Urban Press Winery & Restaurant — Restaurant in Burbank

After being spoiled for years by Rochelle and Thom at Left Coast Wine Bar in Glendale and the (old) Taix on Sunset (they had great wines) most other "wine bars" have fallen embarrassingly short in service, food and wine selection.

What a refreshing surprise when my Uber dropped me off in front of a joint like the Urban Press Winery at the west end of the San Fernando Blvd Shop row in Burbank of all places.

Initially I was drawn to support an old friend (LA icon and musical prestidigitator Preston Smith - go see him next chance you get) do his 'thang' and put a few points on the boards (e.g. a decent food/drink tab) for him on a week night.

The Urban Press is a long room narrow, but roomy, place with two zones: the front room for stop in for lunch or dinner people and a back "tasting room" room that had a curtain to draw (though it was open last night) for the music stuff they do, backed by what looked like a floor to ceiling, both walls covered, wine rack; with a 4" mini grey stage that understated and appropriate for the room. (apparently they have a back patio garden that seats a few dozen that I need to check out when weather permits).

Both rooms have the requisite wine "bar" with seating for about a dozen each side, tables against the east walls and smaller tables in the "music room." Urban Press dresses their rooms in a French-Italian inspired dark wood neo-country coziness with just enough urban to fit their name and hits the bullseye on both. e.g.

I think I could live there if Dodgers baseball were appropriate at a wine bar.

I was immediately seated (poll position at the back bar near the music in the tasting room), given a quick rundown on the best wines of the night and I was off to the races. I opened with a glass of the house blend and a (small) charcuterie board and settled in for the musical offerings.

House Blend - very good - what I would expect from a red blend. This would have been the kind of wine I could cruise with all night...but I was there to sample as well.

Charcuterie Board - HUGE! That's that I got the SMALL one. Good thing I was there to eat. It lasted me the whole night and I left quite a bit. They offered to wrap it but I don't think charcutier travels well.

Musical Offerings - Preston can fill a room with soul and groove with a harmonica and a guitar. This evening's big "wow" was his take on "All Along The Watch Tower" ala Gypsy Kings with a splash of Stevie Wonder's "Another Star" mixed in for the soul. It was quite wow - and I say that having seen Prez play since I was under age drinking at The Palomino in the 80s. This was very wow.

I shouted out a request (always ask for "Two Girlfriends" - it's a great tune), drained my first glass and moved on to the Petit Verdot.

"Two Girlfriends" by Preston Smith - bluesy sardonic master piece!

Petit Verdot ("Piccolo") - OMG where has this been all my life? def: Petit Verdot is a thick-skinned red grape varietal that is small and highly valued for its color depth. Commonly used as a red blender in the traditional blends of Bordeaux. Very earthy and rich.

I will most definitely be going back for more music, food and wine with more people or maybe just that special girl (if she makes herself known to me - already!)

Parking - It's the Burbank Media Center. I Uber'ed and probably always will. Covered public parking closes their lots early and street parking is a ticket waiting is tough to find and a ticket waiting to happen - 'nuf said. Don't let that stop you.

Hours of Operation: MONDAY & TUESDAY: CLOSED WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: BAR 3pm-10:00pm / DINNER 5pm-9:00pm FRIDAY: BAR 3pm-11:30pm / DINNER 5pm-10:00pm SATURDAY: BRUNCH 11:30am-3:00pm / DINNER 4pm-10:00pm bar closes at 11:30pm ​ SUNDAY: BRUNCH 11:30am-3:00pm / DINNER 4pm-9:00pm bar...

They had me when I walked through the wine bottle shaped entrance into the dining area at a Yelp event in late September. The decor, the ambience and the service were top notch and so, here I am again with a few other Yelpers enjoying a Saturday night drinking delicious wine, eating and listening to a very tight 7 piece jazz band with a fabulous female vocalist!

Our server, Mario, was amazing from start to finish. He was on point with our wine selections. For DineLA they were offering a 5 glass flight for $25 with an option to pick what we liked. We all decided to pick our own and Mario who was only here for 1 week, (hard to believe:), helped us make our 5 selections. He was extremely attentive and was always there presenting the bottle when our glasses were drained. Hee hee...

Silvia, was also helpful as well as Madison, who remembered me from the yelp event. She came up to our table to say hello. They make you feel very comfortable here!

I ordered a margarita pizza (to die for! Perfect amount of cheese to sauce ratio and the crust was soft and crunchy at the same time) YUM!!! I also ordered an arugula salad with cherry tomatoes, shaved Parmesan w/balsamic dressing. It was very good but just a tad too much parmesan for me. It took over the arugula.

Entertainment was AWESOME!!!!! I could not help but dance in my seat. Also got a chance to sing a bit with the vocalist:) The dining area was packed with a great crowd of enthusiastic people! Fun night for sure!

Highlights: *Our server Mario 5 stars!!! *Ambience/5 *Overall service - entire staff/5 *Food/5 *Wine/5 *Entertainment/5

Te-see's Tips: *there is a small service charge for entertainment (but so worth it) *Order one of their artisans pizzas, you will thank me *all wines are from their winery located in Sonoma Valley *outdoor patio rocks *plenty of street parking and a few lots near by *closed Monday and...

What a real treat to finally make it to Urban Press Winery & Restaurant! My friend and I have circled this restaurant and our schedule finally aligned.

The decor has an old European charm to it, and it makes you feel like you're transported to a far away winery even though you're in the middle of Downtown Burbank. Wednesday night is a great night to visit since they have Happy Hour including $10 pastas all night!

To start off, we had the Charcuterie with an assortment of delicious deli meat and cheese, fig jam, olives, dried nuts and fruits, and foccacia. It's a great appetizer and paired well with the white wines we had with our 6-glass wine taster set!

The Arancini is also a must have for appetizer. It is crunchy, savory, and just so delicious. It is similar to meatballs in a sense, but lighter as a filling.

For our main entrées, we had the smaller Happy Hour portions of the Cacio e Pepe, a classic Roman pasta that I love, and Agnolotti, a butternut squash and ricotta stuffed pasta with browned butter sauce. As much as I love Cacio e pepe, this one is a little bit underseasoned, but still tasty. I just wanted more from it.

The Agnolotti was the clear winner between the two with its delicate balance of cheesiness, nuttiness, and sweetness.

Finally, we had two pizzas, the Fennel Pork Sausage as well as the Quattro Formaggi (four cheeses). Both are quite tasty, but the Quattro Formaggi is just so good with its Asiago, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, and Truffle Oil, and ultimately the more memorable pizza.

Service was excellent and it was just a lovely dining experience overall. I can't wait...