169 West — Restaurant in Zurich

Stopped by 169 West for a drink on a beautiful Sunday evening. The waiter offered us a bottle of tap water (nice) and gave a verbal rundown of the menu (not extremely clear). We never received actual menus, so we had to crane our necks to read the one written on a board on the wall.

The whole experience was a disappointment—I don’t recommend the place! (read on!)

We decided to order a glass of natural Gewürztraminer, but our request was denied for two unbelievable reasons:

“Sorry, we don’t have an open bottle of that particular wine, and we won’t open another one.” (Remember, this is a wine bar!)

“…And anyway, Gewürztraminer is a very aromatic wine—it would surely be too much for you guys!” (Again, to be told that in a wine bar was weird, to say the least.)

This exchange honestly felt more like: “I’m tired, I don’t want to be here, or,...that wine is too good for you, and I’m not opening a new bottle. You probably don’t know anything about wine anyway…”

I’m being extremely polite here.

We then shifted our hopes to another orange wine. To our surprise, that one—miraculously—could be opened. So, we finally had our wine: just 1dl (100ml) per glass. It felt more like a tasting pour, a particulary pricey one at that, even for Zürich.

(The orange wine itself was interesting, as wild wine goes, but extremely rough—very acidic, with little flavor. Probably one of the least palatable wild wines I’ve ever tried. Definitely not a good choice if you’re trying natural wine for the first time).

Probably you'd fare far better if you order your wine by the bottle (because we suspect the wine list in their menu is far greater than just a handful they serve by the glass. Minus the...

Can’t believe I’ve been coming here almost weekly for two years and never rated this place! This is THE place for natural wine in Zurich. The wine selection is exceptionally curated and changes regularly, with a variety of choices by the glass and by the bottle. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable and can discuss all the wines in the selection (a feat in itself) to both more experienced wine drinkers and beginners who want a suggestion. Most importantly, everyone is super nice and it’s always a pleasure to see them :) There’s great quality coffee and nibbles as well! The location is very central without being directly on the main nightlife street of the area, which gives a more relaxed vibe. The interior...

Nice ambience and extremely friendly staff. The wine selection is good and so is the coffee. As for food, you should not expect a full meal but rather pricy snacks to enjoy with your drink. Prices are pretty steep, as is usual in Zurich. I was rather disappointed with the small selection of wines that were available by the glass. Since we weren't in the mood for an entire bottle, most of the wines on the menu were out of our reach. Nuts were insanely overpriced and might as well have come as a...