Grand River Cellars — Attraction in Painesville

Even though I am giving 2 stars this was not a terrible experience. There were a number of things that added up to get the 2 stars. Also, this was Valentines day weekend, so they were extra busy.

Things started off good. When I called to make a reservation, they told me about the Valentines dinner they were having. They also asked if I was coming for the band they were having. I explained we were coming for a romantic Valentines meal and did not have interest in the band. They even called the day before to confirm the reservation.

We find different places to go too. You can go to Applebee's anytime. I'd rather find a locally owned place and see what they have to offer. So we had an hour and 30 minute drive there. When we arrived, we were seated at the table closest to the band. There were a number of empty tables further away, and we asked if we could have one of those. The hostess said she would check and let us know. We did not see her again. A couple of the tables remained empty throughout our meal. It is not hard to move a table of 2 to another table and when the next people come in, they get our table. But every restaurant is different and it was a busy night. So it was what it was.

So we sit and wait and wait. The people that came in well after us had wine before we had water. But we made early reservations, so we weren't in a rush. Our waitress was polite but apparently very new and not very prepared.

My wife asked if she could get the Gorgonzola chicken from the Valentines dinner without getting the dinner and how it was prepared. After 3 trips we were told we could order it separate. The gorgonzala was a grilled chicken with a blue cheese sauce? This was confusing since gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese but the taste is different. The waitress apologized that she didn't know how it was prepared, because she only served steak.

So we did a wine tasting to see what would pair well with our meal and found a wine we liked. We finally called the waitress over to clear the appetizer and wine tasting glasses so we could have room. The band had started playing, ad they were good. They also weren't too over powering considering how close we were.

Our meal came out, my filet mignon was medium rare instead of medium. But it was close enough and had a great flavor. The chicken gorgonzola came out. It was baked not fried. The blue cheese sauce was very good, but the chicken was not seasoned at all. But it too was good overall, it just needed a little something more. And on the busiest day of the year, some of these things are not out of the ordinary. And not enough to complain about. The desserts were amazing.. At least 2 of the couple seated after us, had finished their meals and were long gone before we finished.

Our check comes and something is wrong, it is not enough. So we call our waitress back over and tell her. She goes down through line by line and hands it back to us and says it is correct. She also says she shouldn't scare her like that and make her think she messed up. She comes back a few minutes later saying the bill was wrong and she added the meal to it.

At this point we were both a bit surprised. Since when we told her the bill was wrong, she said it was not. My wife wrote a note saying we were honest about the bill and told we were wrong, That we were kinda surprised then. The owner got her note, and told her yes you were honest and I am honest too. There was no apology for messing up the bill or for saying the bill was right and then changing it.

I think many times people think they deserve the world for anything they can take as a slightest mistake. We had an enjoyable evening. . But we left there with the distinct feeling the owner was more concerned that we paid for the meal and not overall experience.

We visit the area often. There are many great wineries in the area and have had some great experiences. Hopefully they can improve upon some of the things...

As soon as you walk into Grand River Cellars, you feel a warm and friendly vibe. The hostesses are so sweet and accommodating. We understood that reservations are highly recommended, so we easily made reservations (1 week prior) and got a lovely table. The service is impeccable. My server was on top of things from the start. Since we are in the middle of a pandemic, every table is given a bottle with a flag. To avoid unnecessary traffic, we put the flag inside the bottle to notify our server that we needed something. I thought this was a smart idea! I also noticed there was hand sanitizer in multiple locations of the winery. Also, every server and bartender were wearing their masks and cleaning and sanitizing everything from the tables and chairs to the menus. It was comforting to see how clean they were being. We also noticed there was live music when we walked in. It was a solo singer and he sounded great! I believe his name was Nick Walker. He had a beautiful voice! He wasn’t too loud, so we could enjoy his music as well as talk to one another. Now, onto the service. Like I said earlier, our server was great! She had a lot of knowledge on the different types of wine! We wanted something dry, with a lot of flavor. She recommended the Cask 1020, and was spot on! It was perfect. Then, we asked what her favorite appetizer was and she recommended the Brie and pear with half Carmel drizzle and half blackberry drizzle. It came with a baguette and it was so delicious! Next, on to entrees. I wanted seafood and my husband wanted steak. So, my husband got the bourbon and bleu, which was a nice size filet with bleu cheese crumble and a bourbon shrimp skewer on top! I got the crab cakes with a lobster tail on the side! They came out and looked beautiful and tasted even better! We wanted dessert but was too stuffed from the appetizer and our entrees. So, we ended our meal with a glass of Port. Their dessert port was the perfect way to end our date. Overall, we had a wonderful experience and can’t wait to come back and enjoy their patio in the summertime! I highly recommend visiting Grand...

Went here this weekend with a group of 10 to celebrate my birthday. We had reservations for 7 pm. We arrived on time and was seated quickly. That was the best part of the experience. The waitress eventually took our drink orders and appetizers. After an extended wait they eventually came. We also put in orders for our meals and more drinks. After approximately 45 minutes we summonsed the waitress about our drinks, which she brought a few minutes later. Several of us had ordered salads and when the waitress eventually brought them. As she started to leave I explained that I ordered a salad and hadn't received one. She then said, "I gave it to him" pointing to another member of our party. I later found out he told her he didn't order the salad when she gave it to him and she said "take in anyway." Somewhere around 9:15 (over two hours after arriving) we got our food. I started eating a piece of shrimp and noticed it was cold. Not even close to warm. My steak was also cold. I grabbed the waitress and told her and she replied "what do you want me to do?" I explained I wanted to eat, and we'd been there almost 2 1/2 hours. She took my steak and remaining four pieces of shrimp ( I ate one - this is an important fact). Another member of the group summoned a manager and she did apologize and went to check on the status. Almost a total of 4-5 minutes later a steak and shrimp arrived. Clearly too soon to have made again. I also noticed there were four pieces of shrimp left, not 5 as came with the original order. It was clear biting into it was thrown in a microwave as the texture was tough and the temperature was inconsistent. The manager came back by and I told her it had been microwaved. She then told me "that's not possible" and walked away. They did take 50% off the bill, which didn't make up for the terrible service, experience and a ruined 50th birthday celebration. My suggestion is save yourself some aggravation and spend your time and money at an establishment...