Grapevine Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Calabash

We stopped on the way home from Wilmington and seeing Mediterranean restaurant on the marquee sold us. Healthy and fresh is what we expected. WRONG. Where the people reviewing the restaurant dined is beyond us as the images and experience was NOTHING like the reviews. We walked in and were about to be seated when a woman came scrambling over yelling, "No, no no! Not here this table is reserved!" We laughed it off and told gentleman we didn't care where we sat. To be clear there are no "good" tables. The one he attempted to seat us at faced a window with a Toyota pulled up to it. I went to the restroom to wash up before eating and the floor had something on it that actually had my shoes sticking to it. Aside from that only one toilet worked and the smell was horrendous! We were still game. Upon looking at menus...which was difficult as it was SO DARK we realized this was NOT a Mediterranean restaurant....with the exception of a Greek salad. At this point I wasn't as adventurous as my friend. I ordered cheese sticks (knowing they would be frozen and unable to mess up). When they arrived we could not contain our laughter. They were truly thawed frozen cheese sticks with a leaf of lettuce and 3 halved baby carrots on top. It was so bizarre. My friend ordered the Greek salad which she left most of it on the plate. They are very proud of their baby carrots as they had the same cut and placement on her salad in all four corners. I neglected to mention that before our food arrived we thought there was a semi blackout. Everyone in restaurant....although they clearly knew the owner was complaining because the lights had been dimmed to the point we could not see. When my peel and eat shrimp arrived (also believe they had been frozen) we had to use my phones flashlight for light. The owner refused to up the lighting regardless of complaints from so many. No apology or check in either. My shrimp also had the same bizarre side of a single leaf of lettuce with 3 halved baby carrots. My friend requested more bread and we were told that only one bread was complimentary....we would be charged for more.. The table that was "reserved" upon our arrival remained empty until we were leaving. I politely ask the gentleman if they had dined here before. He said no. I then ask if he had reserved the table and was given a flat no way. I told him to enjoy the carrots with every meal but to savor the bread sparingly. Noted. Do not stop based on marquee and when it seems sketchy...aka darkness and no more...

My family and I just ate at this establishment and unfortunately I am here to write a 1 star review. Our stay started out well and went down hill rather quickly and unnecessarily. Unfortunately my husband was not satisfied with his first meal due to quality. Fortunately the owner was near by and got my husband a fresh new plate of food. Unfortunately, the rest of us were finished eating by the time my husband was eating. Fortunately the rest of us enjoyed our meal. Unfortunately, the second meal made, "on the fly" was very dry and over cooked. Fortunately, we are all very patient. Unfortunately, our waiter was not doing his best to make sure the remainder of our stay was the best it could be. When we received the bill there was no compensation, there was no dessert on them, there was no apology for both meals not being what we expected. My husband left very frustrated. The owner proceeded to talk to me and tell me there was nothing more they could do, that the waiter came over twice , which is unacceptable under our circumstances, and that my husband was a picky eater quite enough times for my liking. I am a manager of a B&B and Brunch House in NY. If my customer is dissatisfied wrong, right, picky or not, they are dissatisfied and it is my job to make the remainder of their stay the best it can be. #1 dont tell your customer there is nothing you can do when you have not exhausted your abilities to make the situation right for your customer. #2 don't tell the family of the dissatisfied customer that they are a picky eater. Unfortunately we will not be returning to this restaurant because of the lacadasical service and...

I'm not sure how anyone could come up with anywhere near 4 stars ☹️ I vouched for this place with my group based on the Yelp reviews because it rarely steers me wrong. I can't say never anymore.

To begin, the bread was warm and the oil with pesto was tasty, but not remotely Mediterranean. The menu is odd. It's not Mediterranean as the name suggests. Mostly pastas and seafood.

The service was slow. They sat us up in a VERY dark room next to a very loud bar.

One person ordered the shrimp and pasta and they must have dumped a bottle of dried basil in it, that rendered it inedible.

The rest of us ordered the fried seafood, which how could you go wrong? Well, you can. The curly fries, which what restaurant serves curly fries with a nice meal, tasted freezer burnt and were dry. The fried flounder had the skin left on. And the piece was very small.

We told the server the food did not taste good, but she didn't seem to care and we didn't see a manager, despite asking to see one.

Overall $85 for only 3 people down the drain. Total waste. Do not make the same...