Goat & Vine Restaurant + Winery — Restaurant in Bolingbrook

Found Goat & Vine on Instagram and the pictures looked great, but the reviews were mixed so I wasn’t sure to give them try or not. I recommend to try it to have your own experience vs. all the different reviews.

Nice winery with ample amount of parking and beautiful interior decor and private comfortable seating.

I made a reservation on opentable for one of my best friends birthdays. I made the reservation for 7:30, but because we live farther away I called to let them know we were running a few minutes late. Instead, we arrived at 7:31. Once we walked in we were greeted, however, the two employees at the front said our table wasn’t available so it was going to be a few minutes. We were seated at 7:40, so we waited 9 minutes - My friend and I didn’t mind this, but as we were waiting, the bench to sit is right next to the hostess desk and one of the employees told the other, “it’s so slow compared to other nights” if it was so slow, then why weren’t we seated right away? Then a couple walked in as we were waiting still and they said out loud they were 40 minutes late, yet got seated right away?

Once we were seated, we had a nice private booth. Our server was Alex who was very friendly, continued to check on us and helped us with taking our wine home. There was also a manger on staff that night who was really great and came around a few times to check on us which we appreciated! Unfortunately, I didn’t get her name.

When you sit down they have complimentary pretzel bread and AMAZING butter. The butter was so good when we asked for more bread and butter, Alex gave us two scoops! It was so fresh and creamy and had so much flavor. Alex said it had chives!

For appetizers, we ordered their Charcuterie Board and Crispy Brussels Sprouts. The Charcuterie Board was delicious, everything was fresh, we loved the toasted bread, all the different cheeses and the jam! The olives were my favorite part. Their Crispy Brussels sprouts were also really good and I highly recommend. They toss it in sweet chili sauce and top it with sriracha aioli and diced cashews.

For entrees, I ordered the Penne Pesto. The menu says it is a creamy sauce, but mine was more watery. The menu also said it has garlic in it and I couldn’t taste it. I would recommend if you order this to add chicken or shrimp. Since I ordered a pasta that night, I was able to take one home which I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo. This one was delicious and they have reheating instructions online. My friend order the Short Ribs. This was served with a burgundy sauce over mashed potatoes and topped with crispy onion strings. My friend said it was cooked good, but the dish needed more salt.

Overall, it was a nice experience. It is a upscale casual dining experience anyone can enjoy if you are out for a romantic evening or just meeting friends. This was a far drive for me and not worth it to come back. I think this is a great place for appetizers and enjoy a bottle of wine or two...

I was in a TERRIFIC mood, but after dining here, had to purge the negative vibes in order to regain that attitude. This was the worst experience I’ve had in a long time dining in a restaurant, so much so this is the first time I’ve logged online to post a review. This was my first time dining here, and will DEFINITELY be my last.

Upon arrival, I was told they were booked due to the holiday weekend, which was perfectly understandable, and that I could dine in the bar. (Which was my preferred choice). The host then turned and walked away, causing me to call out to confirm where exactly the bar area was. (Again, this is my first time here, and the bar is not visible from the front door).

After seating myself near a window, it took the waiter nearly 15 minutes to come and take my initial drink order (he was chatting with a large family group of 8), then another 20 minutes to actually bring me the drink. Mood is still ok however, and my lobster bisque and drink finally arrives. Soup is tasty, but the drink was WAY too bland. (I’m starving, at this point, so the blandness is ignored to quench hunger/thirst). After finishing, I wait awhile longer for him to come back to take my dinner order (maybe another 15 or longer). There’s no dinner rolls/bread to appease hunger while you’re waiting, so you’re basically sitting there staring at salt and pepper until your food comes.

After ordering my crab cakes, I sit to wait another 30 minutes ( yes, I’m counting at this point), to finally get my dinner choice—-and the fries are burnt! I try to rationalize just biting the bullet and eating the fries because I’m STARVING, but I’m sure folks know how burnt fries smell, and how that smell permeates the taste (after trying one, that’s exactly what I got). I asked my waiter if he could bring another batch of fries, and my waiter acted as if I had asked for the moon. It then it took another 15 minutes because he said the chefs hand peel potatoes one by one.

By the time the fresh fries finally came, I’m ready to leave the whole experience. I’ve already contemplated how long it would take me to swing by McDonalds to grab a large order of potatoes to go with the crab cakes, which Im sure would have been fresher and cheaper.

As I asked the waiter to bring me my check and a to go box, I see him conversing with his fellow bartender. I then hear her say LOUDLY, “some people can’t be satisfied, no matter how much you give good service. Don’t let it ruin your day.”

Ruin HIS day?? That’s hilarious.

That’s right, don’t let this experience ruin my waiters day, like the entire experience almost ruined my Mothers Day.

Never again. (Pics show diff in burnt and...

My friend's widow received a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert with the order of two entrees, so on Tuesday 4/29 we stopped in to check it out. We got there after the lunch rush and were immediately seated by Meghan at a table we could fit at with her wheelchair. Meghan gave us menus, took our drink order and recommended the "Grandmother's Meatballs" as an appetizer and said she'd be right back with bread and our drinks. As we were looking at the menu, we noticed the by one and get one free to take home and Meghan brought us the absolutely most beautiful and tastiest meatballs all dressed up. We spoke about different options on the menu and we both followed Meghan's suggestion and she was "Spot On!" Let me just say that Karen and myself were talking and we couldn't decide what was better, the service, the food, the quality, the quantity and still haven't decided because they were all just so "Over The Top" and exceeded any expectation we had and probably a food critics as well. By the middle of our lunch I felt compelled to just tell Meghan a bit about what a terrible year Karen has had, from losing her husband, house getting flooded by a family member, hot water heater and washing machine having to be replaced and so on and so on and that Meghan's genuine attention she was giving Karen, made her day. Karen needed what this waitress, Meghan provided. At that point they both had tears in their eyes. I left the table for a moment, just walking around and looking at the atmosphere, which is brilliant, and had a conversation with Javier, the manager. To my surprise, this guy was just as frigen nice and kind as Meghan was. I'm telling you, that if the owner leads by example, this restaurant has "Mastered" all aspects of not only fantastic food quality and portions, but "Genuine" customer service that makes the entire experience leaving the customer speechless, with a smile on their face and a great feeling in the heart. Please make sure this review gets shared with the entire team, because what happened behind the scenes was also indicative of our experience. Thank you and we will be back to share our experience with our friends. Oh, and to top off an already wonderful experience, Meghan brought out chocolate covered strawberry's with a shooting sparkler on top and she shared our experience with Javier and he had a little something special for my dear friend Karen. The Goat and Vine made such a positive influence through the best employees, Meghan and Javier and the bar tenders in the back bar were cool as hell too!

Regards, Kevin and...