The Front Room Restaurant

The Front Room doesn't try to impress you with a leather-bound tome of obscure appellations — and that's fine. The list is tight, global, and priced like they actually want you to order a second bottle. For a lively neighborhood spot on Congress Street, this is exactly the wine list it should have.

Thirty to forty bottles covering South Africa, Italy, Portugal, New Zealand, France, and Argentina — it's a passport-stamp list without the pretension. MAN Family Wines anchors the house pours on both ends (white and red), which is a smart move: MAN overdelivers at every price point. The Domaine Bousquet Malbec and Little James' Basket Press Côtes du Rhône give you some Old and New World depth without venturing into anything too risky. Gaps exist — Burgundy is absent, there's no Riesling, and Champagne fans will be writing strongly worded letters — but for comfort food and casual dining, the bases are covered.

Eighteen by-the-glass options is genuinely generous for a neighborhood bistro of this size, and the price ceiling of $12 a glass keeps the whole table happy without anyone doing mental math mid-conversation. The spread pulls from most of the bottle list's regions, so you're not stuck choosing between two oaky Chardonnays. Rotation appears limited — this feels like a list that gets set and holds — but at these prices, we're not complaining.