Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas

What Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas does

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas is a privately held Italian restaurant concept founded in 2015 and operated as an original concept of Doherty Enterprises, a multi-brand hospitality operator. The business runs two dine-in locations — at Clifton Commons in Clifton, NJ (70 Kingsland Rd) and at The Gallery at Westbury in Garden City, NY (1002 Old Country Rd) — serving Italian tapas-style small plates (housemade pasta, pizza, bruschetta, charcuterie) alongside an award-winning wine program of more than 400 curated labels with over 60 wines available by the glass and seasonal wine flights. The wine program is the central technical/operational differentiator: it uses WineKeeper temperature-controlled preservation and dispensing hardware, enabling by-the-glass service of reserve varietals that would otherwise require full-bottle purchase. Menu ingredients are sourced from named local suppliers (Goffle Farm Poultry, Blooming Hill Farms, Alps Provisions) and the menu rotates four times per year.

The company monetizes across five distinct revenue streams: dine-in food and beverage sales at both locations; private events in dedicated rooms (Sun Room, Wine Cellar, Lounge in Clifton; Front Room, Main Room, combined in Westbury, capacity up to 85 seated guests); off-premise catering trays priced $45-$145 serving 8-10 guests; online ordering for pickup and delivery through Toast Tab and the three major third-party aggregators (Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub); and gift cards (currently promoted at Buy $50 Get $10 Bonus). Pricing is transactional, anchored by a $15 prix fixe weekday lunch, a Monday-Friday 3-7pm happy hour, premium glass pours at $10-$30, sangria pitchers at $40, and catering tiers scaling with protein choice. The customer base is horizontally segmented into individual diners, private-event hosts, and catering buyers — with no enterprise-anchor concentration.

Distribution and marketing rely on physical dine-in plus a BentoBox-hosted website with OpenTable reservation integration, Facebook/Instagram organic social, email signup, and an Eventbrite integration for ticketed wine events. The brand has held Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence (including the 2-Glass Award) every year from 2022 through 2025 and has hosted three dinners at the James Beard House. Leadership includes Wine Director Regan DeBenedetto, two Executive Chefs (Paul Leader, Michel Desjardins) each tenured with the concept since 2015, and General Managers at each location (Richard Salfenmoser in Clifton, Kathie Seaman in Westbury). No external funding, M&A activity, or institutional investors are disclosed; the business is wholly owned within the Doherty Enterprises portfolio.

Name

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas

Legal name

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas

Website

https://spuntinowinebar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas is a Doherty Enterprises-owned Italian restaurant concept operating two locations in Clifton, NJ and Westbury, NY. It serves Italian tapas and a 400-plus-label wine program to dine-in guests, private-event hosts, and catering customers across the NJ/NY metro.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Italian Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine Bars (THAFAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Chef’s Table & Tasting Menu Restaurants (THAFACAG), Wine Bars (CRANACAE)

Keywords

• Italian restaurant dining
• Wine bar services
• Italian tapas small plates
• Private event catering
• Off-premise catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Clifton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food & Beverage Sales: Revenue from selling Italian tapas cuisine, wines, cocktails, and other beverages to dine-in customers at both Clifton and Westbury locations
2. Private Events: Revenue from hosting private events including corporate lunches, rehearsal dinners, showers, and celebrations. Multiple private event spaces available at both locations with varying capacities.
3. Off-Premise Catering: Catering trays and platters for off-site events, serving 8-10 guests per platter
4. Online Ordering: Pickup and delivery orders through Toasttab, Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub platforms
5. Gift Cards: Gift card sales through doherty.myguestaccount.com

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas operates two Italian restaurant locations (Clifton, NJ and Westbury, NY) serving Italian tapas-style small plates, housemade pasta, pizzas, and seasonal brunch alongside an award-winning wine program of more than 400 curated wines with 60+ available by the glass. The concept also offers private event spaces, off-premise catering trays, online ordering for pickup and delivery, gift cards, prix fixe lunch, happy hour, and curated wine events and classes.

Product overview

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas is an Italian restaurant concept operated by Doherty Enterprises with two locations in Clifton, NJ and Westbury, NY. The core offering combines an award-winning Italian tapas-style small plates menu with an extensive wine program featuring over 400 wines. The product portfolio includes dine-in restaurant services, digital ordering across multiple third-party delivery platforms (Toast Tab, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub), OpenTable-powered reservations, private event venues at both locations, off-premise catering, curated wine events and classes, and seasonal brunch and happy hour programs. The menu changes four times yearly with fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas (Core Restaurant) Italian restaurant concept featuring a curated selection of Italian tapas-style small plates paired with an award-winning wine program, operating dine-in, takeout, and catering services at two locations.
• Italian Small Plates Menu

Quantifiable outcome

• Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence since 2022
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Goffle Farm PoultrycoreOthersLocal farm supplier providing fresh poultry for the restaurant's seasonal menu. Located in Wyckoff, NJ, supporting the restaurant's commitment to local sourcing.
• Blooming Hill FarmscoreOthersLocal farm supplier providing seasonal produce. Located in Monroe, NY, part of the restaurant's farm-to-table sourcing strategy.
• Alps ProvisionscoreOthersProvisions supplier located in Long Island City, NY, providing specialty Italian ingredients for the menu.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• City Winery: Multi-unit operator combining a curated wine program (often 400+ labels) with upscale Mediterranean/small-plates food, live music, and private events across several U.S. cities. Most direct comparable to Spuntino on wine-led food, ticketed wine events, and event-driven revenue mix.
• Quality Italian: Modern upscale Italian restaurant in NYC pairing a high-end steakhouse-style program with housemade Italian pasta and pizza. Comparable on premium Italian positioning, event/private dining demand, and check size.
• Aldo Sohm Wine Bar: Sommelier-driven wine bar adjacent to a Michelin-starred kitchen, with by-the-glass flights and small accompaniments. Direct competitor on the wine-bar-with-food use case, though smaller footprint than Spuntino.
• Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria: Italian vineria concept centered on cured meats, housemade pasta, and a serious Italian-heavy wine list. Closest peer on the Italian-cured-goods/wine-shop DNA that anchors Spuntino's menu.
• Sant Ambroeus: Long-standing upscale Italian café/restaurant group in NYC with strong wine program, prix-fixe lunches, brunch, and private events. Comparable on premium Italian pricing, weekday prix-fixe, and event-driven revenue mix.
• Fig & Olive: Wine-focused Mediterranean/Italian tapas concept centered around olive oil, curated by-the-glass wine flights, and a small-plates menu — directly analogous to Spuntino's Italian tapas + wine-flights positioning in an upscale-casual setting.
• Bar Boulud: Upscale NYC wine-driven bistro with deep international wine list, prix-fixe and small-plate formats, sommelier-led service, and event programming. Closest NYC analog in terms of award-grade wine list layered onto a casual-upscale dining room.
• Felice (multiple NYC locations): Multi-unit Tuscan/Italian restaurant group with Italian small plates, an extensive Italian wine list, private event programming, and weekend brunch — direct comp on Italian small-plates + wine + brunch ticket.

Broad incumbents

• Del Frisco's Grille: Multi-unit upscale American grille concept with sizeable wine list, private dining, and happy-hour programming. Comparable on upscale positioning and event revenue, though broader/American rather than Italian-tapas.
• Eataly: Italian marketplace with multiple in-store restaurants, wine bars, retail, and cooking classes. Comparable on the Italian-wine-retail-plus-restaurant-plus-educational-experience model and on the Wine Bar sub-vertical specifically.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SpuntinoWineBar
• Instagraminstagram.com/spuntinowinebars
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spuntino-wine-bar-italian-tapas

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas