Vinnie's Steak House & Tavern — Restaurant in Raleigh

What can I say? Vinnies has lost its luster. I have been a devoted customer since it opened in the 1980s. Back when Rose was owner. Just in the last few years I have noticed the decline in class. No more Sinatra, Martin on the background music. People wearing shorts in the dining room for dinner. Where's the elegance and class that there use to be? My husband's birthday was last night. We always go to Vinnies on my birthday and his. Mine was in February. A month ago my husband and my son both ordered the Delmonico Ribeye. One got a NY strip and one got the King Ribeye. We were charged for 2 King ribeyes!! We brought it to servers attention, but it was not corrected. Last night the first thing I noticed was the app of ahi tuna we ordered. From just a month ago and last night, the ahi tuna has reduced by HALF. My husband's meal and dessert came out more than 5 mins after the rest of the table. We had 2 of our adult kids with us. The food was great as always. But getting very expensive. Especially for ala carte. I asked for Tavern menu and it was an act of congress to get. After being told that it's not allowed in main dining by the manager. I have ordered many times from the Tavern menu and never been told this. This is over a span of 35 + years. I'm handicapped and can't sit on the high pub chairs for dinner. Anyway...the manager said because they were slow, she would allow me to order from that menu. Shocked and embarrassed I didn't say anything at the time. It was a special occasion and instead of complaining to one person there i want others to know of my experience. I want whomever sees this at Vinnies to read it and re read it and consider making changes. The female manager is not friendly and rolled her eyes as she walked by our table. I'm dissapointed by what I have seen the last few times we have been. We celebrate anniversaries, graduations, and various special occasions at vinnies. My father who is now gone went to Vinnies when it opened too. He was a well known man there. I'm sure the chef remembers him. The chef does a great job. Omar was a great waiter. Between our last 2 visits we spent for 4 people around $900 on our dinners. I'll add the photos from a month ago and last night here to show how the portion was cut in half and we were charged the same. Lastly, they want your credit card when you make a reservation online. Weird. I'm going to think long and hard before we plan another visit. I...

The food was overall good. We have been to several steakhouses and this one was reasonably priced for the food that we ordered when we compare it to other steakhouses we have been to. The items are a la carte. We got the hot crab dip (it came with soft/toasted pita points around it. It was good but we would not order it again, we would try something else instead. We both got the queen sized bacon-wrapped filet mignons. The steaks came out with onion strings surrounding the filet on the plate. I usually do not like bacon-wrapped filet because the bacon is not cooked correctly (too fatty) but they did an excellent job. We got a side of homemade mashed potatoes (nothing different, just regular). They were good but we have made better at home with Yukon gold potatoes. We ordered dessert – Classic crème brûleé and hot fudge pie. The crème brulee was good, again we have had better before, but it was still good. We did like the pie minus the crust. The crust was too hard to cut and too hard in places.

The atmosphere is more casual / relaxed than a Ruth Chris and an older look to everything. We did dress up but we saw some people that just had on regular t-shirts so I am not sure if it is a requirement. The chairs were not one of my favorites I have ever sat in. They have a great selection of wines (we do not drink so we did not drink any alcohol) but they do have a big selection. Tuesdays you get any wine 50%.

I made reservations for the date night a few days in advance. We needed them too since it got busy around 6:30. We arrived a few minutes early and waited 2-4 minutes to be seated.

Service was great. They have several people going around to pick up dishes/silverware when you are done eating and also to fill up your water when it gets a bit low.

If you love filet is this a great place to go. If you want to pay a little more and have a more modern business experience, I would go to Stoney River in Chapel Hill instead or Ruth Chris (we have not been to a Ruth Chris in the Triangle area yet though). I think Vinnie's is worth the price for their filet mignon. Overall, I think they are average with other steakhouses we have been to that did not match up to Stoney River or Ruth Chris or our own home-cooking.

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We went to Vinnie’s for my fiancé‘s birthday dinner. We were pleased with the appearance and the atmosphere of the restaurant. But we were very disappointed with the service as the night continued. Originally I made a reservation for 630 and put in the notes that it was my fiancé‘s birthday. Once we got there and were seated, we had to remind the waitress that it was his birthday and she did not react. There was two other tables that she was servicing. One lady said it was her birthday and the waitress proceeded to ask deeper questions about her birthday like was it today or was it yesterday and they engaged in further conversation. There was another table where she engaged in further conversation as well, but once she got to us, everything was very short. Additionally, the two tables that she was servicing were seated after us, but ordered similar items that we did, which were steak, salad, salmon, and a couple of sides. They were served 30 minutes before we were. When we looked at the time we saw that we had been waiting on food for an hour. This made us feel upset as we noticed that the other tables were being served in a different manner. Once we finished our meal she never said anything else about it being his birthday so I had to proceed to ask what they do for birthdays she then asked what dessert he would like and said that she could bring it out with the a candle. Even that took long, the other tables again were served their desserts before we were served ours. We ended up getting the dessert to go and left with heavy hearts. I do not want to accuse them of being racist, but we were the only only African-American people in the restaurant and we’re clearly being treated differently. If I knew this would be the case I would have never brought my fiancé here to spend his special day just to not be treated special at all. I ended up reaching out and the manager, Taylor assured me they would “train better” but that was it. Really don’t feel like they cared to resolve the issue. We will...