Wildair

wine · Iconic Wildair, the Contra team's smaller Lower East Side sibling, is the no-reservations natural-wine room that finally made walk-in wine drinking respectable in New York. The list is deep on Jura, Loire and the kind of obscure Italian whites that show up in single allocations, and the kitchen sends out a constantly evolving small-plate menu that the floor team actively wine-pairs without ever framing it as a pairing.

Pricing is more aggressive than at the top of this list, and the team has been consistent since 2015 about not chasing the new natural-wine novelty bottle every season. It earns the second slot for being the most reliable place in Manhattan to walk in alone at nine on a Tuesday and end up in a conversation about Radikon.

For the full ranking, see our editorial round-up of the 10 best wine bars in New-York, the broader New-York wine bars guide, and our category index of wine bars worldwide.