Willow Creek Winery & Farm — Attraction in West Cape May

I have been to this winery three times. It wasn’t until the third time that I realized they were ripping me off. When you get the bill it has a 4% charge added to the bill. It is to cover credit card charges if you pay by credit. This is legal, however I pay cash. The first two times I was there the waitress never took off the 4% charge. The third time I was looking to see how much the sales tax was and saw the extra fee. I questioned her and she told me it is to encourage cash payment. I said okay so you are going to take it off because I’m paying cash? She just looked at me like she didn’t know what to do. I again said I’m paying cash and then she said she would take it off which she did. That is when I realized that the previous two times when I didn’t question the charge it was not removed. I called and questioned the manager. He said it was in the register and they could not get it to not include the fee. He tried to get around the fact that the fee should only be added if the customer is paying by credit card. It is illegal to charge a cash paying customer this fee. I can only imagine how much extra money this business has skimmed off of cash paying customers. I am going to contact the state and inform them of this practice. The governor has passed law that restricts the amount of a fee for credit card use. It has to be the exact amount that the business is being charged and they can not charge cash customers. They have to have sufficient signage in the building so that people are aware of the fee. BEWARE IF YOU GO HERE AND PAY CASH.

The server did keep the money because when I paid cash I gave them the exact amount and the tip in cash all together and said keep the change. Obviously, I did not realize the 4 percent was on the bill and the server did not tell me but kept all of the tip plus the 4 percent of the bill. They could have asked if I wanted to include the 4 percent as their tip or wanted it returned. I am sure that the management and the servers are very aware of these actions but choose to overlook them because of their benefit. It is sad that this business has to stoop to such deceptive ways of doing business. I do not keep my receipts when I pay cash so I am unable to tell the manager who the servers were the two times I was there and didn't notice the 4...

Regrettably, I will echo some of the same sentiments of recent reviewers providing low marks. First, the positives. It’s a beautiful space and has a great wine selection. Also, the wait staff is excellent and helpful.

Now the not so great bit. For context, we have gone to Willow Creek for years and it’s been a gathering spot for our family and friends. Over the past several years the culture and attitude towards customers has changed dramatically, particularly with respect to families with children. Over the past several years the winery has become less and less kid friendly to the point that now, in 2024, it is openly hostile to patrons with young children. Case in point, just last week when our party arrived with several children ages 7-10 we were greeted by the hostess/manager not with a “hello,” but with an aggressive admonishment not to let our children outside without supervision. Those were, quite literally, the first words out of her mouth and it set a negative tone for the rest of the evening.

Unfortunately, this is not a one-off incident. The same hostess/manager regularly rolls her eyes when children arrive, speaks rudely to them as a matter of course and, on one occasion, initially refused (inexplicably) to seat our children (though she eventually backed down and, to her credit, apologized). But the issues run deeper than kids. Over the years the place has become less friendly and hospitable. Indeed, it feels far more hostile, as some other reviewers have pointed out. For us, the last visit was the last straw. We will no longer return until the culture changes.

In the meantime, my hope is that the winery takes an honest look at some of the criticisms left by other reviewers and makes changes. I see that the winery regularly responds to reviews left on google. Speaking for myself, I’m not interested in receiving an insincere apology or a disingenuous explanation. I think the winery has a fantastic location and so much potential. Please make the changes necessary...

I really should not be giving a review based on a one-day special event, but just in case a year from now, someone wants to make an informed decision.. here you go. This was our first time to the winery, and it was for the Mother's Day brunch. We have heard so many great things about the winery and wanted to do something a little different from our normal. Even though the price was a bit much (79.99 adult, 32.99 child).. we decided to splurge. The good: The property, service, and frozen drinks were amazing (wine is a preferred taste, so I will not speak whether it was good or not, but our party liked it). We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outside on a beautiful day surrounded by vineyards, flowers, and some piped-in music. The bad: The food for the price we paid was very, very subpar. We expected a little bit more of upscale offerings. Breakfast is breakfast.. not much you can add to that. The lunch, however, was pretty blah. Lemon chicken was dry, shrimp scampi (their version) was lukewarm with a few shrimp scattered throughout, which looked like frozen shrimp from a bag. The bagels were tiny and stale. Salad dressing had no taste. The tomato bisque soup was very good though. For $79.99 we felt the food should have been higher quality. For 32.99 for children, there should have been at least chicken fingers or pizza or something for the kids to choose from other than breakfast food. There also should have been a bottle of wine included, or at least half priced bottles or something. It just was not worth the money for the type of food. That said...we looked at the regular menu and were disappointed that we went on Mother's Day instead of a regular day. Prices were very reasonable and the menu food looked much, much better. We will definitely go back on a regular day and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and better food and pay a lot, lot less than $800...