Wedding DJ at Rioja! A Wine Bar in Greensboro, NC

The Space

Rioja opened in 2005 as Greensboro’s first wine bar, tucked into an unassuming commercial strip on Battleground Avenue between a Starbucks and a Penn Station, a low-key location that gives no hint of the wine list inside. Jake Assaf bought the business in 2016 and became a Certified Sommelier the following year, and under his ownership the bar has kept its identity as a serious wine destination rather than expanding into something else.

Inside, the room stays intimate, with a bar area, seating at tables near the front windows, a couch, and back dining areas with warm orange walls and artwork. That layout makes Rioja better suited to a smaller private gathering, a rehearsal dinner, an engagement party, or a wine-focused reception, than a full wedding reception for a large guest list, and couples should think of it in those terms when deciding what kind of event to book here.

Capacity & Layout

Private event rental runs $500 per hour with a three-hour minimum, applied toward the bar tab and food items plus 20 percent gratuity, which gives couples a straightforward way to buy out the space for a private evening rather than negotiating a separate venue fee. Semi-private wine tastings accommodate up to 15 people for $25 per person, including four wines and light food pairings, a format that suits a small rehearsal dinner or bridal party gathering more than a full reception.

Because the available material does not list a full building capacity beyond that 15-person semi-private tasting format, couples planning a larger event should confirm directly how many guests the private buyout can hold. The room’s furniture, a mix of bar seating, tables, a couch and back dining areas, suggests a lounge-style layout rather than rows of banquet tables, which shapes the kind of event Rioja works best for.

Amenities

The wine list runs to more than 800 bottles total, with 20 to 40 available by the glass at any time, each poured a generous six ounces, and flights offer three two-ounce pours served with a gourmet cheese sampler. Riedel crystalware is used throughout to bring out each wine’s aromas and flavors, a detail that signals real attention to the wine service itself rather than treating it as a side offering to food.

A small plates menu covers cheese selections, grilled cheese sandwiches, cured meats, chocolate truffles, bruschetta and Medjool dates, and the bar also functions as a retail shop, offering $10 off bottles to-go plus additional discounts on larger quantities. Weekly wine tastings run every Wednesday and Thursday, and Jake Assaf leads Terroir Tours to Europe and opened Lewis + Elm restaurant in 2021, both signs of a wine program that extends well past the bar itself.

Location & Getting There

Rioja sits on Battleground Avenue just north of downtown Greensboro, in a commercial strip that also holds a Starbucks and a Penn Station, easy enough to find but not a destination building on its own. A private parking lot serves the bar, and the space is wheelchair accessible, both practical points for guests attending an evening event here rather than searching for street parking nearby.

As a strictly 21-and-over wine bar with a cozy, lounge-style interior, sound in the space is shaped by soft seating, tables and back dining areas rather than an open hall, so a DJ or music setup for a private event here works best kept low-key and background-level, in keeping with a wine bar’s conversational atmosphere rather than a full dance-floor reception.