day. The list runs to twenty-nine wines, the kitchen sends out European-inspired plates until close, and the thing we are actually known for is what happens when a glass of wine meets a piece of chocolate.
We have been on this block since 2007. Inside, thirty-three handmade iridescent lights by the artist Sinem Disli hang low enough that the room reads as evening at four in the afternoon. Out back, the garden is enclosed and heated, so it works in February as well as it does in June.
Dinner runs from the full menu, and there is no lunch or brunch service.
What is on the wine list
Twenty-nine labels, not two hundred
- Eight whites, eight reds, three roses, two sparkling and two dessert wines.
- Finger Lakes and Hudson Valley producers alongside Chablis, Provence, the Veneto, Bordeaux, Mendoza and California.
- Wine flight, $33 for three three-ounce pours: Sancerre, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc.
- Wine and chocolate pairings at $42 and $44.
- Happy hour, $7 a glass or $25 a bottle, Sunday through Friday.
A short list is a choice. Twenty-nine labels is a list the staff can actually talk about; a binder of two hundred is one nobody reads to the end.
The New York section is where most of our recommendations start. A Finger Lakes Riesling next to a piece of 70% Ecuadorian dark chocolate is the fastest way to explain what this place does. If you would rather not pick, order the flight and we will bring three.
See the full wine and cocktail list.
The chocolate half
Most wine bars stop at a cheese board. We keep a chocolate kitchen.
Fondue for two is $29 or $31, served with strawberries, banana, candied orange, French Brie, Maldon salt and piment d’Espelette. You pick the chocolate: Callebaut milk or white from Belgium, or Republica del Cacao 70% dark from Ecuador for $4 more. A Prosecco or sparkling rose pairing adds $14 to $15 a person.
The chocolate martinis are the other thing people come back for. Classic, espresso, raspberry or white chocolate at $19, the No. 19 at $26, and six minis for two at $57, which is the version that tends to arrive at birthday tables. Boxed chocolates to take home run $14 to $17.
All of it is on the sweet treats menu.
Happy hour, Sunday through Friday
Happy hour runs Sunday through Friday, 4 PM to 6 PM: every wine is $7 by the glass or $25 a bottle, cocktails are $10 and beer is $6. Saturday is the one day we skip it.
The bottle price is the part worth noticing. Twenty-five dollars for a full bottle is what a lot of Midtown bars charge for two glasses.
The happy hour menu has the full pour list.
Inside and outside
The indoor room is the one with the lights. Thirty-three of them, handmade by Sinem Disli, hung low over the tables.
The garden is enclosed, heated and has a retractable roof, which is why it stays open through the winter. It seats up to forty and is where most private parties end up.
Where we are, and how to get here
We are in the low 30s on the west side of Fifth Avenue, the stretch between Herald Square and the Empire State Building. That is Midtown, though not the Times Square version of it.
- Empire State Building. Three blocks north, about five minutes on foot.
- Herald Square and Macy’s. Three blocks west.
- Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. Roughly seven minutes, which makes us a workable plan before a show or after one. The kitchen runs until 11:30 PM on Friday and Saturday.
- Grand Central. About a fifteen-minute walk, or two stops on the 6 to 33rd Street and a short walk west.
- Subway. N, Q, R, W and B, D, F, M at Herald Square; 6 at 33rd Street; 1, 2, 3, A, C, E at Penn Station.
Hours, reservations and groups
- Hours. Sunday to Wednesday 4 PM to 10 PM, Thursday to 11 PM, Friday and Saturday to midnight. The kitchen closes thirty minutes before the bar.
- No lunch or brunch. Service starts at 4 PM every day. Full times are on the hours page.
- Reservations. Through Resy, and worth booking Thursday through Saturday. Walk-ins are fine the rest of the week if there is room.
- Groups. Cocktail receptions up to forty, seated dinners up to twenty, packages from $69 a person.
- Rating. 4.5 out of 5 from 2,250 Google reviews.