Sips Wine Bar — Restaurant in Safety Harbor

Originally I had no intentions of leaving a review regarding our experience with Sips, however after reading the responses from the business owner I feel the need to share. I want to preface by saying this is not a personal attack on Erin and Mate. While setting up for and attending a baby shower for my sister we had a poor experience overall. My main issue, and the reason for the review, was the way the presence of a service dog was handled by Erin. This interaction was between my sister, Erin, and myself so I’m only going to speak on the conversation that I was present for and heard with my own ears. While the response to another review states that they have a sign allowing service dogs and their cameras will show the k9 stayed through the majority of the event, there was a very disheartening conversation when they arrived. Erin spoke to my sister and myself and stated that per her lawyer she has the right as a business owner to refuse to allow the service dog into the establishment. I’m not going to touch on the nuances of legality regarding the ADA in this review for time sake. But there was a lot of back and forth with the three of us. Our long time family friend who attended is a disabled Army veteran who has a service dog and traveled from the other coast of Florida to be at the baby shower. Erin opened the conversation by stating that she normally asks service dogs and their handlers to remain outside. The day of the shower it was approaching 90 degrees by 11am. I stated it was too hot outside. Erin also asked us why we did not inform her that there would be someone with a service dog in attendance. Maybe that part is on us but I have never heard of having to alert a business owner beforehand. Additionally if there is a sign on the door stating that service dogs are allowed, why is that necessary? There was a lot of back a forth which took away from time with family while we tried to come up with a solution. We came to an agreement that the service dog and our family friend would have to remain in one corner of the restaurant to make it easier to “disinfect” after we leave. I understand catering to other customers that may have allergies, but it was a very tense conversation that I feel just didn’t need to happen. It did cause my sister to cry and brought down the overall mood of the party for a while after. The point here of my review is not to “defame” Sips or Erin, simply to give my personal experience regarding a face to face conversation that I had. I’m a second generation Floridian who has lived in Safety Harbor since the day I was born 30 years ago, and I have been to Sips many times over the years since they opened. I love this town more than words can express. It was just disappointing that the day needed to go the way that it did. I am leaving this review for people who rely on a service dog to assist them in experiencing the world safely. Perhaps another place may be more welcoming and less of a...

I feel should leave a review as I went on here to read reviews and realized so many people had has the same experience,so felt obliged to do so. I’m extremely disappointed by the wine bar Sips. I frequent Safety Habor a lot and today we decided to grab some drinks after lunch close by. Now upon entering this place you will realize your walking into a pretentious atmosphere,no reason for it as it’s quite nasty, Then to be greeted by a middle-aged woman who I gather wil be the infamous Erin,who obviously thinks that she is doing you a favor by letting you in this place!! That is just the thing. The wine bar looks cheap and tacky. Tacky,decor,throw in of home goods decor and target $3.00 pillows thrown around. And yes, I do shop at target and homegoods so that’s how I know but not to decorate my apparently high class wine bar….Maybe she’s not good at putting it all together. You can in an absolute dive and have good food and drink unexpectedly. If this place wants to be mediocre it needs to look at all it’s doing. But to get to the point,the squeaky voiced lady who greeted us immediately seemed to have a problem with everything she did. Maybe it had been a long day but this women was quite awful. I thought I had entered a Michelin star restaurant by the way she acted,she definitely was delusional about her surroundings,knowledge and what she was about to serve! After ordering drinks, a couple of desserts and a charcuterie board,we waited patiently until it finally arrived.Well, what can I say? I think the lady may of been the chef too. I’m assuming she had a whole bunch of poor cheese and crackers that she picked up at the local Publix and threw togather on the plate. The quality was poor to say the least. I got the impression that the appetizers were probably heated up in the microwave and deserts packaged. Shockingly bland. I would avoid this place at all costs unless you want to feel like you stepped back into an early 90s wine bar filled with middle-aged women and what I would call girls afternoon get togethers. Maybe they’re friends as I can’t understand why this would be your go to for anything. The quality is probably the same quality that you knockout for snacks with the ingredients left in your pantry on a bad day!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch before at the nearby GiggleBurger, (just in case you are looking for somewhere to go in the area)… This place is delicious!!! The food is fresh and flavorful. The atmosphere is great. The decor is on point and the staff are all extremely pleasant one more thing the sazerac’s are perfect!!!

Don’t waste your time and money there are many other places better in the area and I really don’t know how they survived...

In response to owner’s reply: Though I sense a bit of smug, sarcasm with this remark, I will say that dropping a fork is not the issue…as I stated in my original review. However, not bringing another utensil for your guest to eat the food you provided to them, is AN issue, it isn’t the reason for the bad experience. Saturdays are busy, yes. I have worked in the service industry. And if she had explained that to us, we would have been understanding and patient and gracious. Approaching seated paying customers as if they’re a table full of nuisances is not the best look or feeling and no longer leaves any room for grace. I see there are a lot of wonderful reviews and it’s a shame we weren’t given the opportunity to be another. Yes, to reiterate, Emerson was great.

I went here with a few coworkers and when we arrived, it took nearly 20 minutes to even be greeted, and once we were greeted, it was hardly a warm welcome. A blonde lady with a pink shirt finally came up to our table. She asked if we knew what we want. She didn’t introduce who she was, she didn’t ask if we’ve been there before…But that aside, we said we were going to do some flights. She looked very bothered. She asked which ones. I told her I’d like to build one. She SCOFFED, chuckled and disregarded my request and responded with “That will take me a while so, NEXT. What do you want?” to my coworkers, to which they respond they’d also like to build a flight. This woman looked appalled and annoyed. She responds “Oh. Really?” and chuckles in a bothered, annoyed manner once again. Yes, really. It’s on your MENU. I’m guessing this woman is one of the new owners based off of the other low reviews, while not TOO recent of reviews, appear to be solely due to them. She walked away to begin, what I gathered was her long arduous journey to get what’s needed to build a flight. But no, she never returned. Who DID return was a very nice gentleman. His name started with an E. I wanna say Emerson…But I could be wrong. He was wonderful. Asked if we’ve been helped. We responded that we hadn’t because really, we hadn’t. He asked if we’ve been there before. He took the time to explain the menu and how things worked. He seemed to be able to handle requests off of the menu, and didn’t seem to believe they were too difficult for him to execute. He was a delight. As for pink shirt, blonde lady, she did come back after hours of us being there, to bring our food. Dropped a fork on the floor, which whatever. It happens. But she never returned with another fork. I‘m guessing that was also too difficult of a task. If she IS the owner, I feel bad for the trajectory of this...