Wine Bar George - A Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Lake Buena Vista

I always hesitate writing a review for a place that I love because I don't want it to get so busy that I can no longer get a table, but in this instance I have to give credit where credit is due. We tried Wine Bar George for the first time this week and loved it so much we went back a few days later! On our first visit we ordered four of the small plates (crispy mac and cheese bites, grilled octopus, burrata and the porchetta spiced pork cheeks) and the cheese board. Everything was fantastic. My husband and I love to try new dishes and Wine Bar George did not disappoint us. On our second visit, we decided to try two of the small plates we hadn't tried yet (hummus and the house-made meatballs) and one of the family style plates (grilled whole sea bass). Everything was amazing once again and cooked to perfection. Of course, I can't write a review about a restaurant named Wine Bar George without talking about the wine. I really enjoyed our two visits for several reasons (in addition to the food). First, we happened to go at "off" or "quiet" times, so we practically had the second floor all to ourselves and didn't have to share the amazingly friendly and knowledgeable bartender, Jill, with too many other patrons. The nice thing about Wine Bar George is that they have a tremendous selection of wines from all over the world and they make it easy for you to try new wines because you can get it in 1 oz, 3 oz or 6 oz pours. Having lived an hour from Napa for the past 17 years, I was always partial to Napa/Sonoma wines, but yesterday Jill convinced me to try a wine from Slovenia and it was like nothing I had ever tasted before and quite delicious. It was a lot of fun trying about 6-7 different wines in those two days (no, I did not have full pours of each) and you can't do that in a typical restaurant. Jill was extremely helpful in finding wines I would enjoy and since it wasn't busy at the time, we were able to carry on fun and informative conversations with her. George, the owner, even stopped by during both of our visits to chat and was very kind and shared great information with us. The only thing I'm upset with is myself, because I normally take pictures of the food before I dig in and I guess I was too excited to try the food because I didn't take one food picture! Next time! The only picture I took was of the bottle of wine from Slovenia, so I'll post that. Sorry for the winded review, but Wine Bar George deserves the high praise.

Apparently, Google won't let me write a separate review for our latest visit on December 8, so I'll just add it here.

We had a wonderful brunch today. When I saw the picture and description of the new Stuffed French Toast on Instagram the other day, I knew we had to get over to Wine Bar George this weekend. I am a huge French toast lover, and I have to say that the coconut custard filled French toast was the most amazing French toast I've EVER had in 60+ years!! The brioche bread was so fluffy, the custard filling was abundant and delicious, as was the rum caramel drizzle surrounding the French toast. If you love French toast, or if you've never tried it, or even if you don't like French toast (because you haven't had a REALLY AWESOME French toast before)... you have to try this one!❤️😍🤩

Now I guess I should mention the other things we enjoyed at brunch, like the frozen old fashioned (YUM), the Dippy Eggs appetizer (another new menu item that was very unique, delicious and full of so many wonderful flavors), and the Steak & Eggs (which my husband said was cooked perfectly and really good, but I didn't try it today because I just wanted to savor the flavors of the French toast).

Lastly, our server, Emmanuel A, was excellent and deserves a shout-out as well for his outstanding service and friendliness.

Needless to say, I highly recommend brunch at Wine Bar George and make sure you get in there before the French toast disappears...

Leading up to my 40th Birthday I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted my day to look like and how to celebrate. It was on a Saturday, late March, during Spring Break, so all the options were on the table; A cruise, a trip, the beach, etc. After much thought I landed on staying local and just going out for a nice dinner with family. I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been before which didn’t leave me with as many options as one might imagine, but hey, what can I say, we like to eat out! Eventually while going over options Wine Bar George crossed my mind. To the internet I went to begin reading reviews (I always read, but rarely leave them myself, so here I am contributing for the next interested soul) and then onto the menu to deep dive into the offerings. I was quickly sold and excited! Now it’s currently the Monday after and I’m typing out my high praise of gratitude for the BEST evening!

The Food: Crispy Mac & Cheese Bites – Gone in an instant, executed so perfectly my daughter decided to get the Mac & Cheese for dinner (which would not typically be her go to) and was well pleased with her decision House Made Hummus – Such a simple dish, but done so well the plate was left clean The Big Board – 10 out of 10- I’m returning for this soon! Skirt Steak – I thought I was going to love this more than I did, but still perfectly delicious Sea Bass – I didn’t anticipate loving this as much as I did but just WOW! This was as if I were at a restaurant overlooking the Aegean Sea level legitimate – chef’s kiss* Key Lime Pie – Should be called something else….Key lime pie inspired dessert from the Lord above – Holy smokes, this was ridiculous in its own unique way Drinks – Well, it’s called WINE Bar George for a reason!

The Service: Our Server was Maverick and I will say first and foremost, no, I do not know him, nor am I in any way related! With that said, thank you Wine Bar George for providing us with the most wonderful evening thanks in large part to Maverick. Now let me also say, for reference, I come from a family of servers; My Father, Brother and myself were all at points in our lives servers so we have perhaps a higher level of expectation when we dine out (which is often) and Maverick was undoubtedly the best we’ve had in a VERY long time. He was kind, knowledgeable, personable, attentive, and yet never at any point made us feel rushed on a busy Saturday night. I truly can’t sing this mans praise enough. I mentioned what I typically like to drink, but was open to trying something new for my Birthday so he talked through options he thought I might be interested in and made suggestions that ended in US (family included) finding glasses of wine we LOVED! I’m telling you, He knows his stuff! Overall, the evening could not have improved in any way. It was the very definition of a perfect Birthday dinner and I’m truly grateful.

So thank you George, I hope you read this and treat Maverick to a glass of something nice because he was genuinely special and made us all eager to...

Food and wine is sort of our thing, as you can probably tell from our reviews. My husband, a Certified Sommelier and General Manager for a restaurant group, was completely thrilled by the options on the list for Wine Bar George. In fact, the meal and pairings were planned out weeks in advance. However, the restaurant experience was underwhelming. The food was good, but the server was in a complete rush and several details were missed. We had 4 people, one with multiple food allergies, and we were asking about the family style steak. When the server left, we were under the impression he was checking the dietary needs, but then he didn't come back to get the rest of the food on the order. We tried to be polite and wait for his return, but after 20 minutes, my husband went in to add those items to the order. Our best guess is that since we were a family of four he assumed that's all we were going to order, but by not taking a moment to talk with us though the order, it really ruined the experience. Appetizers were good. Our son enjoyed the show of the flamed cheese, and the flavor was great. The roasted Vidalia was wonderfully flavored and properly melted -- reminiscent of a perfect French onion soup. The burrata was interesting with an almost cottage cheese texture on the inside, and it was served over tomatoes with toasted bread. We loved that the toasted bread was actually cut up to be easily eaten with a fork. But from there the experience dropped with both service and food. When the steak did come out, it was cold. While one doesn't expect an overly warm medium rare steak, one would expect the potatoes and broccolini to be served above room temp. The kid's meatballs were too spicy for our daughter. At first we thought she was just being sensitive, but when we tasted them, they did have building heat that you wouldn't expect in a meal from the kid's menu. Since the original draw was the wine, I'd be remiss not to address it. Wine options are great here because they use a system that preserves the wine after opening. This offers a great opportunity to try a variety of luxurious bottles without having to drink the whole thing. The first glass ordered arrived quickly with the appetizers, but the second glass intended for the entrees arrived nearly 30 minutes after the entrees were served. And when presenting the wine, it was not the same as what we ordered. The server (not ours) then went to report to our server that it wasn't the right bottle, and our server then came, apologized, and poured the correct bottle. Five minutes later, another person came to pour the same glass. At this point, my husband even said, "You know, it seems like wires are getting crossed and steps are being missed." Though we had intended to have dessert and a third glass while here, we felt like we weren't getting a great experience and decided to move on out. With so many high level options for food and wine in the area, we aren't sure if we will return. If we do, we definitely wouldn't come on a...