Vino — Restaurant in Mountain Brook

I do not give one star lightly. My husband and I went with a friend for her birthday last night and the experience was MEMORABLY awful.

Atmosphere: Lovely, beautiful outdoor seating, and the weather was perfect.

Service: The service was severely lacking. The waiter was knowledgeable about the menu, when we corned him and asked specific questions. I only received one refill of water, and I had to ask for it specifically because I had been out for about 30 min. Oh, did I mention we were there about 3 hours? Now, it was a birthday, so we were taking our time and enjoying each others company, but it took us forever to get the check, forever to get orders taken, and forever to see a dessert menu.

Food: The was the worst part of the experience. I can put up with bad atmosphere/service if the food is great. It wasn't. Not even close. It was basically 'fancy' cafeteria food. We started with the calamari appetizer. It was really chewy and tasted frozen.

The main course was the real disaster however, my husband I an both ordered the special of the night, which was supposed to be seared duck breast with a pomegranate reduction, seasoned rice, and roasted vegetables, what we both received was a very overcooked, very tough, mostly fat piece of duck, completely unseasoned rice, approximately five pieces of under-cooked potatoes/brussel sprouts, and a sauce that was incredibly overly sweet. I wish I had taken a picture, the plate was more than half plain white rice with a couple of potato chunks in the middle, a very very sad looking duck breast, and a enormous amount of sauce. Everything was room temperature (the potatoes were actually VERY cold, as if they had been refrigerated). The duck was so tough that we had difficultly cutting it with the provided knives.

We ended the night with the 'pot of chocolate' desert, which was actually the best part of the night, it was basically a little lava cake with ice-cream on top. It wasn't amazing, but it was a decent chocolate cake.

Since we paid $20 plus for each entree, I was particularly angry that the food was so bad. I will NEVER go back. If I'm going to spend approximately $25 a plate (which I have no problem doing if the food is well prepared), I'll go somewhere like Chez Fon Fon.

On a side note, the wine was reasonably priced per bottle. Now I understand why two people came to the 'birthday dinner' and had a bottle of wine and then declined to order food with us. They were...

My friends and I chose Vino to celebrate our birthdays. They were also participating in BHam Restaurant Week and offered a pre fix menu in addition to their regular menu.

So let's start with the food. The food was Great! We ordered appetizers, drinks, entrees from the regular menu and from the price fix menu. As a native of St. Louis, MO I enjoyed The Lou. Traditionally, the stuffing is meat but the cheese combination was done well. The apple fritters were a hit across and around the table. The only complaint we had was the amount of citrus/lemon in the sauce of the shrimp pasta dish.

After reading the reviews, I wonder if our waiter was the same one spoken of in the less than perfect ratings. Unfortunately, no one at our table can remember his name but only the subpar service. From not making eye contact to make sure everyone's needs were met to forgetting (verbally admitting as such) to place orders to general inattentiveness, it was not the best service experience. After receiving all of the entrees, he did receive assistance with waiting on our table to ensure our water glasses were full. Even with that assistance, we did have a beckon the host in order to pay our tabs. This all made for a long dining experience but it was well as we were in good company.

The largest disappointment was the cake. I completely understand the cake cutting fee. However, how the cake was cut, I would whether saved my feelings and dollars, and cut the cake in my car. The pictures show the slices of cake that were provided to both birthday celebratees. It may look as though we ate some or played around with it. Unfortunately, this is exactly how it was presented. Definitely putting a damper on the occasion. I would sincerely recommend cake cutting lessons for staff in the future and/or training on the small things that help make an occasion special.

We would definitely consider coming again. Maybe just for bar service as to not expect much...

I'm writing to express my extreme disappointment with my recent experience at Vino on June 10th 2024 for my birthday dinner. We arrived just 3 minutes after our reservation time, but unfortunately, we had to wait to be seated.

Once seated, we placed our drink orders and an appetizer promptly. However, after waiting 30 minutes, we still hadn't received our drinks. An hour after being seated, our waiter finally came to take our dinner order, but concerningly, he made no eye contact with any of us during the process. Unfortunately, our appetizer also hadn't arrived yet.

Throughout this time, we noticed the waiter attentively serving 3 other tables around us, refilling their water, delivering food and drinks, while completely bypassing our table. We observed him walk past us at least 5-6 times, with a water pitcher even though our glasses were empty.

After waiting an additional hour for our food, with no improvement in service, and the time nearing 8:30 pm, we were incredibly hungry and frustrated. Regretfully, we decided to leave the restaurant. We left money to cover the drinks (which we did receive after a long wait) but not the appetizer we never got.

When we informed the waiter of our decision to leave, he finally acknowledged the issue. Disappointingly, he admitted that he completely forgot about our appetizer and never even placed the order with the kitchen.

This experience was incredibly disappointing, especially since I was looking forward to celebrating my birthday at Vino. I would appreciate it if you could investigate this matter to ensure such a lapse in service doesn't happen to...