Vanguard Wine Bar: French-American Wine and Small Plates Off Broadway on West 51st
Vanguard Wine Bar, at 252 West 51st Street between Broadway and Eighth, is a French-American wine bar a block from half the Broadway houses. Verdict: a grown-up post-show glass, open until 2am most nights, with small plates that are better than they need to be. Just don’t count on a discount.
What to Expect
No happy hour we could confirm. The Times Square Alliance lists one, without a single time or price, and Vanguard’s own menus are silent on it. Budget for full price: the Crémant d’Alsace from Domaine Charles Baur is $18 a glass ($72 a bottle), and the Gosset Grande Réserve Champagne is $95 a bottle. The hours are the real value. It’s open 5pm–2am Monday through Saturday and 3pm–midnight Sunday, which beats most of the Theater District when the curtain comes down.
The Drinks
French and American wines, grouped by flavor profile rather than by region, so ordering doesn’t require a sommelier’s vocabulary. There’s a solid by-the-glass list.
The Food
Small plates built to go with the wine: prosciutto crudo ($18), pimento cheese ($15), savory tartes (smoked salmon with chives and crème fraîche at $19, or ham, onion and Gruyère at $18), and a meat and cheese combination plate ($30). Macarons and truffles ($12 each) close it out.
The Room
Intimate, casual and cozy, the kind of wine bar you can take a first date to without it feeling like a production. It also hosts private parties.
Who Vanguard Is For
| Occasion | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| A glass after the show | Open until 2am Monday–Saturday, steps from Broadway |
| A first date | Small, cozy, and the wine list does the talking |
| A light dinner | Tartes and a meat and cheese plate, not a full meal |
| Bubbles | Crémant by the glass, Champagne by the bottle |