There’s more to pour
Max’s Wine Dive ups its game by introducing full bars that can satisfy millennials’ thirst for vintage cocktails
Max’s Wine Dive opened at the right time in the right place, 10 years ago this month on Washington Avenue near the Heights.
Wine consumption in the United States had begun to pick up, jumping to 879 million gallons in 2013 from 761 million in 2008, according to Wine Institute statistics. The momentum pushed the restaurant to open another Houston location, as well as outposts in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Denver.
But the company’s luck ran dry in Chicago, a city that gave the restaurant chain a taste of the competition to come. In 2014, Max’s had to shutter a location there in the heart of a neighborhood where residents more often opted for small-batch bourbon or hoppy microbrews.
“It was an expensive lesson, but nonetheless one that might be good from a wisdom standpoint,” founder Jerry Lasco said.
As the hipster-like charms of craft brew and cocktail bars continue to lure millennials, the unpretentious wine pub is upping its game to compete in Houston and other cities. Lasco and his team have added full bars at several of the restaurant’s locations, including the original. More might be coming.
“The question that you
ask yourself all the time is, ‘Should you remain who you are and remain in that niche?’ ” Lasco asked. “These aren’t decisions that are easy to make in the office and on paper.”
Wine consumption is still growing, if not as quickly, but competition is growing, too: At least 12 wine bars now operate within Loop 610 alone.
“A lot more similar concepts have opened, so everyone is competing for a smaller piece of the pie,” said Jonathan Horowitz, president of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association and CEO of Legacy Restaurants. He formerly worked with Lasco when Max’s first started.
Oporto, a food and wine bar with locations in Montrose and Midtown, opened around the same time as Max’s. Owner and chef Richard Di Virgilio watched as similar concepts began popping up throughout the city, competing on price and quality.
“The (bottle) markup is cut in half nowadays, and that had a lot to do with the competition,” he said. “We had to follow suit.”
On top of that, mixed drinks, particularly those that channel Prohibitionera mixology, have surged in popularity. The number of craft distillers in the U.S. has doubled since 2013, topping 1,300 this year, according to the American Craft Spirits Association.
Craft beer production, too, has risen sharply in recent years. Sales grew nearly 13 percent in 2015, according to the Brewers Association, far outpacing the overall beer market.
“The millennials are becoming the most influential in the market, and wine is not nearly as important to them as Gen X, Gen Y and the baby boomers,” Lasco said.
Max’s began as a place that opted for a jukebox playlist instead of a white tablecloth and served unusual wines to the casually dressed. Houstonians were just beginning to discover wines beyond the typical Napa Cabernets and Chardonnays, Lasco said, something that made his idea attractive to people looking to try something new.
“In a short period of time, we had the problems of lines and being overbooked,” he said. “No one could get a seat or a table.”
Like Max’s, Oporto serves food, something Di Virgilio cited as a key factor in his competitive strategy. He has diversified the restaurants’ food and wine menu to offer more regional European wines and small plates that pair well with them.
“There are a lot more options out there,” he said. “It has upped the game and upped the bar in terms of quality.”