Buckeye Lake Winery — Attraction in Walnut Township

Not sure exactly where to begin so I will just list out what caused me to give a 1 star review after going to Buckeye Lake Winery for a friend's birthday on Sunday, June 26th. This was one of several wineries we stopped at to try different wines in the area.

Food & Drink: Over priced. The wine flight was $12 and we did not receive the standard pours. The wine was also marginal at best compared to the other wineries in the area. A plate of cheese and crackers is $28. And a bottle of wine is $30. House Wine in Worthington sells wine that is far better (of course these are wines from all over the world. I recognize it's not an apples to apples comparison) for only $10 a bottle. Absolutely ridiculous pricing. Buckeye Lake Winery is obviously taking advantage of the customer/location. However, why would anyone buy your wine at these prices outside of buckeye lake? And if I ever stay in buckeye lake, I'll just go another winery in area, like Vinberige, which has a cheaper and better product ($15 a bottle). Also the food is much better too!

Random Row Awards Ceremony: We were seated at a table outside right in front of a stage where music was being played. During our time at this winery, an awards ceremony was held for a rowing competition on this stage. It lasted about 20 plus minutes. Parents, family and friends filled in the open tables while the rest of the customers sat through this ceremony. Remember, we were sat here by the hostess (and we did not request our table) front and center. We had no idea there was going to be an awards ceremony. We had made a reservation for a table ahead of time stating we were celebrating a birthday. As the ceremony went on we (and other guests not there for the ceremony) were "shhhhed" by audience members who were there just for the awards ceremony. It was an uncomfortable, awkward, poorly managed and executed event. Why would you EVER mix your guests and what seemed to be a private event together? I get it if the awards ceremony was just a few minutes long, but it wasn't.

Music: As we were seated at our table the musician playing began making a long speech about patriotism, unity and to just be thankful to be americans regardless of political opinion. Well this is of course on the heels of the SCOTUS decision that struck down Roe last week. Then the singer asked the audience to sing "America the Beautiful" with him. Personally, the entire performance made my blood boil. The last thing we were looking for on a Sunday afternoon while celebrating our friend's birthday was to be reminded of politics. Where is the consideration of the variety of people of various political backgrounds sitting in the audience? Why would people want to be reminded of a hottly debated and controversial topic...

We visited on August 12, 2022 (last Friday as of this writing). The environment was nice, great views, nice amenities. The reason for the 1-star rating is due to: A server spilled a glass of beer down my wife's back (in her hair as well) and on her purse. The server came back with a towel to attempt to clean her off and apologized. According to the server, the cause of the spill was due to the tray being faulty.

My friend ordered the Salmon Fillet. When it came out half the salmon was missing (appeared to have been torn in half) and there was no beurre blanc sauce. He addressed it with the server and she agreed: it looked small and there was, in fact, no beurre blanc. She took it back to remake and confirmed part of the salmon got stuck to the pan and tore off when plated. Several minutes later the chef himself storms out with the remade salmon and aggressively questions my friend if it was "good enough". The aggression was definitely felt by everyone at our table. After my friend agreed based on his visual inspection, the chef dropped the plate on the table (it startled us) and stormed off. When my friend actually cut into the middle he found the salmon to still be raw inside. The server came over and agreed it was raw and appeared to be disgusted. She offered a replacement, but at this point he (and the rest of our group) were done. He asked for the manager, the manager came out and said he would remove the salmon from his ticket and offered a free dessert. He declined the dessert out of pure frustration and for fear of retaliation by the chef.

So by the end of the meal, my wife smelled like beer (she doesn't drink) and we got to witness extreme unprofessionalism at a restaurant we had never dined at. The only real comp was a free dessert. We have friends that live at the Lake so we visit often, unfortunately we will not be returning to Buckeye...

Update: The manager called me shortly after this post and left a very polite message asking for me to call so he could explain and get more background information. I think this was a very positive step. I did not call him back, but given they made an effort and that quickly impressed me. I give the call 4 stars. I would have given him 5 stars if he had said we want to give you that reservation in the message, even if its not policy. Maybe if I had called back, he might have offered me the reservation. Anyway overall I am changing my review from a 1 star to a 3 star. I would still go to the winery and may even rate them higher in the future.

Old post: Called for a reservation for the next day. The lady checked and they had seating and asked what type of seating I wanted. I said outside with shade/covering. All the sudden she asked are you a wine club member. I said no and before I could ask what that is she said "oh I don't think we take reservation for non members". She said she would ask the host. Came back on the phone and said we don't take reservations for non-members. Then hung up on me. This is bad business to take a reservation, when you had the seating and then pull it at the end of the conversation because I am not a club member for their winery. I know its a they are serving food at a winery and trying to sell their wine as well. But to offend potential customer of both the wine and rest. is really bad business. Last time I was there we had fun, but they did'nt even grow their own grapes for their wine and the lady said it was made else where. To gain business I would suggest some humbleness to those of us who live around the lake and could bring in more business and maybe even members to your unique wine club. Good luck and try to treat your next customer a...