During a ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado, Vinh Le’s friends took him to one of their favorite “hole-in-the-wall” places where they had two wine pouring systems. The machines were self-serve and allowed customers to select a wine and pour size.

“I kind of fell in love with these machines,” Le said.

Upon returning to his home in Southlake, Le decided he wanted to create a business concept featuring these types of machines, and he wanted to fill what he saw as a void of nearby high-end, adult-friendly places.

In September 2022, Le opened Social Oak Wine and Whiskey Lounge in Trophy Club with business partners Nga Vu and Eddie Panozzo.

The setup


The lounge offers a unique experience with 56 wines and 28 whiskeys available by the glass, or smaller ounce increments served at optimal temperatures using state-of-the-art machines.

“It’s fun for people to be at the machines ... and talking to other guests,” Le said. “It [the machine] preserves the wine because the wine never touches oxygen, which allows us to open bottles you normally can’t get just a glass of when you go to a restaurant.”

The business offers wines from around the world, including French, Australian, Venezuelan and Spanish wines.

“We pride ourselves in the wide range we offer,” Le said. “If you are a novice wine drinker or a wine connoisseur, we have choices for you.”


Social Oak Wine and Whiskey Lounge is for ages 21 and older.

What’s on the menu

Le said customers often remark on being surprised at how great the food is at Social Oak.

“We have excellent food, which some people don’t know about,” Le said. “We have pastas, steak, Asian fusion like fried chicken bao buns. We have a full menu. That’s a message I really want to get out—we have great wine and whiskey but the food is also amazing.”


What’s in a name

The business partners bantered a few business names around before deciding on one that denotes the experience.

“Eddie came up with ‘Social Oak’ because of the social element of [the experience] and oak is a wood used in wine and whiskey barrels,” Le said.

A closer look


Le describes the ambiance as a “warm inviting speakeasy vibe.” There are velvet sofas, leather chairs, decorative gold chains hanging from the ceiling and jewel-toned curtains. There is also a green space-adjacent patio featuring seating arrangements around blue glass fire pits.

“It feels like a warm, inviting place to hang out, have drinks and food with your date or friends,” Le said. “We have a lot of events like birthdays, weddings and corporate events here.”

Quote of note

Le said hearing customers validate his decision to open an establishment like this in the area is one of his favorite things about co-owning this business.


“The feedback I hear from guests about how much they enjoy it. [They say] ‘It's a great place and we don’t have to drive to Dallas,’” Le said. “It is rewarding to me to see this go from concept to reality.”