Wine Cellar Restaurant — Restaurant in Rapid City

Recent visit in early September of 2017 was the worst dining experience of our life. That being said we did dine here about a year and a half ago and it was very good, prompting the repeat visit. Here's what happened. We casually stopped in to see if we could get a table on Saturday night, 9/9/17. The hostess, who also came to be our server said they were busy tonight, but could find us a table. We were seated, ordered glasses of Perrier, the artisan cheese plate, scallop skewer, and a glass of red and white wine. From reading other reviews seems like a common statement but cheese plate and scallops took about twenty five minutes, we had four slices of cheese, a dry sliced random bread roll that was clearly not baked in the restaurant and some sort of fruit compote on the cheese plate that tasted like robitussin. It was not good. We asked the waiter what type of sauce it was, she went to asked the chef and returned with an answer of "just a fruity berry type sauce" leading us to believe they had no idea. I'll fast forward, I ordered mushroom prosciutto onion pizza, girlfriend ordered pouten en groute, my pizza arrived overly greasy and limp when a slice was picked up. My girlfriends puff pastry solely consisted of dry shredded chicken baked in a puff pastry and over done. There were no other of the listed ingredients of the puff pastry to be found in her dish. Also on her first bite she found what most closely resembled a salmon pin bone in her "chicken" puff pastry. We unfortunately had to inform our waitress, she stated she would see what she could do, and at that point took our dishes from us. She promptly returned with our check and 25% was taken off of our entrees. I informed the server we would not be paying for our entrees, gave her our credit card for the remainder of the bill. She left and the owner returned immediately and slammed our card on the table and loudly exclaimed that dinner was on him tonight, audibly enough for the entire restaurant to hear. I objected and stated he is being rude, we have not been impolite, we simply stated to our server the inadequacies of our entrees. The owner loudly interjected during my response to him with the excuse that it was the busiest night of the year, we didn't make reservations and we are the only people complaining. Mr. Owner, don't seat us if you can't accommodate us, or make it clearly known you're a reservation only restaurant. We just came in to see if we could have dinner. "I'm sorry folks, we are fully reserved tonight" would've been just fine. You embarrassed us with your childish and immature outburst at our table and...

In a city filled with patrons who think a nice dinner out involves going to a chain steakhouse or a restaurant that involves orchards full of olives or brightly colored crustaceans, we could not be more fortunate to have a restaurateur who seeks to create an elevated, intimate, true fine-dining experience with a staff who genuinely know what good service is and how to make it look effortless when delivering that exceptional service. I, of course, am speaking of none other than the Wine Cellar Restaurant. Rapid City is extremely limited in the fine-dining department, and no other establishment in town has outdone the Wine Cellar Restaurant.

Nestled in historic downtown Rapid City, you know you are in for a treat from the moment you walk through the door. You are always greeted promptly and seated at your reserved table. You have options for what type of water you want to drink, an excellent wine menu, and, most importantly, a non-printed, chef-inspired menu that the servers have taken time to memorize diligently. Once you are comfortably seated and they have offered to hang your coats, your waiter is prepared to entice your tastebuds simply by delivering their expertly rehearsed memorization of the chef’s menu.

There is never a shortage of enticing options to choose from, all creations that demonstrate an elevated and exceptional level of the chef’s skill. From an assortment of small sharable plates to wonderful salads with house-made dressings to exceptional entrees, you will indeed find something – or many things – that will certainly appease your appetite.

Throughout your dining experience, you will always be waited on by an exceptional server who clearly takes pride in their craft. They will never pester or hover, but they will also never make you wait should you need something. They clearly demonstrate the perfect balance.

To wrap up your dining experience, you will be presented with wonderful house-made dessert options. It is impossible to go wrong with the flourless chocolate cake that has been on the menu for over 20 years. They also have a lovely French-press coffee service utilizing locally roasted coffee.

Regardless of what you order, you cannot go wrong at the Wine Cellar Restaurant. You will find great chef-inspired food and fantastic customer-focused service, where they make it clear that volume is not what they care about, but rather exceptional customer service. They will never seat more people than they can serve at the highest levels. So, if you want a wonderful dining experience, look no further than the Wine...

Alright, so this review starts a bit differently as there is a short story. I was at this spice shop a door or two down from The Wine Cellar procuring spices. Well, after leaving with six versus the one I went in to buy (yeah, kid in a candy store), I went to check out the menu that was posted in the window. (My understanding is that it changes on a regular basis, so this review is based on what my daughter and I ate) As I was perusing the menu, a lady (the owner) talked to me. I didn’t know this at the time. We got to talking about restaurants, employees, and usual restaurant stuff that we both are well used to. If you know, give me a like “Because you Know!!” I informed her that we needed to leave the next day, and I had already packed all my fancy clothing. She was so cool as the place preferred reservations, but she told me not to worry about wardrobe, and if I could do 6:30P, a top would be ready. I agreed.

The Experience:

From the moment we came in, my daughter and I were greeted by the owner, and we immediately felt like family. Just an awesome lady, and she got us seated at a four top so that we had space, and I like to think we had our own waitress named Veda. She, in herself, was an excellent server, and I could only hope to have one as well mannered as she was.

My daughter and I dined on some Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, and they were amazing! From there, we moved on to the entrée and my daughter loved her Smoked Gouda Mac ‘n Cheese, and I truly enjoyed the Filet Mingon and a Mushroom Demi-Glace with diced Potatoes and Asparagus. I enjoyed each bite of this, and my daughter savored each bite of her dish as well!

Final Thoughts:

A short step from Hotel Alex Johnson, this is an excellent choice for dinner where you have the option of casual or bringing in a notch up. Depends on what you are up for, but either way, you are welcome, and there is an excellent wine selection if “Food Pairing” is your thing. Mine is whiskey or beer so there you go! Hands down, I appreciate the owner of this restaurant, her hospitality for a guy with a daughter with no reservations, and by far providing some darn good service for a couple of folks who really enjoy a quality meal. Well worth the stop if...