"Birdie’s is a natural wine bar and restaurant on East 12th Street that’s 90% patio. They don’t take reservations, which means there are sometimes long lines, but you can order a glass of wine (or two) to keep you company while you wait. We’re big fans of the pasta here, but we also like to go to Birdie’s to try new and fun wines. Around a dozen wines are available by the glass, ranging from $13-$16, with a wide variety that includes skin-contact orange wines, sparkling pinot noir from Austria, and Basque Txakolinas. They all work surprisingly well when the weather hits triple digits. The bottle list is pretty long, and to show that they don’t take it all too seriously, they give their wines one-word descriptions of the wine like “zippy,” “sassy,” “precise,” “punk rock,” “uncomplicated,” and “cheeky,”" - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion