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| - I should note that this is a review for dinner. I have no doubt that brunch is awesome, but I highly suggest that you steer clear of V&B on weekdays.
Very, very disappointed. I'm a fan of Lucky's and was hoping to be a fan of their sister restaurant, Vine and Bean. I'm glad I used a Savvy Avenue gift card instead of paying for the entire bill. I still feel like I wasted my money.
The one saving grace here is the staff. The service here may have been better than the service I've experiences anywhere else. Our server was also our chef, and he was very helpful and very friendly. The dinner menu is lacking, so I had a tough time choosing something. I expressed my concerns and was told that I could create something similar to a menu item. Very nice touch. Just not implemented well.
The entire dinner menu is comprised of about 5 different things. A few varieties of sandwiches, 2 varieties of egg pie, and a couple appetizers. My boyfriend chose the Reuben and I chose to request a specialty pizza. I asked for a white pizza for a variety of cheeses. The chef said he'd be happy to oblige and would make we a white pizza with fresh herbs, olive oil, and a few cheeses. I started to feel hopeful. It was false hope.
The pizza was seriously smaller than a Lean Cuisine pizza. Probably too small for even a child to make a meal out of. And oh was it flavored poorly. All I could taste is whatever mystery herb was completely SLATHERED all over the "crust" (which was more of a pita than a crust). The herb overpowered the "array" of cheeses which were maybe mozzarella and brie, though I can't be sure as I couldn't taste them. After taking a few bites of the pizza and deciding it wasn't for me, I thought "Well, at least I ordered this side salad." Wrong again. The side salad was romaine lettuce and croutons. That's it. Oh, and the romaine was wilted and browning. I'm all about supporting local farmers, but can we keep our produce fresh, please?
My boyfriend's reuben was lukewarm. I thought the flavor was good, but definitely not worth the $15 price tag. My boyfriend said it was far too bland for a reuben (which is probably why I liked it...I'm not actually a reuben fan). It was served with a side of potato chips. Disappointing.
Then we were offered dessert. We were excited, knowing how good the baked goods are supposed to be at both Lucky's and Vine and Bean. A second server showed us the dessert tray which had about 5 different options. He said that in addition to the items on the tray, there was also a peanut butter topped brownie up for grabs. Being a PB fanatic, how could I resist? When he set it down on the table a few minutes later, I knew we should have skipped dessert and headed home. The brownie was completely dried out and hard as a brick. The "peanut butter" topping tasted like sugar, not PB. My boyfriend valiantly attempted to finish it, but it was seriously so dried out the fork couldn't cut through it.
Our bill was just shy of $50, which is insane for a sandwich, a child-sized pizza, a side salad, and drinks.
Another thing to note- I heard a different server speaking to the only other customers in the restaurant and heard him say that there's no "real" chef in V&B during the week....the chef only comes in for brunch on the weekends. A little while later I heard him talking about the night's specials and how they microwave the components separately (tonight it was meat loaf and mashed potatoes). This make me think that the real chef prepares the meals for the week when he/she comes in on the weekends, and then they reheat them all week. I'm just assuming here, though, so don't take my word on it.
I will definitely not be paying V&B another visit. I'm disappointed because I wanted so much to support a local gem.
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