ALTON - Wild Pickins, a winery in Chesterfield, Illinois, is expanding into the Alton area with Sip & Play Wine and Gaming Café, a wine bar, and a gaming room that will feature slot machines, Wild Pickins wines, and more.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“We wanted it to be a very scaled-down version of Wild Pickins where we could sell our wine and have some gaming,” said Leslie Snider, who co-owns Sip & Play with Todd McGill. “The games are slot machines through the state of Illinois. [Todd] has nine varieties of his own wine, ranging from dry to sweet, semi-sweet in the middle. He makes all his own wine.”
In addition, Snider said the café will have “Wineritas,” which are wine slushies, and a small menu of soups, salads, and sandwiches.
Snider said they were looking to expand Wild Pickins and bring it closer to some of their most loyal customers, allowing Altonians to get some of their favorite wines in a fraction of the time.
“Wild Pickins Winery … was voted Best Winery in the area last year and the year before,” Snider said. “That was another reason why we wanted to branch out to that area because all of those people voted for him in that community. A lot of people don’t want to drive out to Chesterfield … that way, we’re able to reach people that love his wine. They can just go down the road and get his wine now.”
Snider said their vision for the café is to mirror the original Wild Pickin’s location from the outside, with a classy but comfortable interior.
“We want a classy atmosphere,” Snider said. “The outside of the building is going to depict Wild Pickins with the red metal siding, that’s kind of his signature … and then on the interior, it’s going to be warm, low lighting, wine bar atmosphere, just classy - we want people to feel comfortable there and like they’re in a nice place.”
The upcoming Sip & Play Wine and Gaming Café will be located at 14 West Airline Drive in East Alton. Snider said they’re currently working on getting their liquor and gaming licenses and completing renovations on the building, with no estimated completion date as of yet.
To stay updated on the café and its progress, visit their Facebook page.
More like this:
