Barrique Bistro & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Lake Geneva

Most restaurants on or directly across from the lake rely on the view to attract tourists and lack quality food or interior ambiance. That’s not the case for Barrique - it’s cute indoors even if you’re unable to snag a patio table, and the small bites and wine selections typically make it my go to for lunch in town.

Im knocking a few stars off due to poor service recently, something I’m hoping will be quickly addressed and fixed to bring this place back to the quality it used to be! I understand being short staffed I’m the off season will lead to longer wait times but my latest visit the following happened:

It took over an hour to get a single chicken salad sandwich (the best menu item!). Normally I wouldn’t mind the wait, but i appreciate being told in advance the kitchen is backed up so I can decide if I have time to wait that long. In this case I had given myself an hour and a half before needing to leave for the airport, and we still had to ask for the sandwich to go when it arrived.

The waitress was single staffed, which is unfortunate for the holiday rush. I felt for her being so busy, but she handled it unprofessionally by being extremely rude to those seated, swearing when items were dropped, turning people away without explanation, and overall making us feel bad as diners that we were causing her to have more tables.

When reviewing the menu, I made a comment about being excited they did flights to my mother (I didn’t plan to order one that day). The frazzled staff overheard and shouted they were too busy to do any flights, then she proceeded to give the couple next yo us a whiskey flight and pour several other wine flights. I didn’t particularly want or need a flight that day, but it was a strange double standard and treatment of customers.

The whole thing led to a stressful, chaotic and not at all enjoyable...

we had a group of 3 people, and im not sure if it’s because we are all younger that the service was so poor but i come here pretty often, i love the food and have never had anything bad to say. after today i will never be returning. we waited 10 mins for a table i received a call that the table was ready at 2:53 so we walked backed over there and got seated around 3:05 which happy hour is from 3-5 there. me and my friends ordered sangria which is on their happy hour and some apps. it took the server about 15 mins to even approach us after getting seated. drinks another 10. food was fairly quick. once the food was dropped off we were never checked on again. we sat for another 25 ish mins waiting cuz we wanted more bread, he never came. so we found the host and asked for the check right after. we then realized we got charged normal price for sangria which it’s whatever it’s an extra three dollars but it was happy hour so we ended up asking about it. they then sent the manager over to argue with us that we didn’t sit down at 3 and that we aren’t eligible for happy hour. i had a phone call to prove but we were all absolutely in shock. it then took another 20 mins for 4 pieces of bread that we got charged two dollars for. i am in the restaurant industry and i understand a lot of things but this was one of the worst experiences ive ever had at a restaurant and the worst service i have ever received. will not...

False advertising, no integrity, zero accountability, and disrespectful management : We went to Barrique after seeing their website advertise half-off appetizers — it was clearly listed and directly influenced our decision to go. When we received the check, we noticed the discount wasn’t applied and asked for it to be corrected.

Our server checked with her manager and came back saying the promotion couldn’t be honored because the website was “out of date.” We then asked to speak with the manager directly. She told us the website hadn’t been updated in two weeks and claimed they were waiting on IT to make changes in a really condescending tone.

While we were still there waiting to pay, she updated the website herself — despite telling us it would require IT and take time. It was changed in just a few minutes, right in front of us (screenshots below of before and after the website update with timestamps).

How were we supposed to know their site was out of date? That’s not the customer’s fault. Instead of making it right, the manager doubled down and offered no apology or solution. The server did their best, but the management’s handling of the situation was disappointing and dishonest.

We expected better. Unfortunately, this left a bad taste in our mouths — and not from the food. Atmosphere isn’t enough when honesty and customer respect are missing. Won’t be...