First of all, Ugo has three parts - there's a casual cafe, a more upscale restaurant, and a cozy little wine bar. They're all right next to each other, so if you mistakenly walk into one, the oh so friendly and cheerful hostesses will direct you to the right establishment. While the food at the cafe and the restaurant looks delectable, our pick is the wine bar by far.
Ugo Wine Bar is reminiscent of Chicago with its cozy interior and dimly-lit brick walls as if there was a blanket of snow outside the cozy, brick-walled wine bar, watching bundled-up people scurry down the streets. The atmosphere also made the wine more delicious. This is the vending-machine wine bar you've probably heard of. Unfortunately, the vending system was broken on the night we went. We had a red, a white, and a muscato from the menu- all fine, fine wines, but the muscato was hands down the best. Sipping the wine and the atmosphere, we actually focused on tasting all the notes of the wine, doing our best Sideways impressions - more to be a part of the casual yet refined atmosphere than anything.
If you're a bit hungry, order the Artisan Bread with Ricotta Cheese, that was indeed so nice we ordered it twice, without even looking at what else they had to offer. The different types of bread were indeed expertly paired with the cheese, and all of our wines were expertly paired with the cheese & bread. The entire experience was savory in every sense of the word. Ugo is by far the best wine bar in Culver City - while the wine is the finest we've had in Culver City, our appetizer was to die for, and the atmosphere and friendly, warm staff put Ugo over the top. See you soon Ugo!