Vinny's on Windward — Restaurant in Alpharetta

One restaurant in metro Atlanta region that I have been trying to visit since the Pandemic days for this place had some amazing reviews and especially to try their Pizzas. It was good but could have been a lot better.

THE FOOD: I happened to visit this place at 5:30PM and to my surprise, they had an Evening Menu which is something in between their Lunch and Dinner which starts at 7 I guess. On top of that this Evening menu is very very extremely limited; it’s not available on their website I guess. Literally couple of appetizers, 3-4 Entrees and 2 desserts. This was a shocker in every sense. And on top of that it had limited Vegetarian menu compared to their full range menu. We got the Margherita Flat bread and Calamari, and the flat bread just blew my mind. It was so delicious and cooked to perfection. Heard the Calamari was decent. It took some time to get our order though and by the time it was around 6:15 ish we thought we will get the Entrees and due to limited vegetarian options (literally 1 entree on the evening menu) I asked if I could get something like a Pasta or a different Pizza (instead of Margherita which I just had). Since it wasn’t time for dinner, I went with White sauce pizza with Mushrooms. This was another amazing dish in my opinion. So delicious and different from the flat bread and was very well baked. While others had a different entree (I couldn’t recollect the name), they seemed to be a bit happy with theirs. Then for the desserts we had Tiramisu and Chocolate cake, and Tiramisu was totally off in my opinion. The most bland dessert I have had and the coffee flavor & the cake didn’t set well either. It just fell apart as I had my first bite. Disappointed though.

SERVICE & AMBIENCE: Extremely well lit and very well designed restaurant from the exteriors to the interior. It was so pleasant and very different at the same time, more like having food in an Italian country side setting. It’s a well spacious and laid out restaurant. The service was very good too. They were able to accommodate us at least with an Out of Evening menu item upon request. The staffs were friendly and knowledgeable as well.

BOTTOMLINE: Looks to be a great place for some amazing delicious and fresh tasting food. The only or the big down side being the menu limitations and having extremely limited options for Vegetarians (No meat, no fish) option. Would probably visit for the exquisite Pizza. Desserts can be let alone.

MY PICKS FOR YOU: Mushroom (White) Pizza,...

My husband and I normally love coming here on date nights. The valet is pointless as parking is all around the restaurant, but whatever.

However, we came here on New Years Eve and ran about 10 minutes late. We did call agead of time to let them know we were running late and were told over the phone by the woman that "It was fine." We were also bringing our kids as a special New Years Eve dinner. We arrived and the first comment we get is, and I quote "You should be fine as long as you are done in an hour and a half, do you think you'll be okay?" So my husband and I both responded "Yeah, we should be fine," and the response is "Good, we just have another party coming in after you." My husband and I, who both worked/been involved/have family who own restaurants for over 15 years, were stunned. We both felt that instead of caring for us as a customer, you only cared about the time we spent at the table. So it was basically a revenue equation. If we spend x amount of time at the table than you lose x amount of dollars, so lets rush out a family who we dont believe is going to spend much money out the door (at least that is how we felt). Btw we spent over $200 on our family, and had we not been rushed, would have probably spent more.

So the entire time we just felt rushed and our kids didn't really get to experience the Vinny's my husband and I really enjoy. Service was good, my kids only received 1 refill, so it added to the feeling we were being rushed. Meaning if, my kids dont get a refill, they dont spend the time drinking their drinks, which means, out the door faster. So it was really pointless to spend the money on drinks for my kids when they only got 1 refill and drank water the rest of the time.

I understand it was New Years Eve and its busy and people made reservations, but maybe learn to accept less. Let people enjoy their time rather than being rushed in and out. From 2 people who grew up in restaurants with our parents, meaning our families own (yes they STILL own) and we also worked in corporate restaurants, we were STILL and ALWAYS taught PEOPLE over time and money. Even on holidays.

It may be awhile before we come back, thats how much that initial comment impacted us. When we do, it will definitely be on a...

Far exceeded my expectations. We have been wanting to try Vinny’s for a while and finally did tonight. Being a Tuesday night, it was not busy at all. The interior has an industrial feel with high ceilings and lots of exposed brick and ductwork.

We ordered an appetizer of calamari. We were first struck by the very generous portion. It was also cooked absolutely perfectly! I’d have preferred an aioli or dipping sauce rather than the stewed tomatoes, but that’s just a personal preference and it was still quite good.

We both ordered the house salad which also was a quite generous portion. It is served with a Gorgonzola vinaigrette which was tasty, but just slightly overdressed.

I ordered the gnocchi with meatballs and my partner ordered chicken scallopine. Again, both portions were very generous. In fact, we brought home as much as we ate, and not because it wasn’t good. The gnocchi was amazing! Perfect pillows of potato in a cream sauce that was very rich without being heavy. When I read the description, I thought it was odd to have gnocchi in cream sauce topped with meatballs in tomato sauce but it worked perfectly. The meatballs were light and flavorful. The tomato sauce was a flavorfest of basil and Italian seasonings.

The scallopine comes with three chicken cutlets and two giant ravioli. The only complaint my partner had was that the ravioli was slightly dried out, as if it had been pre-cooked and waited on the plate while the rest of the dish was prepared. But when eaten with the sauce it was good. The ratio of chicken and sauce overwhelmed the ravioli a bit but otherwise the dish was really good (though he liked mine so much that he said he’d order that next time).

Our one overall complaint is that it was very loud - and we were one of only three parties dining. The high ceilings and brick are aesthetically nice, but do little to absorb any noise. The music is also played way too loud. We spent most of the meal trying to have a conversation around too loud music and quite a lot of kitchen chatter and noise. We will certainly return, but would likely never go on a weekend - the noise level would be overwhelming if the...