Postino WineCafe Opening in Buckhead

Postino WineCafé, the unique, all-day wine bar and cafe offering food, beverage and warm hospitality, will open its flagship Southeastern location in Buckhead this summer.

“We’re so excited to open in Atlanta and create meaningful relationships with the community,” said Lauren Bailey, Postino co-founder in a statement. “Everything we do is motivated by our desire to make people feel good. It sounds simple, but it’s our guiding light that informs every decision we make. We hope it results in something pretty magical for the neighborhood.”

Postino WineCafé offers a curated selection of wines by the glass and bottle. The welcoming space includes intimately designed nooks and crannies, an expansive indoor-outdoor bar and an umbrella-lined patio that creates a flexible space where guests can meet friends for shareable snacks, sneak away for a dinner date, gather for a meeting or catch up on work with a palate-pleasing glass of wine. “We want people to connect with one another in our spaces in the ways they feel most comfortable—whatever that may be,” says Bailey. Postino Buckhead will offer guests its award-winning, proprietary wine program curated by advanced sommelier and beverage director Brent Karlicek. Karlicek, who also is sitting for his Master Sommelier designation, travels the world creating relationships with boutique wineries and offering his curated collection of wines, wine-centric cocktails and craft beers—many that can only be found at Postino.

Postino’s varied menu is made for all occasions with a bevy of charcuterie boards, bruschetta, sharable “Snacky Things,” salads, panini and desserts. Its signature bruschetta is served with four pieces of artisan bread topped with a choice of 12 options including prosciutto di Parma, fig and mascarpone, sweet and spicy pepper jam and goat cheese, smoked salmon and pesto, and more. Savory house-made meatballs and goat cheese, crispy cauliflower and the OMG grilled cheese pairs with the rustic Chef’s Charcuterie. Other menu items include a lineup of fresh salads including guest-favorite Brussels salad with kale, spicy marcona almond, bacon, dried cherry, shaved manchego cheese and lemon manchego dressing, as well as a lineup of panini including the Tuscan tuna and chicken and mozzarella. Postino is working with Georgia purveyors including Farmers & Fishermen to source specialty meat, cheese and jam imports.

The decision to open Postino WineCafé in Atlanta was carefully considered. “We were very thoughtful about where we wanted to go,” says Bailey. “When we choose a location, we like to understand the community and how they live, work, dine, eat and play.” Kayla Bellman, a former employee, connected Bailey and the Postino team to Atlanta. She moved to Atlanta and went on to found Atlanta-based Finca to Filter, a collective of Georgia coffee roasters committed to transparency, equity and inclusion. With Bellman, the Postino team was able to learn about Atlanta’s unique neighborhoods through local eyes.

“During our first visit, it became very clear that this was a place we wanted to be,” Bailey adds. “We liked the level of authenticity and community involvement and care that the neighborhoods have.”

Postino prides itself in adaptive re-use by renovating older spaces, and the Atlanta location is no exception. The Postino team discovered the appealing 3,500-square-foot building at 3655 Roswell Road NE in Buckhead’s Tuxedo Festival shopping center. Even more appealing, the location formerly housed a Blockbuster Video. As a child of the 80s, Bailey took that idea and ran with it.

“This is the spark that begins the idea for the design,” she notes. In each Postino location, a unique art wall is installed to match the history of the restaurant or community. Bailey and the restaurant design team decided to create a funky VHS tape wall as an ode to its former surroundings.

Postino’s indoor space has room for group lounging areas and intimate booths as well as tables for small meetups. A covered patio can be opened from the top during sunny days. The space will take advantage of Atlanta’s temperate weather with an indoor-outdoor floor plan, ample plant life and expansive operable windows. In addition to the VHS tape wall, guests will delight in vintage findings and individually sourced Murano glass light fixtures from the 1960s and 70s.

Guests can look forward to popular weekly event specials including the daily $6 ‘til 5pm wine list (a curated list of wines by the glass and pitchers of beer are available for $6 from opening until 5 p.m.) and $25 Bottle & Board on Monday and Tuesday evenings (a bottle of wine and a board of bruschetta are $25 after 8 p.m.). The weekend brunch at Postino will have a selection of farm-fresh comfort foods like Umbria Egg Toast featuring scrambled egg with crèma and white truffle, crispy oyster mushroom, and parmigiano reggiano atop a toasted ciabatta.

Bailey hopes to give the Atlanta community a gathering space where guests can celebrate life’s moments. “We have the honor of providing the tables where people meet and have their first dates, deepen friendships, decide to get married, take a job or sell a house. We take that privilege seriously and love to be the canvas on which those moments are based.”

Postino WineCafé is located at 3655 Roswell Road NE in Buckhead at the corner of Powers Ferry and Roswell roads, adjacent to local institutions including Hal’s “The Steakhouse” and Johnny’s Hideaway.