Vintage Wine Bar — Restaurant in San Jose

Lots of staff were crammed into the tiny entry. No one person acknowledged me, so I I said "excuse me do you serve food here?"( They had no menu outside) one of the staff said we have bites and I said may I see a menu? Another of the staff handed me the menu without a word, I smiled in thanks and she just turned around. That should have been enough red flags that I'd walk away.... vibe was off. I asked out loud after standing there for a minute with the menu closed, I ask if I should just go grab a table. A very bored and no eye contact making young waitress gestured me and walked to the first table outside the door. The place is practically empty, never asked do you have a preference? A different staff member took my order. Was friendly, a nice change. I sat for a while wondering why it would take so long for a simple bread and cheese app. I saw a couple get seated and what seems like second later, they got the exact app I ordered. I thought nah, no way. This place is not busy at all, no way that bored unfriendly waiter who seated me could make a mistake with so few customers there. Yeah she actually did. I could have let that go, if the same indifferent waitress hadn't delivered the plate without a word, plopping it down and walking away. No "can we get you anything else....or sorry for the delay". That was it for me. It made no sense to me for someone to behave that way. Especially at a place that adds 4% surcharge to your order for staff needs. This is not a tip. They also ask for a tip. I got up and asked if a manager could come to my table. The woman with pink in her hair (manager) and a very tired and unhappy face said that she had spoken to that employee before about the demeanor. That the plate mix up was common. I said I'm not asking for a smiley person, just common practice in good service, not rudeness and lack of care. She gave what felt like a very fake apology to me. After that several waiters asked how I was doing as they passed by. Suddenly I was alive and worthy of attention as a customer. The waiter who took my order apologized. I still tipped her. The food is just meh. It's more about drinks there. I will never go back because this place FAILED...

Used to frequent the outdoor wine bar often during warm weather afternoon/nights. I loved the laid back and relaxing vibe, especially at night when they have gentle mood lighting. They have rotating wine flights every so often, so I appreciate the varietal (shout out to the Funday Cabby Funday flight!). However, the quality of their flights hasn't been great the last 2 times I visited, but YMMV.

Service - Usually a hit or miss. You don't have a designated waiter and just flag someone down. They usually don't refill your water unless you ask them. Overall, they mainly take your order and leave you alone until asked.

Checkout - The problem I have is with paying. They come to your table with a remote device to collect your payment via card. They don't show you the itemized receipt, but your total instead. Then, the device has tipping options starting from (IIRC) 25%, listed left to right. I felt like that was deceptive and didn't appreciate that as the first tipping option based on the service received. In addition, it should be noted that they add on a 4% surcharge (previously 3%) to your order (see menu fine print). It's also unclear what the "support employee initiatives" surcharge means, which feels like a blanket term for anything. So if you don't read the fine print, you could be over-tipping.

Overall, come for the vibes, but don't be surprised when you...

The manager Gabriela was incredibly rude. I had ordered a glass of rose and upon 2 sips unfortunately really did not enjoy it and asked if I can exchange it for the same one my friend had ordered. Gabriela had came out and let me know that because I already sipped it she could not change my drink for another one. Any other restaurant has always changed my drink without an issue for customer satisfaction but she completely refused. She also said that other customers are not Ignorant and have a brain to think and ask to sample the wine before ordering which I thought was incredibly rude I could not believe her commentary towards me and I was not aware I was able to order a sample as it was not offered to me the way other restaurants have offered to sample the wine before I ordered it. I asked her then why doesn’t your restaurant offer customers? She then proceeded to agree to change my drink and offer a discount but her rude and disrespectful commentary ruined me and my friends night and we did not want to continue our night there. She had the audacity to still try to charge my friend her drink that she also had only taken 1 sip from. In the end we requested to return both drinks at no charge and got up and left. We have never experienced such rudeness at this restaurant the way we have with this rude...