Bacco restaurant North End Boston: wine for dinner

Bacco restaurant North End Boston is a search for a place to eat, and The Wild Duck is a liquor store at 86 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02117, so we do not take reservations or serve meals. What we do is help you choose the wine, spirits or beer for a North End dinner night, whether you are hosting at home, bringing a gift to a host or planning something for after the meal. This page explains what we carry for that evening and how to get it.

Is The Wild Duck a restaurant like Bacco in the North End?

No. The Wild Duck is a liquor store in Boston, and we cannot book a table, share a menu or speak for any restaurant in the North End. For Bacco or any other restaurant, you will need to contact the restaurant itself for reservations, menus and house rules.

What we can do is supply the bottles around a dinner out. Many people searching for a North End restaurant are planning a whole evening, and the drinks are part of it: something to open before you leave, a gift for a host, or a bottle for the table at home the next day.

Our shop carries wine, liquor, beer, ready-to-drink drinks, mixers, snacks and bourbon, with more than 4,500 products and more than 700 brands in stock. Our Google rating is above 4.5 out of 5 from more than 60 reviews, which gives you a sense of how customers find the shop. The rest of this page covers the choices that come up most often for a dinner night.

What wine suits a North End style dinner at home?

If you want to recreate a classic Italian-American dinner at home, start with the sauce. Tomato-based dishes are acidic, so they pair best with reds that have their own freshness, such as Sangiovese-based wines like Chianti, or Barbera. Creamier or butter-based dishes usually suit a dry white or a lighter red.

Our Italian red shelf is the place to look for these styles. If you prefer a lighter touch, a Pinot Noir is a gentle red that works with chicken, mushrooms and many pasta dishes without overpowering them.

For seafood, garlic and olive oil dishes, a crisp white is the usual choice. Our white wine section covers dry, fresh styles that go well with these meals. If you are unsure, tell us the dish when you visit, and we will point you to a style that suits it.

What can you serve before dinner?

A dry sparkling wine is a common way to start an evening because its bubbles and acidity wake up the palate without filling you up. Spanish cava is one option that suits a casual start, and our page on cava near me explains how to choose a bottle.

If you want to look more widely, the sparkling wine section has other styles, and our guide to choosing and serving champagne covers how cold to serve it and how to open it safely.

A sparkling wine is best served well chilled, in modest pours, alongside something small to eat. It is a drink to start a meal with, not a reason to hurry through it.

Which bottle works as a gift for a dinner host?

A bottle of red or white wine is the usual gift when you are invited to someone's home for dinner. Choose a style that is easy to enjoy rather than something unusual, and remember that the host may already have planned the wine for the meal, so treat the bottle as a thank-you rather than a contribution to the menu.

For a host who prefers spirits, a bottle of Hennessy VS Cognac is a well-known cognac, a brandy from the Cognac region of France, usually enjoyed in small measures after a meal. Another idea is CHARTREUSE Yellow Liqueur, a French herbal liqueur that is milder and sweeter than the green version.

If you are unsure what the person likes, our gift cards are another option, and our holiday gift guide collects ideas across wine, spirits and beer. Restaurants set their own rules about outside bottles, so ask the restaurant before bringing anything to a table.

What can you serve after a big dinner?

After a rich meal, many people serve a small glass of something sweet or herbal. In Italian dining this is called a digestif, and it is poured in small amounts and sipped slowly. Limoncello, a lemon liqueur from southern Italy, is served very cold, and our page on limoncello in Boston explains how to choose a bottle.

Our liqueur section includes other styles for the end of a meal, from herbal to nutty to citrus. If you prefer a spirit, a whiskey or a cognac served neat suits some guests better than something sweet.

It also helps to offer water and something non-alcoholic. Our non-alcoholic section is there for guests who are driving or simply prefer not to drink.

How do I get a bottle from The Wild Duck?

Pickup, delivery and shipping are the three ways to order from The Wild Duck, alongside walking into the shop at 86 Massachusetts Ave in Boston. You choose what you want on our website at wildduckliquors.com and then pick the method that suits your evening.

For in-store pickup in Boston, you collect your order from the shop during pickup hours. For delivery, our liquor delivery areas page lists where we deliver, and we have pages for Boston, Cambridge and Brookline. If wine is all you need, see wine delivery in Boston.

If you are ordering for a dinner on a set evening, allow time for the order to reach you, and check our frequently asked questions for how orders work. Anyone receiving alcohol must be 21 or older.

What does The Wild Duck carry for a dinner night?

The shop carries more than 4,500 products in stock, so one visit can cover the wine, the spirits and the extras. The wine section includes red, white, sparkling, rosé and sake, and the red wine shelf is a good place to begin for a pasta dinner.

Beyond wine, we stock mixers such as those from Fever Tree, beer for guests who prefer it, and snacks to put out while dinner finishes. For a bigger table, our guide to stocking a home bar in Boston lists what a host usually needs.

If you want to browse what is new, our new arrivals page is updated as stock changes. Our wider guide to what to look for in a Boston wine shop explains how to judge a wine selection, and you can read more about us on the about us page.

When is The Wild Duck open, and how do you reach us?

The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM and on Sunday from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. We are at 86 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA 02117, and we also serve customers in Cambridge and Brookline.

Online orders follow slightly different hours. Pickup runs Monday to Saturday from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM and on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Delivery runs Monday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 10:30 PM and on Sunday from 10:30 AM to 10:30 PM.

If you change your mind about an order, our return policy explains what to do. For anything about a particular restaurant, such as hours or reservations, please contact that restaurant directly.