March 16, 2022

The owners of R Wine Bar & Kitchen aren’t just bringing a new restaurant to downtown Sioux Falls later this year — they’ve added a second wine bar.

Riccardo and Marybeth Tarabelsi are opening Brix Wine Bar in Washington Square, in the space at 330 S. Main Ave. that was Wine Time on Main.

“It just seemed like a good opportunity for us to basically expand our brand,” Riccardo Tarabelsi said. “You can expect the same hospitality, international and domestic wine selection and the same warmth you feel when you come to R Wine Bar. You’ll find that at Brix.”

Brix is named for the measurement of how much sugar is in a liquid, he explained.

“So winemakers use Brix to determine how much sugar is in a grape, and that tells them if the grapes are ready for harvest, so it’s a cool wine word,” he said.

Because the space was a wine bar up until earlier this year, it’s largely set up for Brix to move in.

“It’s a beautiful space,” Tarabelsi said. “We intend to utilize it the way it is at the moment. We moved some of the furniture around to create some different seating spots, but I think the prime area of focus will be the bar.”

The Tarabelsis also are building out the remaining first-floor space at Washington Square for their new restaurant, which is on track to open later this year.

While the restaurant finishes construction, Brix will be “a nice, quiet meeting place, but it’s also a place to explore different wines that we don’t have at R Wine Bar, so that will definitely be a point of difference,” Tarabelsi said. “And, of course, we have a beautiful wine cellar already inside the location that we plan to make full use of.”

R Wine Bar will cater a small food menu for Brix to start, and once the restaurant opens, its bar menu will be available at Brix, although guests requesting items from the full menu also will be able to order them.

The plan is to open Brix in April, and while Tarabelsi has the staff to do it, he is continuing to hire in anticipation of the restaurant opening.

Brix will be open Wednesday through Saturday to start but eventually mirror the hours of the restaurant.