Zannotti’s Wine Bar

Starting with the positive: It’s nice that Stillwater has a wine bar. The wine selection is decent, they get some good live music, and the food is tasty (though more on that below).
Two main drawbacks, though. First, it’s just overpriced. Order a beer here and it will cost about 1.5x as much as the same beer would cost at pretty much any other bar in Stillwater. We ordered a Mediterranean pizza for $ 12 and it was delicious… but it was about the size of my hand – not even large enough to be a filling meal for one person.
Second, the service is pretty inconsistent. A colleague of mine spent about 15 minutes trying to get served and eventually just left in frustration. I’ve had similar (albeit less extreme) experiences.
Overall, I’m glad this place exists, but there is certainly room for improvement.

The first time I came here this place was amazing!!! Great service and awesome wines.
I came back tonight and the service was terrible. You would think on a Friday night they would have excellent customer service and it was everything but that. I was there for over 2 ½ hours and only was served one glass of wine. Very disappointed.

Where was THIS place when I was going to school, and would my friends and I have dragged ourselves from our usual dive bars to go? I’d like to think yes. We liked to class it up on occasion.
Zannotti’s has been around for about 6 years, but this weekend was the first time we’ve had the time to check it out. Across from the old Stillwater Bay (the «fancy» place to go when I was in Stilly), it has both table and couch seating as you’d expect from a wine bar. There is a back area with a fireplace, more seating, and a TV. The wine selection is good, and the gourmet cheese platter with olives, cheese, nuts, bread, and fruit we got to nibble on was really good. I think it would have been $ 5 higher at any similar bar in Tulsa.
I hope to be able to get back the next time I’m in Stilly. Downtown was really hopping, which I thought was great. I’m happy that Stillwater is getting neat little places like this instead of the usual proliferation of chain restaurants.

Visited on: multiple dates from 2013 to present
This is my favorite bar in Stillwater that I’ve been to so far (and as of this writing I’ve been to just about every one that I know of except Cross-​Eyed Cricket and the promising Gatsby’s). In fact, this is probably the only bar in Stillwater that I actually enjoy going to. In contrast to the other Stillwater bars that mostly just serve beer, Zannotti’s has a wide variety of delicious drinks, not just wine but also cocktails and mixed drinks. (Okay okay, they also have beer, and theirs include more exotic varieties than can be found at the other bars.)
It’s nice and clean and not too loud inside, so I can converse at sub-​yelling volumes. Okay, this might make me an old fuddy-​duddy, but what’s wrong with wanting to not sit in filth as I sip on an alcoholic drink that isn’t beer and actually tastes good?
Here’s a list of everything I’ve tried thus far. I only wrote comments for the drinks I found to be outstanding one way or the other; everything else was just okay or otherwise not particularly memorable.
White Wines:
— Toad Hollow «Risqué» White Wine
— Riesling
— Wente Riverbank, Monterey
— Hogue Late Harvest Riesling
— Secco Italian Bubbles Moscato — this is the only white wine I’ve tried that I really enjoyed; it’s really sweet and good!
— Folie à Deux Ménage a Trois
Red Wine:
— Velvet Devil Merlot
Cocktails:
— dry Gordon’s gin martini, lightly shaken — this was quite strong and didn’t suit my tastes, but it might suit yours
— dry vodka martini, lightly shaken — better than the gin martini, but still pretty strong
— Manhattan — yup, it was too strong, not for me
— Sparkling Pomegranate — very good
— Aussie Bride (Smirnoff Passion Fruit Vodka, Stirrings Peach Liqueur & La Marca Prosecco)
— Pink Truck Pink
— Classic Amaretto Sour
— El Diablo Rojo
— Strawberry Lemonade (Parrot Bay Strawberry Rum, Strawberry Lemonade, and Fresh Strawberries) — this was very good
Besides drinks, Zannotti’s also serves small eats and desserts, though I haven’t really tried their food. They also have movie date nights and fancy wine dinners. This seriously might be the classiest place in Stillwater.

Zannotti’s used to be the only cute wine bar in town, so it clearly had the market cornered and was crazy busy. Now there’s competition on myriad fronts, and unfortunately last year Z’s noticeably bumped up all their prices, so people go elsewhere and things feel a little dead in there. It is slightly annoying to be paying so much for middle-​of-​the-​road quality wine. Then my companion pointed that they’re using crushed ice in their cocktails, which melts too quickly and waters everything down; very poor form for an upscale bar. A third quibble is that service seems pretty indifferent these days.
Final issue: Zannotti’s food selection has always been a bit disappointing; what they offer is not substantial enough to sustain hanging out there for extended periods, so customers have to leave for dinner. I’d love to see them offer at least panini and/​or partner with a local business like Good Little Eater for heartier main courses.
I’m glad there are other options around town, because I was sick to death of Zannotti’s, but I hope it doesn’t go out of business… that would be a blow to the downtown area!

Good selection of wine and appetizer type food. I have been quite a few times and the service is always great.

Stillwater, OK, small town, middle of nowhere with limited offerings. Zannotti’s is a hidden gem that anyone who’s anybody knows. Ben, you are a gracious host. We don’t get here often, but when we do, you make it special. Terrific atmosphere, albeit limited wine offerings by California wine country standards. It’s okay though, the atmosphere makes up for it. Thanks for being the oasis deserved by grad students and professors alike.

This is a great little bar, and something rather unique for Stillwater. I’ve always had phenomenal service here — the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They have a decent beer selection for a wine bar, and the hummus is surprisingly good.