Wine Bars in London for a First Date: Walk-In, Booking and Glasses, Checked

Why a wine bar works for a first date

A wine bar sits between a pub and a restaurant. You can commit to a single glass and a plate of cheese, or stay for several small plates if it is going well, and nobody has ordered a three-course meal they now have to finish. The menus in this guide lean on that: cheese and charcuterie at Gordon's and 10 Cases, snacks at Bar Crispin, small plates at Diogenes the Dog.

The trade-off is noise and seating. Popular bars fill in the evening, and a bar that does not take bookings can mean standing or queuing. Several of the bars below say this directly, and their advice is consistent: arrive early. If you are meeting someone for the first time, a known table and a known start time take one worry away, so the booking policy is worth more attention than the wine list.

Everything below comes from each bar's own site as read on 14 October 2026, with Wikipedia and press coverage used only for history and ownership. Opening hours, menus and booking rules change, so check the bar's page on the day.

The old one: Gordon's Wine Bar, Embankment

Gordon's is at 47 Villiers Street, WC2N 6NE, close to Charing Cross and Embankment stations. Its site says it is thought to be the oldest wine bar in London, established in 1890, and Wikipedia gives the same date with the same caution. Wikipedia also says it is owned by Wendy Gordon and managed by her son Simon Gordon.

It does not take reservations for ordinary tables. The site says the best way to get a table is to turn up early, and that staff will seat you as soon as they can. The exception is the Cage, which can be reserved, and the bar also offers guided and private tastings.

Food is built around sharing: the site lists more than 15 cheeses, charcuterie, sharing boards, scotch eggs, pies and vegetarian and vegan options. Sherries and ports are served from the barrel. The page did not list opening hours or glass prices when we read it, so check before you set a time. For a first date the practical point is the walk-in rule: suggest an early-evening meeting, and have a second option nearby in case it is full.

• Gordon's Wine Barwine bar

  47 Villiers Street, WC2N 6NE (Embankment)

  Says it was established in 1890; no reservations for ordinary tables, so arrive early; cheese, charcuterie and sharing boards; sherry and port from the barrel.

Covent Garden and Carnaby: 10 Cases and Bar Crispin

10 Cases is at 16–18 Endell Street, WC2H 9BD, and runs two rooms at one address. The Bistrot à Vin is a restaurant with a frequently changing Franco-European menu, bookable online, open Monday to Saturday from midday and closed on Sunday. The Cave à Vin is reserved for walk-ins and serves wine with cheese and charcuterie, and you can order from the bistrot menu there too. Its site says its wines are all available by the glass and by the bottle, which is the clearest by-the-glass promise of any bar in this guide.

That split makes 10 Cases flexible for a first date: book the bistrot if you want a fixed table, or walk into the Cave à Vin for something shorter. Covent Garden is busy before theatre times, so a walk-in is easier earlier in the evening.

Bar Crispin is at 19 Kingly Street, W1B 5PY, near Carnaby. Its site gives lunch and dinner from noon to 9.30pm Monday to Saturday, and Sunday 1pm to 9pm. Tables for up to six can be booked online; the page did not say whether walk-ins are taken. It describes a mostly European list focused on organic, biodynamic and low-intervention producers, and a snack-led menu by head chef Lewis de Haas, mentioning monkfish crudo, crab rarebit, lamb skewers and fries. The full wine list is a PDF on the site.

• 10 Caseswine bar and bistro

  16–18 Endell Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9BD

  Bistrot à Vin bookable, Monday to Saturday from midday, closed Sunday; Cave à Vin walk-in only; every wine available by the glass according to the site.

• Bar Crispinwine bar

  19 Kingly Street, Carnaby, W1B 5PY

  Noon to 9.30pm Monday to Saturday, 1pm to 9pm Sunday; book online for up to six; low-intervention list and snack-led menu.

Bloomsbury: Noble Rot on Lamb's Conduit Street

Noble Rot's site lists a wine bar and restaurant at 51 Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1N 3NB, alongside sites in Soho and Mayfair, and says reservations for all three can be made online. When we read it, the site did not show opening hours, a walk-in policy or a readable wine list, and it did not give addresses for the Soho and Mayfair sites, so treat this as a name to look up rather than a plan.

Lamb's Conduit Street is a short walk from Marchmont Street, so it pairs with our bookshops guide if you want to start with a browse and finish with a glass. Book or phone ahead rather than turning up on the strength of this page.

• Noble Rot (Lamb's Conduit)wine bar and restaurant

  51 Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, WC1N 3NB

  Online reservations for Lamb's Conduit, Soho and Mayfair; hours and walk-in policy not stated on the pages read.

East London: Sager + Wilde and La Camionera

Sager + Wilde is at 193 Hackney Road, E2 8JL. Its contact page lists 5pm to 11pm for M to T, which most likely means Monday to Thursday, Friday 5pm to 1am, and two weekend lines that appear to be Saturday 2pm to 1am and Sunday 2pm to 11pm; the abbreviations are ambiguous, so check. Its booking page takes tables for up to twelve and says it always keeps space for walk-ins but recommends booking to guarantee a spot. That is a useful middle ground: book for certainty, or drop in if plans are loose.

La Camionera is at 243 Well Street, E9 6RG, in Hackney. It is run by Alex Loveless and Clara Solis; Time Out describes Loveless as a trans masc musician and DJ and Solis as a Spanish artist. It began as a residency on Broadway Market, and Dazed described the permanent space as FLINTA-backed (women, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender). Time Out calls it London's second lesbian bar and reports biodynamic wine behind the bar, coffee and pastries by day and small-plates style food.

In July 2024 PinkNews reported that the bar's licence required pre-booking and early closing, and that the founders had applied to Hackney Council to change it. The bar's own site now reads differently: it says the venue is walk-ins only, with hours of 4pm to 11pm on Monday and Tuesday, 11am to 11pm on Wednesday and Sunday, and 11am to 11.30pm Thursday to Saturday. It runs a happy hour from 4pm to 7pm and suggests coming earlier, since it is generally busier later. Its own page did not describe the wine or food, so the details above come from press coverage.

• Sager + Wildewine bar

  193 Hackney Road, E2 8JL

  Bookings for up to twelve; says it always keeps space for walk-ins; evening opening on the days listed.

• La Camioneralesbian and FLINTA run bar

  243 Well Street, Hackney, E9 6RG

  Walk-ins only according to its site; open daily with a 4pm to 7pm happy hour; press reports biodynamic wine and small plates.

South and the City: Diogenes the Dog and Humble Grape

Diogenes the Dog is at 96 Rodney Road, SE17 1BG, near Elephant and Castle. Its site lists Tuesday and Wednesday 5pm to 11pm, Thursday and Friday noon to 11pm, Saturday 11am to 11pm and Sunday 11am to 10pm, with Monday not listed. Tables can be booked online. The list focuses on less familiar wine regions, with Texas, Poland and Taiwan named on the site, and it offers tasting flights and ticketed tastings. The food is small plates, with brunch until 5pm, and the site lists oysters at £2 each Friday to Sunday before 4pm. A discretionary service charge is added to all tables.

Unusual regions give a first date something to talk about that is not work or the app: order two glasses you have never heard of and compare. The site names its founder as Sunny Hodge.

Humble Grape runs several London wine bars; its homepage lists Bow Lane, Battersea, Canary Wharf, Fleet Street, Islington, Liverpool Street and Smithfield, though a Pride post on the same site mentions five, so the count on its own pages is inconsistent. The Islington bar is at 11–13 Theberton Street, N1 0QY, near Angel, open from 5pm Monday to Wednesday, 3pm Thursday and Friday, and noon at weekends. Its page lists a £18 tasting of four organic glasses on Tuesdays, £6 wine on Saturdays from noon to 4.30pm, and Monday shop bottles at take-away prices at the bar.

Humble Grape's Pride post says inclusion is core to how it runs its bars year-round, and that guests have called it an LGBT wine bar. That is a statement of welcome, not of ownership, and this guide does not describe it as LGBTQ+-owned.

• Diogenes the Dogwine bar

  96 Rodney Road, Walworth, SE17 1BG

  Tuesday to Sunday per its site; bookable; wines from less familiar regions; small plates and brunch until 5pm.

• Humble Grape Islingtonwine bar

  11–13 Theberton Street, N1 0QY (Angel)

  From 5pm Monday to Wednesday, earlier Thursday to Sunday; bookable; weekly tastings and £6 Saturday wine.

Walk-in or book: choosing for a first date

If you want certainty, pick a bar that takes bookings and reserve for a time that suits you both: Bar Crispin, Sager + Wilde, Diogenes the Dog, Humble Grape or the 10 Cases bistrot. A reservation also gives you a natural end point if a bar sets table times, though none of the pages read here stated one.

If you prefer something looser, a walk-in bar removes the feeling of a formal appointment. Gordon's, La Camionera and the 10 Cases Cave à Vin all fit. The cost is uncertainty, so meet early in the evening, and agree in advance on a second place nearby. Gordon's and 10 Cases are both in WC2 and roughly a walk apart, which makes a sensible pairing.

Quiet enough to talk is harder to verify than it sounds, because none of these bars publish noise levels. The bars' own advice to arrive earlier, given by both Gordon's and La Camionera, is the best proxy: earlier usually means fewer people.

If one of you is not drinking

A wine bar can still work if one of you is not drinking, but it is worth asking rather than assuming. Most of the pages above did not list alcohol-free options, so ask the bar or pick somewhere built around them. Our guide to alcohol-free bars and sober dates in London covers that in detail, and our guide to getting home safely after a date covers late transport.

Before you go

• Check the bar's own page on the day. Hours and booking rules here were read on 14 October 2026, and La Camionera's rules, for example, have changed since 2024.
• For walk-in bars, arrive early in the evening and agree a backup place nearby.
• If budget matters, open the bar's wine list PDF first; most pages here do not show glass prices.
• Diogenes the Dog adds a discretionary service charge to all tables; other bars may too, so check the bill.
• Pace yourselves: order food with the first glass, and know how you are each getting home.

Questions people ask

Which is the oldest wine bar in London?

Gordon's Wine Bar on Villiers Street says it is thought to be the oldest wine bar in London and that it was established in 1890. Wikipedia gives the same date and the same hedge. It does not take reservations for ordinary tables, so arrive early.

Is there an LGBTQ+-owned wine bar in London?

La Camionera at 243 Well Street, Hackney, is run by Alex Loveless and Clara Solis and has been described in the press as London's second lesbian bar and as FLINTA-backed. Time Out reports biodynamic wine behind the bar. Its own site says it is walk-ins only.

Which London wine bars take walk-ins?

Gordon's takes no bookings for ordinary tables, La Camionera says it is walk-ins only, and the Cave à Vin at 10 Cases is reserved for walk-ins. Sager + Wilde takes bookings but says it always keeps space for walk-ins.

Where can we try lots of wines by the glass?

10 Cases in Covent Garden says all its wines are available by the glass and by the bottle. Diogenes the Dog offers tasting flights, and Humble Grape Islington lists a £18 tasting of four organic glasses on Tuesdays.

What if my date does not drink?

Ask the bar about alcohol-free options, since most pages read here did not list them, or choose somewhere built around them. See our alcohol-free bars and sober dates guide.