C'est Le Vin — Restaurant in Richmond

I was super excited to finally book a reservation and make it to c'est le vin. When i arrived we were early and did not mind waiting for a table, but ended up sitting almost 15 minutes past reservation time and was not given the option to sit inside at all (others who arrived after us were, but the staff wanted to fill the patio first).

This was not a big deal, we could tolerate the cigar smoke from other tables blowing directly into our faces, unlike the poor girl near us who told us she had asthma and didnt realize that outdoor seating was optional and that they encouraged smoking.

I was still excited to try this place out, it was an additional 10 minutes before any drink orders were placed (nobody came to check on us until we waved them over) but the woman who did advise me on what rosé to choose was fabulous and sweet and genuinely wanted us to get the best option. I loved that.

However, that was the only positive.

We placed food orders when our drinks arrived, getting the brie dish that's wrapped in a pastry and some fries. Thats it.

We didnt see our food for 50 minutes. There were only maybe 4 tables ordering food and nobody else came in within that time. 50 minutes. No refills. Nobody asked if we wanted something else or explained the wait. Nobody- not once- in almost an hour.

We were on our way to pay for the 1 glass of wine we ordered when the food came out which was severely underwhelming for the wait time. We were on our way out to pay and leave at this point.

The same woman who was wonderful in recommending our first and only round of drinks told us the brie takes a long time and that why we had to wait, when she dropped it off. We immediately asked for a check and waited an additional fifteen minutes before we could cash out and leave.

Almost two hours.. for one round of drinks, cheese, and fries. Not offered anything else or checked on without us having to wave down a member of staff to ask for it. Extremely unfortunate. There were no more than 15-20 people present during our visit, and half of them had already eaten and were merely lounging around, while the other half were waiting on food as...

I can't say enough great things about Rosie Connolly's which is the best part of Cest Le Vin--it's right across from it!  As we waited at Cest--a wine and tapas bar that got our Pinot and Cab mixed up in bringing it to us, we wondered what would be next.  We put in an order for some polenta and olives.  Watching the only other two people there that night who had been there a good 45 mins before us, we learned our polenta and olives would take a while as the kitchen was backed up.  The other couple got a dish about 10 minutes later, and maybe 25 mins after that our flavorless, lumpy polenta arrived with about 2 cups of olives.  Kind of speechless why the olives maybe didn't come out sooner, but luckily the whole experience afforded us the ability to check out quickly and proactively and head over to Rosie's to have amazing Irish beers and some delicious fries with gravy--served, eaten, settled in about 20 minutes.  Rosie's is amazing! Lastly--on our way out of Cest, I thought i saw them bringing a lovely candelabra out to an outdoor patron--upon closer look it was a hookah, so i guess wine+tapas+hookah is a thing! Must be off menu--be...

Unfortunately I cannot recommend this place. Service started slowly. When the water was brought to the table, one glass had a floater. When we requested another, the waitress, who I assume was the owner, wanted to actually see the particle. When she brought another glass, I believe it was the same glass as it still contained the same black gnat looking floater.

We ordered wine, my glass, again had contaminates. We order 5 small dishes plus bread and butter. The dishes were ok. Nothing fantastic and all except the stuffed mushrooms were under seasoned at best. When we received our check, it listed none of the actual menu items ordered other than our wine. I'm thinking it was a guesstimate at the over all cost of dinner. It ended up being 4 dollars more expensive than it should have been. But because of the very slow service, we paid and left.

I love, and want, to support local business, but this one will not get my money again. Too bad, cause The Bottom seems to have some good restaurants. This is not...