Courtney Clark

Review of MJ's Wine Bar

MJ's is one of my favorite spots to go on Sunday n...

MJ's is one of my favorite spots to go on Sunday nights for one reason: Lady Zen performs. She is a great local gem. One of my girlfriends and I love to listen to her soulful voice while enjoying some wine or cider. Another plus is the atmosphere. I appreciate the friendly bar staff and have always been greeted with a smile. I also appreciate not being bombarded with drunk young twenty-somethings tripping over themselves and spilling their drinks all over the place like you sometimes get at other places in the old port.

They have an expansive wine menu ranging from $4 glasses of wine and up (they also have cider and beer). You can choose half glasses of wine as well if you don't want to spend a lot of money and just want a small taste of something. You can also buy wine from the bottle (and get 20% off a bottle of wine if you show the bartender that you checked in on yelp!).

The first time I went to MJ's, I had a groupon for the small cheese plates. It was very tasty! I haven't ordered any food since, because it is a little pricey. You pay $8 for 1 cheese, $15 for 2 cheeses, or $21 for 3 cheeses. You can add on a handful of nuts and/or chocolate pieces for an additional fee ($10).

My only gripe is that MJ's offers wine tastings where you can taste 4 of their wines, but charges $20 a person to participate. There are plenty of free wine tastings around Portland, maybe lower the price a bit?