A South Street wine bar is revived in Center City

Three and a half years after fire shut down the quirky Wine Dive on South Street West, Chris Fetfatzes, Heather Annechiarico, and Susan Freeman are reviving it in a former nail salon in Rittenhouse.

Its soft opening at 1534 Sansom St. — next door to Marathon Grill and on the same block as such nightlife destinations as Ladder 15, Oscar’s Tavern, and Shay’s Steaks & More — will be 4 p.m. Oct. 31 with limited hours and an abbreviated menu. Grand opening is set for Nov. 6. Hours will be 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. with the kitchen open until 1 a.m., with a late-night menu offered after 10 p.m.

This incarnation of WineDive, in a smaller space, is a bar only; the bottle shop section at its opening in 2020 did not make it to Center City — neither did the space between “Wine” and “Dive.”

Fetfatzes describes WineDive as “Old Hollywood meets Atlantic City,” drawing retro inspiration from the early casino days, specifically the cheesiness of the Playboy Hotel. The interior, seating about 30 people at tables and 14 at the bar, blends amber glass blocks, dark wood paneling, tufted seating, and low lighting.

The menu includes roast beef sandwiches inspired by South Philly luncheonette Shank’s & Evelyn’s, with horseradish and provolone on seeded kaiser rolls; chicken cutlets; loaded baked potatoes; shrimp Lejon (the bacon-wrapped shrimp dish made famous by Clam Tavern in Delaware County); wedge salads with creamy Russian-ranch dressing; and brûléed pimento cheese dip with Cheez-Its. Desserts include rotating baked cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and soft-serve “ice cream bumps” in flavors such as brown butter and warmed apple pie.

Wine director Tim Fordham has assembled a list of 20 wines by the glass list that will change six times a year, with selections including grower Champagne, Alpine whites, skin-contact orange wines, and classics from Burgundy, Barolo, and Bordeaux. Freeman said the list also would include wines from women-owned wineries and female winemakers.

Cocktails lean toward nostalgia, Fetfatzes said, with interpretations of drinks such as the Rusty Nail, Surfer on Acid, Pickle Martini, Mind Eraser, and Tequila Sunrise.

WineDive’s signature $5 house wines will return, and weekly themed programming will include Microdose Mondays (small pours of rare and allocated bottles), T for Tuesdays (a late-night happy hour focused on wines and spirits beginning with T, such as tempranillo, txakoli, and tequila), Bottomless Baked Potato Wednesdays, “Naturdays” (highlighting natural wines and pét-nats), and industry brunch Sundays, a 10 p.m. late-night brunch aimed at hospitality workers and night owls.

The owners, branding themselves Happy Monday Hospitality, also have Grace & Proper, Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, and Quick Sip Delivery, an on-demand wine delivery service.

Upstairs from WineDive, they’re working on Liquorette, a European-style cocktail bar to open in early 2026. They also intend to reopen the original South Street WineDive, at 1506 South St., in the future.