9 Sparkling Restaurants for Top-Notch Champagne

When thinking about festive drinking, one word always seems to come to mind: Champagne. The timeless bubbly offers a vibrant complement to countless cuisines, whether Japanese, Italian, Creole or classic French fare. Moreover, a sparkler is guaranteed to elevate any special occasion, as well as otherwise average weekdays.

Boasting Champagne-centric wine lists, these nine Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners in the United States deserve a toast year-round. For more wine destinations, see our more than 3,500 Restaurant Award winners, including 330-plus restaurants with especially strong Champagne selections, and our more than 90 Grand Award recipients.

Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!

Fiola

601 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Telephone (202) 525-1402
Website fioladc.com
Grand Award

Bubbly is a delicious complement to chef Fabio Trabocchi's dishes, such as this Mediterranean sea bass with lentils. (Christie Allison)

One of the capital’s most recognized names in Italian dining, Fabio Trabocchi’s Fiola sits in the Penn Quarter of Washington, D.C., and serves up refinement and elegance five nights a week. Chef Josh Kaplan offers a five-course “La Tradizione” tasting menu, with options for added white truffles, wine pairings, and mocktails or other nonalcoholic beverage pairings. Standouts on the frequently changing menu include a 48-hour dry-aged Mediterranean sea bass with fennel and parsley, a savory bonbon composed of zucchini and cheese and a dessert of crunchy pear pieces with vanilla panna cotta, almond brittle and honey tuile decorations. An à la carte menu—available only Tuesday through Thursday—delivers elevated Italian classics such as handmade gnocchi, rolled eggplant Parmesan and a cacio e pepe–inspired risotto flavored with fermented lime. The Grand Award–winning wine program is as impressive as the food. With more than 2,000 labels focused on regions in Italy, France and California, the list begins with a noteworthy selection of grower Champagnes and choices from well-known houses, including verticals of Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot’s La Grande Dame and Salon’s Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil.

Grill 23 & Bar

161 Berkeley St., Boston
Telephone (617) 542-2255
Website grill23.com
Grand Award

Champagne stars on the wine list at this standout steak house in Boston. (Courtesy of Grill 23)

Grand Award–winning steak house Grill 23 & Bar in Boston is a Back Bay favorite that pulls out all the stops with its captivating Champagne program. Corporate beverage director Brahm Callahan and wine director Hugo Bensimon oversee the 2,280-selection wine list, which features five pages and nearly 200 choices of Champagne, with subcategories for négociants and grower Champagnes. Guests will find celebrated names across the list, including Bérêche & Fils, Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon (with vintages dating to 1988) and many more. In addition to choice cuts of steak, chef Ryan Marcoux’s menu includes a plethora of dishes that are delicious alongside Champagne, such as a lobster bisque thickened with Sherry crème fraîche, an entrée of seared scallops served on a bed of parsnip puree and a 2-pound steamed lobster, which can be stuffed and baked for an extra $20.

HMF at the Breakers

The Breakers, 1 S. County Road, Palm Beach, Fla.
Telephone (561) 659-8480
Website thebreakers.com
Grand Award

HMF highlights Champagne both on its wine list and across its cocktail program. (The Breakers Palm Beach)

Set in a historic luxury resort right on the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach, HMF at the Breakers is just one of three restaurants to maintain a Grand Award since 1981—the award’s inaugural year. This glamorous venue is a wine tour de force, with a program led by wine director and Master Sommelier Virginia Philip, who has been with the resort for more than two decades and who also oversees all of the Breakers’ other wine programs. The nearly 2,200-wine list is strong in picks from California, France and Italy, especially the Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône, Tuscany and Piedmont regions. But the wide Champagne selection is not to be missed, including cuvées from houses such as Henriot, Laurent-Perrier and many more. Fellow Master Sommelier Juan Gomez and a team of knowledgeable sommeliers guide guests in selecting bottlings to go with the menu of small plates prepared by chef Anthony Sicignano, such as wild boar empanadas, shrimp-and-chorizo taquitos and line-caught swordfish souvlaki.

Mastro's Steakhouse at the Post Oak Hotel

Post Oak Hotel, 1650 West Loop S., Houston
Telephone (713) 993-2500
Website mastrosrestaurants.com
Grand Award

Wine is only part of the experience when visiting this Houston dining destination, which has sibling locations in Arizona, Illinois, Florida, Nevada, California and Washington, D.C. (Shannon O'Hara)

With 12 Restaurant Award–winning locations across the country, Mastro’s Steakhouse is a consistent destination for top-notch dining. Part of Tilman Fertitta's acclaimed Landry’s restaurant group, the Grand Award–winning Mastro's Steakhouse at Houston’s Post Oak Hotel is a crown jewel, hosting the largest wine collection of any Mastro’s restaurant at 37,500 bottles. Working with hotel beverage director Shaun Prevatt, Mastro’s wine director David Anderson distills that cellar into a 4,100-label list packed with selections from Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, Piedmont, Tuscany, California, Madeira and other regions. The Champagne program is particularly notable and offers wines from houses such as Agrapart & Fils, Billecart-Salmon and Bruno Paillard. Mastro’s team displays many of these bottles on the walls of its sleek, elegant dining room, where guests enjoy executive chef Michael Colbert’s menu of steak house classics, including 6- to 48-ounce cuts of prime beef, lobster and shrimp cocktails and creamy French onion soup. Adding to the experience, Mastro’s also regularly hosts live music in its lounge.

Spago Beverly Hills

176 N. Cañon Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Telephone (310) 385-0880
Website wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/
Grand Award

Wolfgang Puck (far right) pairs his Spago Beverly Hills menu with wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux and, of course, Champagne, among other regions. (Eric Denq)

High in Beverly Hills, the flagship location of chef Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant empire offers opulence and creativity in both its food menu and its Grand Award–winning wine list. Guests can choose from a seasonal à la carte menu or the eight-course tasting menu designed by Puck and executive chef Ari Rosenson. The choices in fare vary widely, from Asian plates such as blue fin tuna sashimi with pickled shiitakes to Italian staples such as strozzapreti pasta in a veal ragù with melted leeks. With myriad food choices, wine director Eric Denq’s program has a lot to contend with, but Spago’s cellar of more than 16,000 bottles is certainly up to the task. While the program is particularly strong in both local California labels and those from Italy, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley and Germany, France’s Champagne region shines most brightly on the list, with a multitude of by-the-glass, bottle and large-format options to choose from. This includes selections from houses such as Chartogne-Taillet and Fleur de Miraval.

Dirty French Steakhouse

1200 Brickell Ave., Miami
Telephone (305) 990-8707
Website dirtyfrench.com/location/dirty-french-steakhouse/
Best of Award of Excellence

While steak is the focus at Dirty French Steakhouse, the restaurant also complements Champagne with delights fom the sea. (Courtesy of Dirty French Steakhouse)

The original Dirty French, which holds a Best of Award of Excellence, opened in 2014 in the Ludlow Hotel on New York City's Lower East Side. There, Major Food Group chefs Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi brought haute cuisine flair and international flavors to classic bistro dishes. Its opulent, steak-centered sibling location in Miami has showcased some favorites from the original menu since opening in 2022 in the booming Brickell neighborhood. Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Northern Rhône dominate the 1,000-bottle, Best of Award of Excellence–winning list, which showcases the efforts and expertise of Major Food Group beverage director John Slover, regional beverage manager Patrick Wert and Dirty French’s head sommelier, Gabi Neuberg. The Champagne section shows vertical depth and horizontal breadth from houses such as Pierre Péters and Salon.

JJ's Restaurant

4810 Roanoke Parkway, Kansas City, Mo.
Telephone (816) 561-7136
Website jjsrestaurantkc.com
Best of Award of Excellence

JJ's Restaurant highlights Champagne with its Jimmy’s Bubble Bar selection, which is named for owner Jimmy Frantze. (Courtesy of JJ's Restaurant)

JJ’s Restaurant, a landmark in Kansas City fine dining, is both cozy and elegant in equal measure. Amped-up small plates—such as deep-fried, bacon-wrapped shrimp and phyllo “purses” of lobster, shrimp, goat cheese and leeks—serve as bar food or appetizers. Classic steak-house staples, such as a 12-ounce Kansas City strip with a peppercorn olive oil rub, join Italian-inspired entrées, such as the Texas wild boar ragù braised in a Burgundy reduction and served over fettuccine. Holding a Best of Award of Excellence for its wine list, the restaurant notably features Jimmy’s Bubble Bar (named for owner Jimmy Frantze), where several Champagnes are available by the glass. Diners will also find ample choices of other French, Italian and West Coast sparkling-wine labels from a cellar exceeding 10,000 bottles.

Sushi Nakazawa DC

1100 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Telephone (202) 289-3515
Website sushinakazawa.com
Best of Award of Excellence

As Sushi Nakazawa shows, there are few pairings more delectable than top-notch sushi and Champagne. (Courtesy of Sushi Nakazawa DC)

At Sushi Nakazawa in Washington, D.C., chef Katsuyoshi Okuna serves a multicourse omakase menu of approximately 20 pieces of sushi. Wine director Dean Fuerth’s Best of Award of Excellence–winning list boasts 385 picks, with a significant selection of bubblies great for pairing with the subtle flavors and melt-in-your-mouth textures of sushi. Sparkling selections span six pages, not counting half-bottles and wines served by the glass. Highlights include vintage picks from Ruinart, plus a strong lineup of labels from Krug and Dom Pérignon going back to the 1980s and 1970s, respectively. The omakase menu is available in the dining room for $150 per person or at the sushi counter for $180 per person. If you’re in New York City, you can visit the original Sushi Nakazawa in Greenwich Village.

Effervescence

1036 N. Rampart St., New Orleans
Telephone (504) 509-7644
Website nolabubbles.com
Award of Excellence

There’s no shortage of sparkler-friendly food at the seafood-focused Effervescence. (Denny Culbert)

Sparkling wines are the focus at New Orleans’ Effervescence, a French Quarter wine lounge founded in 2017. Wine director Crystal Hinds' Award of Excellence–winning list is composed of more than 300 labels, showcasing a wide selection of Champagnes and bubblies from Italy, Spain and California, plus a diverse selection of still wines: whites, rosés and reds from France, Spain, South Africa and beyond. German sekt and English sparklers are also featured on the wine list, as are pétillant naturel offerings. Chefs Brenna Sanders and Evan Ingram’s French-inspired menu plays well with bubbly and delivers elevated party fare, such as paprika-spiced Brussels sprouts, truffle French fries, crispy crab crêpes and Gulf oysters.

Edited by Chris Cardoso, Collin Dreizen, Julia Larson, Olivia Nolan and Megan Tkacy

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