Cru Wine Bar

Great wine flights and the Sea Bass + fondue dishes are awesome! As you can expect, tab can get expensive the more wine you try, but that’s part of the experience, right? Great atmosphere and attached to Park Meadows mall… Really like this place.

Rounded out a date night with my hubby here, and I was underwhelmed. The place was pretty dead for a Saturday night and the staff seemed more interested in cleaning up than serving.
They have some decent wine flight options, but I would have appreciated some more interaction with the staff to discuss what we were in the mood for and offer suggestions. I was pretty familiar with most the offerings, but this is a wine bar and I like to always add to my education on wine when possible. Flights equal about 1 glass of wine total so it’s an acceptable price, though certainly not a deal.
We also shared a cheese plate that was ok, but on the skimpy side for the cost. Again, the server could hardly be bothered to tell us which cheese was which on the plate. It tasted ok but again, I was underwhelmed.
The place is nice but on the small side. And the décor is nothing memorable or exceptional. To pay $ 70 (incl tip) for two wine flights and a cheese plate, I’m looking for more from the service and atmosphere.
All in all, I doubt I’ll be back as for the price I’d like a little more of an experience and atmosphere.

Excellent service very very tasty food, and great wine. I recommend it to anyone who loves wines and great foods to pair with it. Trendy ambience, and great atmosphere.

Terrific spot! Great food, fun wine flights and great service.
We started with the Fig & Gorgonzola Bruschetta and the Lamb Potstickers. Really, really yummy. The Mussels were good, just hard to compete with the other small plates. Ending up splitting the Filet which was perfectly cooked and tender with great cheesy gratin potatoes. We were pleasantly surprised at the finesse of the kitchen at this small place wine bar.
It was a great night to dine on the patio and service was excellent.
We were surprised at the wine prices. Flights are 3 glasses of 2oz pours and run around $ 15. They are nicely crafted and come with cards to explain the wine (a really nice touch over a description from a waiter that you always quickly forget). The challenge was the glass price for their wines is $ 12 – 18. Of course the wines we loved were $ 18 for a glass. We’ll stick with flights here. Only wines on the flights are available, so don’t expect a long wine list.
Two other quick notes. The address will only get you lost. Cru is across from Yard House on the west side of the Park Meadows parking lot (and in front of the valet parking station). Also the website provided on Unilocal is wrong. You can find their menu and details at
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Great convenient location. Happy hour from 4 – 7. $ 3.00 off flights. Good food. Loved the cheese selections. Open to outdoor. Drawback: you want to relax with wine, cheese, bread, fruit, etc. Music was too loud and «hip.» Needed to be more refined. Would add another star if music were different.

Wanted to try it, as my husband and I do love wine a lot, and the concept of small plates, and wine flights. I guess we just bombed out with our particular server. He just wasn’t «on», at all, from the get-​go. Didn’t know anything about the rose’ flight (I wanted to make sure it was dry, not sweet pink stuff), then, the kiss of death for us: my husband ordered the pinot noir flight, and the server brought the shiraz/​syrah flight, and when questioned, took the info. card back and said «Oh, yeah, I poured you the pinot, just gave you the wrong info. card». One sip, and we knew he had lied to us. No way to pretend an Aussie shiraz is an Oregon Pinot.
Went further downhill when I ordered two small plates, and, before my husband could place his order, the server turned on his heel and left. When he returned, my husband ordered one item, and when it came out, sure enough, it was NOT what he had ordered.
It is QUITE loud, even at half-​full on a Saturday eve. Not much going on décor-​wise.
Won’t go back. Wine Experience in Southlands Mall Aurora has this place beat, hands down.

Quaint, small wine bar in Park Meadows area trying very hard to be hip. Small seating area inside and fenced in patio area out front. Only one bathroom stall for the women’s room, yikes! I was there for an event sponsored by Uncorked Denver, so I don’t know if the quality of the wine and the food would be the same on a normal night. Wine was varied and interesting and was paired well with the appetizers. The pork belly app was divine. Event itself was disorganized and impacted my overall impression of the place.

Great place for a bite and a grown up drink! The service, food, and drinks are always great.

A very good experience with my lady on a Sunday afternoon. Started with appetizer, then went for the brunch for two. Timing between courses was good, food was well prepared and at the right temperature. Wine selections were numerous and varied; our two samplers were fine for a long afternoon. Staff were attentive and knew when to hold back during private moments.

About 10 of us went in for happy hour and sat in the back wine cellar room. Very nice and food was tasty. We all had multiple wine flights — TOTES GET IT ;)
— Pear & Gorgonzola Pizza
— Pizza Bianco
— Margherita Pizza
— Salsiccia Pizza
— Sinful Experience Cheese & Cured Meat Plate
— FONDUE DESSERT

The fondue is to die for!

I met one of my friends here for light munchies and vino at about 8 PM on a Friday. The tables and bar were both packed and we had to wait about 10 – 15 minutes for a table to open up. I was immediately impressed with the classy atmosphere and immediate, continual attention paid to us by everyone at Cru. From the greeter to the bartender and finally our waiter, we were very well taken care of for the entirety of our visit.
We split a cheese sampler (which was a lot of food for the price) and a dessert. Both were superb. All of the wines we tried (by the glass) were fabulous. Our waiter, Ryan, recommended an excellent dessert wine to accompany our chocolate fantasy.
I’ll be back again and again. Glad to have Cru in the neighborhood!

Drive in from Limon to find a sign on the door private party… Lost my business!

Wine, mussels, and bread, Oh my! In my book, this is a five star combination every time. The Shiraz-​Syrah wine flight was great. I love sampling wines and can never decide on a favorite. They are all so good! Don’t ask me to choose!
The mussels came out in this huge, cast iron pot (literally a 5 inch deep pot, not a skillet). I tried to be dainty and use the little fork to pull each individual mussel out of its shell. I knew I was enjoying myself when I put the fork down and started slurping those mussels right out of the shell. Elbow deep in mussel shell, Oh my!
Then, there was the bread. There is nothing like dipping bread into the mussel broth and letting it absorb all those juices. My taste buds are still dancing!
Great ambiance, great wine, and great food! Bottom line, Cru is my kind of place!

Great little place!
Great wine selection, and the appetizer Tuna Tartar (with avocado, raw tuna, etc) was excellent! Fantastic service also. When I accidentally dropped my wine glass, the waiters came rushing out to wipe the table, got me a new glass of wine, new plate of food, and brought a red wine stain remover for my husband’s white shirt :)

I’d rather give this a 3.5 star review. But where I live my two «local» wine bar choices are Cru Wine Bar or Indulge. Although I prefer to patronize non-​chain places, Cru simply offers better value than Indulge.
Most recent visit was during Restaurant Week. So here’s what I had:
– petite filet — nicely done
– chocolate lava cake — should’ve been a touch warmer, but was otherwise good
– saffron balls. Ummmm. Can I say «tasteless disaster?» Seriously, these must have been missing some flavor. The taste was your basic cardboard. The «lamb» was a miniscule piece in the center of the cardboard.
Had the Latin flight (all Malbecs which I enjoy) and the Cabs flight. Tastings were good size. Service was fine but not remarkable.
While I’m rereading this it seems like this is a mediocre place. It’s not. The appetizer needed to be better. Again, IMO, if you want more than a glass of wine, come to Cru. Indulge just isn’t cutting it for me.

Came here after work to meet (2) friends of mine on Friday after a long work week. Since it’s at Park Meadows Mall (next to Macy’s) make sure you understand that you will be parking far unless you have the money to «Valet» I enjoyed the the set up of the wine bar with a wall shelved with many different red/​white wine. We sat up at the bar & the woman behind the counter was quiet pleasant however she was not very informational when it came to wine. and might I add, perhaps the owner should make sure to hire staff that has a wine background. Thats what I was very unhappy about my whole experience at Cru.
The pricing for the flights were a little higher than usual but I enjoyed the Pinot Noir Flight (which consisted of (3) 2 oz glasses of 3 different wines. When asked the lady behind the counter whether they were based on light, medium and full bodied-​her answer was oh i’m not sure but definitely by price, with the last one being the most expensive. Any wine lover, knows it’s not the price that matters it’s the experience of enjoying great wine. and having someone whom serves it should know these little over-​seen questions. Toward the end of the night, it got pretty busy and while trying to cater to all the new walk-​ins, she ignored us 3 at the end. When leaving, though she apologized for not being as attentive to us„ highly is not good service. I hope the Cru downtown had experience wine connoisseurs or employees that have more background.

Okay… first review of the short Turkey Day trip. And while I ate turkey here, if it wasn’t for the beginning of the meal, this would be rated as a turkey.
Started off promising… a nice flight of sparklers with the best being a Veuve Cliquot Brut. We had ordered the 3 course Thanksgiving menu and the first course was a lovely butternut squash ravioli.
Next up was a typical Thanksgiving plate of Turkey, veggies, potatoes and a few odds and ends. I expressed an interest in another flight of wine, to go with the entrée, and the Server (who announced he was Executive Chef/​Manager) said he’d be right back.
I started to eat my meal… Turkey a bit dry… veggies okay… potatoes a bit overdone… no second flight yet…
Conversation going well… meal still mediocre… almost finished… no second flight yet…
Meal finished… completely mediocre… finally Server/​GM/​Chef comes over and says: «Oh; I forgot you wanted more wine». Uh, you are a wine bar and you forgot I wanted more wine? Are you curious why this Cru is rated lower than the LoDo Cru because, Sparky, I think we have your answer.
The Server/​Chef/​GM gave us a a complimentary glass of Australian dessert wine… nice gesture but not exactly a great match with molten lava chocolate cake. Plus it didn’t make up for the fact that I ate my meal, at a wine bar, with no wine.
They should probably only get one star but the presence of my lovely friend and great conversation makes me a wee charitable today :)

Cru is in an excellent location, tucked in on the S. side of Park Meadows, in the outdoor «village,» near Brooks Brothers. Décor is open and simple, featuring painted wine labels on one wall; lots of natural light at sunset. I sampled a Champagne flight featuring three excellent California and Italian champagnes; a chicken & shrimp potsticker, and chocolate fondue featuring pineapple, strawberries, pound cake and banana slices. Food was good, the staff friendly, the prices reasonable. This is a great place to relax while waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant, or meeting up with friends. The design of the space made it just slightly on the noisy side as it filled up, reducing the rating by one star. In sum, Cru is an excellent, adult addition to the mall and I will go back.

I had almost an identical experience to Amy R’s…
Met up with some friends after work and each of us ordered a wine flight and we also got a couple of appetizers to share with the table. I really had no complaints at that time… the fried brie was DELISH, the truffled fondue was excellent also, and who doesn’t love wine? Which is why this place got 2 stars…
My serious annoyance with this place came after we had already finished up and paid for our drinks and appetizers.
We were just sitting there chatting, deciding where to go next, and the manager came over to check on us. Maybe I’m being a bit cynical, but it didn’t feel like a «how was everything?» visit, but more like a «you already paid, why are you still here?» visit. THEN he tells us that we simply must return sometime for their great ½ price Happy Hour which goes until 6pm. Ummmm, we ordered at 5:30 – does that mean we should have gotten everything ½ price? His response – «Oops! Well sometimes we just lose track of time. We’ll take care of you next time you come in.» WTF? Are you kidding me? Not that there will ever be a next time, but what are we supposed to do – come in another time and say «uhhh yeah, some dude whose name we don’t know said he would take care of us.»
LAME. I should have known better than to eat in a mall parking lot.