Swirl On the Square

Livermore, United States

4.4

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 925-447-1400
Website:
www.swirlonthesq.com
Address:
21 S Livermore Ave Ste 105, Livermore, CA, 94550
b/t Railroad Ave & 1st St
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
890 ftLivermore Station
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dessert
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
Live
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today –
Local time (Livermore) 6:34 PM Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Thursday 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 12:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Sunday 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Outstanding wines, delicious tapas, rotation of local wineries in our tasting room, live music & entertainment.

At Swirl the dining experience is designed to be a casual offering of tapas served with select wines from outstanding wineries. The atmosphere is casual in a comfortably elegant design with exposed brick walls and accent hues of rich golden yellow and warm autumn olive. The walls are adorned with local artist’s works. We offer wines by the glass & bottle and have weekly tapas & dessert specials. Our adjoining tasting room features a different winery each weekend to further your downtown wine country experience. Live music every Friday and Saturday night.

History

Established in 2009.

Swirl on the Square is the dream of Rocco Maitino. Rocco comes from a family of restauranteurs — his mother and step-​father were creators and owners of popular Pleasanton establishment Casa Madrid for many years. Rocco and his mother partnered and ran one of Livermore’s favorite wine country spots, Trio at Stony Ridge. After Stony Ridge came under new ownership, Rocco took some time away from the restaurant world until the opportunity to create Swirl arose. He was struck by the many beautiful tapas & wine bars in Santa Barbara, Carmel and Monterey and knew that Livermore’s great wine country deserved the same. Initially founded to feature Livermore wines exclusively, Swirl has grown to include other California winemaking regions and even a couple of international gems appear on the list. Swirl is recognized for seeking out unique, small-​lot, boutique wines and varietals that are not as common — you will always find something special on our list!

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20 reviews of Swirl On the Square

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Issaquah, WA
Great atmosphere and Steph and Elaine are great people made us feel at home and the music topped the night thank you for a great anniversary and weight loss celebration
Place rating: 4
San Leandro, CA
Nice selection of wine. A few flights available to try. The square is nice & I hear they have live music in the summer. Parking is ok, a dirt lot in the back. Variety of seating was cool, bar stools, tables or couches.
Place rating: 5
Arlington, TX
Loved the food and wine! Also loved the live music and the feeling of the place. Nice lounging area while listening to great music.
Place rating: 4
Pleasanton, CA
The food and service are top notch. I don’t hate the wines, but would not likely write home about them, either Do you have beer drinkers in your crowd? Go across the square and b ring your beer in to Swirl.
Great starting place before your night out.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
The sliderssss! So good! Pretzel bun with sausage? Yes. Cornbread with pulled pork? Yes. Live music? Yes.
Ok see you there soon!
Place rating: 3
Hayward, CA
Good wine, good live music and okay customer service.
I did not get the grown-​up treatment like the other young Unilocaler did. The server talked to other customer over my head, and the cashier talked to the customer behind me over my shoulder.
Will try other establishments on the square next time I am there for live music.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
This establshiment started out with a five star rating. However, two were subtracted based on staff interaction. The latter two were taken off due to our second visit on the same evening (since we liked it so much prior to dinner, we decided to return for a Wine Slushie, after our waitress gave us a sample earlier in the evening. That second visit concluded with us leaving, sans Wine Slushie).
First visit: Myself and a party of three came to have a sip and swirl prior to having a birthday dinner and a game of bocce ball. At first blush, this place offers tasty bites, a nice wine selection, while also having the option to create your own flight depending on your preferences.
Second Visit: At approximately 10:15, when they close at 11:00pm. The Desire: A Wine Slushie. The Response From Blonde Waitress: «You know we close at 11:00. So you can only have one glass.» My Response: That’s fine, all we wanted to order was a Wine Slushie.” Blonde Waitress: «Oh. We’re out of those.» Brunette Waitress: «No we aren’t. We still…» Blonde Waitress: «Ssshhhh…uuuppp…» Nice… Way to show customer appreciation. Thus, we left. Sans slushie…
Unsure if I will return here due to their lack of customer appreciation, despite my desire to sample said slushie. Poor form on the second visit Swirl On The Square, poor form…
Place rating: 4
Dublin, CA
We love this place, more so for the wine. Stephanie and Rocko are seriously the best. Very well versed in wine and remember your palate. Friendly, knowledgeable people. How can you go wrong?! Oh, did I mention bands rocking out in the courtyard? Yeah, must go!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Came here for date night with my boyfriend on a Friday evening, and although we were the youngest people in the restaurant, we were treated like adults ;)
** CHECK IN ON Unilocal TO GET A $ 10 FLIGHT **
The server was really sweet and asked us what we normally like to drink, and prepared my flight and my boyfriend’s flights accordingly. Both of us greatly enjoyed the customized flights we were served.
Really great place for date night, wine night, any night! Love the outdoor seating (although we sat inside) and the live music that was playing.
TO GET:
–the T25
–carnitas sliders: MUST!
–hummus and pita bread: really delicious hummus
–crostini with baked feta and fig jam: this was really interesting, only liked the fig jam with the feta, not alone.
Will be coming back here for date night again ! :)
Place rating: 4
Pittsburg, CA
This place has an amazing atmosphere and great tapas! Called ahead and had a table waiting for us. Staff is friendly, wine list is great, and the food was delicious. We will be back for sure the next time we go out to the vineyards.
Place rating: 4
Livermore, CA
If you just want to wind down after a hard day from work or have some great conversation with great friends, I recommend Swirl. Friendly and classy people. I heard they have music on the weekend too. I can’t wait to come here during summer time.
Place rating: 4
Dublin, CA
We had a great time last night. Really enjoyed the food and wine and the live entertainment was wonderful!
We shared a bottle of wine and their featured tapas. We also learned that since they do not serve beer that you can go to 25 Taps next door and get your beer and bring it back. So, that was very cool!
We will come back for sure!
Place rating: 5
Livermore, CA
Amazing amazing amazing!!! The food and atmosphere were amazing. The staff was friendly and welcoming. They have a great knowledge of the wineries around the area and are happy to share.
We had the T25 and carnival sliders. Both were consumed before I could consider taking a picture for Unilocal.
Highly recommend and they have a repeat customer.
Place rating: 5
Livermore, CA
My friends and I had an excellent time here the other day. It was a great atmosphere with music playing in the courtyard outside that wasn’t too loud, and their servers were very friendly and helpful. We had numerous questions about their different options for wine flights and they patiently answered all of our questions, even allowing us to create our own flights so we got exactly what we wanted.
They had a good wine collection, which everyone in our group seemed to enjoy. Between all in the group, numerous whites, reds, and a few bubbly wines were sampled and enjoyed.
Finally, their appetizers were absolutely delicious. We had the Crostini with Baked Feta and Fig Jam that was absolutely delicious. The cheese and jam paired perfectly! We also had the Trio House Terrine that was also amazing as well. Their Crostini with House-​Made Artichoke Dip was also good, though I recommend the other two appetizers more.
I cannot wait to come back and enjoy another relaxing Saturday here.
Place rating: 5
Campbell, CA
The drive to Livermore from South Bay that normally might take 40 min took 2 hours on a Friday late afternoon, so I was ready for some wine! Swirl was the perfect spot to drink my stress away and get a bite to eat before watching Les Miserables at Bankhead Theatre just around the block. We checked in on Unilocal and saw they do a wine flight special for Unilocalers, cheers to that!
Service was quick since we mentioned we had to catch a show, but nonetheless warm, friendly, and very helpful thanks to Vijay. He even customized our wine flights based on our preferences, so smooth reds for me, and dry whites for my friend!
With the live music that started up, wine, and delicious food, I almost didn’t want to leave for the theatre!
We enjoyed the Pesto Hummus w/​warm naan bread, and the Farmer’s Plate (with extra grilled veggies and no meat for me) — it came with the perfect amount of artisan cheese, fresh fruit, mixed sweet ‘n’ savory nuts, and even gluten-​free crackers! My friend loved her Pretzel Bun Sliders (yup, she’s the carnivore). We’ll swirl it up again soon!
Place rating: 5
Pittsburg, CA
Came here on a Friday night and had a blast! Bestie and I absolutely loved it here! Great service, excellent wine, food was delicious, and there was live music that was wonderful! Everyone in the house had a great time! There’s outdoor seating as well and parking is super easy. Check in with Unilocal and get $ 10 flights! Yay! Can’t wait to go back!
Place rating: 3
Danville, CA
I come here with a meetup and it’s pretty great. The bartender/​waiter is super nice and helpful. I don’t drink much alcohol, and he was aces about providing a list of non-​alcoholic drinks – Snapple, San Pellegrino, San Pellegrino soda, coffee, tea, etc.
Happy hour menu is really reasonably priced. Popular items in my group are the cheese and fruit spread, the hummus, and the sliders. Their wine selection seems quite good, too. I’m thinking about splurging during our next meeting and trying this moscato I’ve had my eye on.
Swirl does get a little loud. They have open mic nights and things like that, which I know annoy some people, so if you don’t enjoy that kind of venue you might want to check ahead and make sure you aren’t going on a date where they’re having a live performance of some kind.
Personally, I think it’s a very cosy bar. The type of place where you feel as glamorous as an extra on the set of Sex and the City. I’d totally come here with friends to kick back and relax.
Place rating: 5
Blossom Valley, San Jose, CA
My friends and I came to this restaurant to fuel up for the next flights we would be tasting! I ordered the grilled cheese and it was scrumptious!!! I was very happy with their fast service and cute little homey café! They had a lot of different food options and great wine to pair it with :)
Attached to the restaurant is the cellar!!! I was excited that each Sunday they have different winery venues come in and serve a different flight. I was fortunate enough to do a tasting for La Rochelle :) I may be a little biased because my name is Rochelle! But just like myself unique and classy, so was the wine! I ended up buying a bottle of the sleepy hollow Pinot noir!!! It was very tasty!!!
Again– super cool how you can bring your wine outside to the plaza patio and enjoy talking with friends or listening to the local band preform!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I am giving this place 5 stars for several reasons:
1. Great wine list, local and foreign wines
2. Great service– especially for a large group!
3. Separate checks for a party of 12??? How awesome is that
4. The food and happy hour
Ill elaborate a little. A large group of us went for food and drinks on a Wednesday night. The server (I wish I grabbed his name!) was amazing, he was so friendly and patient with us. He was also incredibly attentive and even with a large group we all had food and wine shortly. He made the experience all that better. Not to mention he didn’t even ask about separate checks just brought them. I really do appreciate that, and he makes us all want to come back here again!
The wine list is great, I enjoyed the rose but there were several good wines on happy hour as well. The happy hour had food as well, all of which looked really good. I took a look at the menu and couldn’t pass up pretzel bun sliders. Even though it was not apart of the happy hour I had to try. I am so glad that I did. It had some delicious sausage and mozzarella and caramelized onions. You get 2 and I wanted like 5 more. I would definitely recommend getting it!
I cant wait to come back and try some more wine and food!
Place rating: 5
Livermore, CA
The customer service at Swirl is borderline amazing and the set up guarantees that your glass will never run dry, unless by choice. Twice I have been here when there were no seats available which isn’t a problem. Skip on over to 3 Steves to do a tasting and wait until a table opens up.
Once seated we were served by a man who was a clairvoyant. Not really, but he might as well have been because he chose my Unilocal flight ($ 10 with checkin) that had three delicious wines. Pino Grigio from Monterey, Rose from Livermore, and a Muscat from somewhere I can’t remember. I couldn’t have picked a better flight myself. I also liked the way it was served: one glass with three wee carafes.
There are a few choices for beer such as Blue Moon and Stella. You also have the option of getting a beer from Tap 25 and bringing it over to Swirl. With music on the weekends this place has made it to my número uno spot for getting my wino on.