Imbibe 75 Place to Watch: Slug Bar

Story: Jennifer Fiedler

February 01, 2023

Late weekend nights make way for DJ sets, disco balls, and dancing at the Slug Bar. | Photo by Carolyn Fong

Slug Bar wine tasting — A wine tasting at the bar. | Photo by Carolyn Fong

Wines by the glass — The natural wines are a rotating selection of 12 by-the-glass pours. | Photo by Carolyn Fong

Slug Bar wine glass — Photo by Carolyn Fong

Slug Bar diners — The food menu features a mix of oysters, pressed tortas, and boudin blanc. | Photo by Carolyn Fong

Slug Bar oysters — Photo by Carolyn Fong

Slug Bar exterior — Slug Bar is located on the ground floor of the 8-story Lionel J. Wilson building in Oakland. | Photo by Carolyn Fong

Dancing, disco balls, and … natural wine? It makes sense to chef Andres Giraldo Florez and creative director Jules Butt, the team behind Oakland’s Slug Bar, an all-day (and well-into-the-night) wine bar. Having found success with Snail Bar, a natural wine hot spot with a more restaurant-like experience, the pair noticed there wasn’t really any place to eat and drink similar types of food and wine in the neighborhood after they got off shift. Enter Slug Bar, which opened in July.

The tight menu features a mix of elevated crowd-pleasers like tostadas and corn dog bites, and is complemented by a rotating selection of 12 by-the-glass natural pours. For non-wine folks, there’s beer from local brewery Sante Adarius as well as Miller High Life, a longtime sommelier fave.

By day, the bar functions as a casual place to grab a bite of boudin blanc and a glass of Zero Zero Red, but come late night on the weekend, the tables are cleared out for DJ sets that attract a packed floor of revelers.

Jennifer Fiedler

Jennifer Fiedler is a wine and spirits writer and former editor at Wine Spectator. Her most recent book, The Essential Bar Book: An A-to-Z Guide to Spirits, Cocktails, and Wine, with 115 Recipes for the World's Greatest Drinks was published by Ten Speed Press in 2014.