Bread and Vine Galena — Restaurant in Galena

I ate here on 4/5/25. The food tasted good, but I can’t rate higher than 1 star, considering they didn’t care at all about accommodating my allergy and made me severely sick. I write this review as a warning to hopefully prevent someone else from suffering what I did.

I’m allergic to onions and garlic. They are in almost every food and so it makes it nearly impossible for me to go out to eat. I was on vacation for the first time in a long time and I was nervous about eating at restaurants. I looked ahead of time at the menu of this place and found that there was smoked salmon on a croissant. That sounded so good but it had onions on it. I figured removing the onions would be a very simple request. The man who took my order had the most empty and dead eyes I’ve ever seen. I was afraid he wasn’t listening to me, but I decided to trust him and said, “No onions please, I’m allergic.” he walked away before I had even finished saying I was allergic. He didn’t write down my order. I was nervous but figured he was on top of it and he would take a food allergy seriously as anyone in the restaurant industry should.

The food came to me full of raw red onions, which is one of the worst things I could eat. I explained the issue to him politely and asked if I could have a new one and said, again, that I am allergic. He had no reaction to the fact that he just served someone an allergen and took the food away and brought it back suspiciously quick. I checked that there were no onions on it and took a bite. I was soon hit with a huge taste of onion. He obviously just picked the onions off instead of making me a fresh one. That would be fine if I simply dislike onions, but I am allergic to them and the juices contaminated my food.

I spent a lot of time in the bathroom of this restaurant vomiting. I was crying the whole time not only because I was in severe pain and knew I would be for the next several days but that I can’t even enjoy going out to eat anymore. I can’t trust people to not put me in danger. I had to travel all the way home for 5 hours in the car violently sick. This was yesterday and I still feel sick and I’m having diarrhea and can barely eat.

While I was vomiting in the bathroom, my sister confronted the guy who poisoned me. She said he showed no remorse and had an utterly blank look in his eyes. My sister is a very kind and soft-spoken person, but she said his reaction made her so angry because she knew how sick onions make me. She started to kind of yell at him and explained to him the seriousness of serving someone food that they are allergic to. He said the word “sorry” but not in any way that indicated he actually felt remorse for making one of your customers sick.

They didn’t offer any compensation to us. But honestly, no compensation even free food would make up for the fact that I still feel sick even now. When I get infected with an allergen, it can sometimes take up to a week for me to recover. I have to go to work tomorrow and I might have to literally miss out on work because of how sick I still am.

I honestly still feel like crying writing this review. I just wanted to have a good breakfast with my sister while on vacation and I thought that just removing onions from a sandwich would be a simple request. It breaks my heart that a restaurant could be so negligent and put their customers in danger.

I hope this review can at least warn someone else to stay safe and know that they don’t respect or accommodate allergies at this restaurant. I’m lucky that I’m just nauseous and have diarrhea. Some people have allergies where they could literally die. Please stay safe and if you have any food allergies don’t eat at...

My mouth is watering while writing this review & I’m craving the watermelon goat cheese salad that I ate this past weekend at Bread & Vine in Galena, IL , while I was on a girl’s trip. I very rarely write reviews, but after the impeccable service and amazing food & drink we consumed, I knew I had to share! Bread & Vine made me feel like I stepped into a small, unpretentious restaurant in Europe. The attention to detail, the quality of food, as well as the flexibility of the menu is truly top notch. I’m a vegetarian & was concerned that there wouldn’t be much on the menu, but boy, I was wrong! Everything was so delicious that we actually ate there three times during our trip to Galena. As I mentioned, I don’t eat meat. I saw a couple things on the menu that seemed interesting, but contained meat. Our waiter, Nolan, who was paying close attention to our table, let me know that the chef could make accommodations for me & my diet. I decided to order the salmon quinoa instead of having the chef alter anything. In addition to the salmon quinoa & watermelon salad, I also ordered a coconut margarita & had the Lola bun for dessert. First, the salmon was perfectly seasoned & cooked, while the fluffy quinoa had a delicious, unforgettable flavor. My cocktail was perfectly balanced - not too much tequila & not too “coconutty”. The mixologist, Nash, even came by our table to make sure our libations were as good as we had hoped. Oh! And that Lola bun? I thought I was in heaven! The hazelnut cream & the gooey sea salt caramel filling that was sandwiched between perfectly baked choux pastry brought me back to a bakery just outside of Rouen, France that I had once visited. Though the meal had an European flair, the portions did not; they were definitely American serving sizes. It’s not often when you come across a restaurant that has both great food & great service, but is also very clean and friendly. They made me & my group of friends feel special. Bread & Vine has something on the menu for everyone & for every meal. I highly suggest you check it out. In addition, look for the owner, who is from France. He wears eccentric, stylish clothes & signature orange eye glasses. He was as sweet & as hospitable as they come! I’ll be back & hope you give it a go as...

I picked this place solely based on the online menu. Just looking for a quick bite while in town shopping. When I walked in I didn't quite know what to think. It's very reminiscent of an ice cream parlor in regards to set up/vibe/layout. There were MANY specials written on the wall our waiter pointed out in addition to the menu. Our waiter assured us "everything is good here" so I decided to try the escargot special. Being very picky about escargot and looking around at the decor and layout I was not feeling overly confident but I tend to trust wait staff. My husband opted for the pineapple shrimp tacos. Keeping in mind these two very different cuisines are not usually offered in one restaurant I was definitely apprehensive. My husband ordered a chocolate raspberry martini and I played it safe and chose Moscato. My Moscato was sweet and pleasant. His martini was quite good as well and I'm very finicky about my chocolate martinis. Our food came and looked amazing. Both dishes tasted amazing as well. The escargot was cooked perfectly and had lovely flavor. The tacos were nice and full. Fresh ingredients used. For dessert my husband chose an oreo cheesecake slice. I opted for a chocolate croissant to take home. I had two bites of his cheesecake and can say it was just average. As for the prices, I feel the prices on the food are standard/appropriate/fair given the wonderful taste. The price of the drinks however needs to be adjusted in my opinion. Each drink should be $2 less and even then there is plenty of profit for the business. As a matter of fact I almost didn't choose this place specifically due to the cost of adult beverages. It would have been 5 stars but for the odd layout/look/vibe of the room and slightly...