Vintage Wine Bar -- CLOSED

08/27/08

Wine Bar? No Pinot Noir, No Pinot Grigio, No Cabernet, No Chardonnay...

by keyofk at Citysearch

Seriously, there was none. Why don't you go and ask them what you should drink, because the four basics that ANY Serving Establishment has available Every Day - not in stock. To make matters worse, it's not a supply and demand issue. For at least 3 weeks straight, the wine list was being made over, the shipment hadn't come in - these were the beginning of the trail of lies. Truth be told, being broke and not able to write a check for food and liquor, as well as employee paychecks - well, that's more readily available than items listed on the wine list.

The server was very embarrassed after the third trip back to the table to say again, That choice is also unavailable. Food portions are tiny and expensive. House favorites are over-priced Macaroni & Cheese served in a soup cup, and French Fries served in a square bowl.

Don't forget to make a trip to the bathroom - sure to enjoy having to walk through the kitchen to get there!

• Pros: They have to tell you what to drink.
• Cons: The list is endless - it's just wrong in every way.

06/25/08

Don't bother

by kate4242 at Citysearch

This wine bar needs to get their act together or they won't be around much longer. First, they were out of one of the wines I was thinking of ordering (not good for a wine bar.) Second, they didn't receive their fish shipment that day which meant they were out of HALF THEIR MENU ITEMS. Service was slow and sporadic. Our appetizers (cheese plate and truffle mac 'n' cheese) were good. Our entree (filet) was so-so. It was like they tried to use a tasty sauce to cover up a not-so-high-quality cut of beef. Our dessert (their special - cardamon and vanilla bread pudding) was terrible - a $7 piece of what tasted like dry cornmeal. Finally, CHECK YOUR BILL. While the menu said the steak was 20 and the cheese plate was 10, our bill said 25 and 12 (and the waitress didn't even apologize for the mistake.) There are too many great wine bars in Chicago to bother going to this one.

• Pros: Ambience, Location, Intimate
• Cons: Poor Service, Mediocre Food, Incorrect Bill

03/10/08

OK at Best

by Dinner0825 at Citysearch

OK at best. Very limited menu to start with (less than what is shown on there web site), then were told 3 or 4 items were not available. There is a section on the menu for sharing, not sure what they think this means, but the sharing portion is tiny. There where four of us and we ordered four sharing items and each was smaller than the first. The wine list I felt was limited for a wine bar. They say 35+ wines, but I can't imagine there were more then about 36 total. Service was only ok, slow and had an attitude that they didn't really seem to care. Dessert was a joke, it was pretty good, but consisted of about 3 bites of cake and a spoon full of ice cream. All in all, ok if you are looking for a glass of wine, but a joke if you are looking for a good meal. The price was a little high for what you got. Two "sharing portions", a bottle of wine, and dessert for $75.

• Pros: Atmosphere was nice
• Cons: Not much of a place for dinner

05/10/07

worst service ever!

by rachelru at Citysearch

My husband and I had the worst service last night at Vintage. They had a special pinot noir dinner ? 4 courses w/ matching wines.

We had a glass of wine, then waitress brought out the first wine on the special menu. About 45 minutes later we still had not received our first course & no one came by to tell us what was going or ask us if we want anything else. Not even any bread. When the server did come back she moved us to a different table.

Another server asked if everything was fine. We had been there ~ an hour. We said we were leaving. He said he would be back w/ some wine & something to eat. He never came back. Tony Basich came by after we had been there just over 1 hr & apologized. He said he would bring us something. We still had not been asked/offered/brought another glass of wine or anything. Eventually Tony brought out about a tablespoon of tuna tartar for each of us. We had been there ~ 1.5 hrs.

Fed up with the horrible service we decided to leave. Tony said that if we would wait 5 min. the 1st course would be served. He tried to wager w/ us that if the food was not to our liking he would comp them. Then he said it would just be about 10 min more (from 5 min to 10 min more w/in the span of the conversation).

We won?t be back even though we have been there a number of times. There was no excuse for the poor service. I feel bad for the new chef. Hopefully he will be able to move to a restaurant that wants to keep its customers.

• Pros: Great looking place, comfortable
• Cons: Worst service, were not brought wine or food after 1.5 hours

05/02/07

Nice Neighborhood Atmosphere

by jakes_chicago at Citysearch

Took my girlfriend here for a nice evening. Great crowd, perfect size, good reccomendations from the servers and tasty food. Will definately go back.

• Pros: Nice Neighborhood

12/11/06

Great all around wine bar

by mochaleet at Citysearch

Vintage is a staple wine bar that I take all of my friends/future lovers to. The atmosphere is a pleasing blend of upscale and friendly, and there is a lot beverage wise to choose from. Incidentally I asked the bartender to concoct a martini naming a few key ingredients and he rocked the house. The food is decent, not great and a bit pricey. The desserts are the same, but enjoyable nonetheless. Still I always feel welcome when I go there.

• Pros: Atmosphere, lighting, wine list, quality of drinks, friendly service, food is decent, not my style though
• Cons: Very LOUD after around 10pm on weekends, hard to have conversation

A trendy Wicker Park crowd sips and nibbles at this sexy, low-lit wine bar and restaurant.

by Contributor at Citysearch

The Scene
This sophisticated neighborhood space beckons with hardwood floors, muted tones, oversized wall mirrors and an enticing front lounge with fireplace that looks out onto the Division Street strip. Dressed-up locals get comfy on easy chairs and at the bar; tables in the dining area offer additional seating for 50. Ambient music thrums softly, blending with the buzz of late-night conversation.

The Draw
The user-friendly wine list is compact and reasonably priced, with a balanced selection of mostly American reds and whites, more than 20 of which are available by the glass. Small plates makes for satisfying nibbling, from Asian mixed greens salad with zingy soy-sesame-lime-ginger dressing to a can't-miss bowl of steamed mussels swimming in garlicky white wine-herb sauce. Other dishes include Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail and a cheese flight, plus hot stuff like calamari, baked goat cheese and pork loin with curry mashed potatoes.

07/16/06

BEST SERVICE, SUPERB Food

by vtrouble at Citysearch

went to vintage last week with a couple friends. The food that was recommended was fantastic - artichokes awesome, filet even better. The wine pairings that our server offered with our food was perfect! Couldn't ask for a better night out!

• Pros: service, food
• Cons: busy