Bistro Charm With a Familiar Pour
Lake Jeanette / Northern Greensboro · Greensboro · Seafood, Steak, and American with Southern/French Influence · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 25, 2026
Wingman Metrics
MJ's pulls you in with its converted-house bistro charm — two decks, full bar, the kind of place that feels like a local secret. The wine list, though, doesn't quite match that personality. It's approachable and inoffensive, built for the crowd that knows what they like and doesn't want any surprises.
The list leans heavily on familiar grocery-aisle names — Bogle, Kendall-Jackson, Alamos, Clean Slate — with a few steps up like Maso Canali and Louis Jadot for guests willing to spend a little more. Star Wine List does mention Jura and Beaujolais representation, which hints at some curatorial ambition buried somewhere on the menu, but the visible backbone is firmly safe-harbor California and international crowd-pleasers. There's a transatlantic spread here — Italy, Germany, France, Napa — but depth within any single region is thin. The La Pella Napa Valley feature at wine dinners suggests the kitchen and front-of-house care more than the everyday list lets on.
By-the-glass starts at $7 and tops out around $9, which is genuinely refreshing in a mid-range dining scene that loves to gouge. The pour selection mirrors the bottle list — Bogle Chardonnay, Alamos Malbec, Clean Slate Riesling — so you're not getting anything adventurous, but you won't feel ripped off either. No obvious rotation program in place; this reads as a set list that doesn't change much season to season.
Maso Canali Pinot Grigio Trentino — $9 glass / $32 bottle
At roughly 113% markup over a $15 retail bottle, this is the most honest deal on the list. It's a real wine from a real producer in Trentino — not a mass-market pour — and at $9 a glass it drinks well above its station here.
Clean Slate Riesling
Most tables at a steakhouse-leaning bistro skip straight past Riesling, but at $7 a glass this German off-dry pour is the sleeper move. It's light, a little sweet, a little citrusy — and it cuts right through MJ's richer seafood dishes in a way the Chardonnay crowd hasn't figured out yet.
Bogle Chardonnay
Seven dollars sounds cheap until you remember you can grab this off a grocery end-cap for $10 a bottle. It's not a bad wine, it's just a nothing wine — and in a room serving $31–$50 entrees, you deserve more than a weeknight supermarket pour.
Houchart Rosé + Sautéed Shrimp
A dry Provençal rosé from Houchart brings enough acidity and stone-fruit brightness to lift buttery sautéed shrimp without fighting it. It's the kind of pairing that makes the food taste better and the wine taste more intentional than the rest of the list.
✔️ The Bottom Line
MJ's is a genuinely pleasant neighborhood spot with fair pricing and food worth the drive, but the wine list is coasting on brand recognition rather than curation. Send a friend here for dinner — just temper their wine expectations going in.
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