Village Martini & Wine Bar — Restaurant in South Russell

Last weekend, my wife and I decided to treat ourselves at Village Martini & Wine Bar in Chagrin falls, a restaurant which was highly recommended by our foodie friend. Expectations were high, and our appetites even higher.

Once seated, our waitress, all smiles and pleasantries, took our orders, beginning with an exotic appetizer and a cocktail that seemed to have my name written on it. We launched into a conversation about the week gone by, fully expecting the drinks and starters to join the party soon.

Time passed, the minutes ticking away but undiscernible in the cacophony of chatty diners trying to converse over the too loud music drowning us out. We glanced at our watches, then at the still-empty tabletop, realizing that neither the appetizer nor the cocktail had arrived. Our waitress seemed caught in her own world, occasionally glancing our way with a vague promise in her eyes that the cocktail would materialize soon.

Despite the delay, we placed our entrée orders, still optimistic.

The clock ticked on. Forty-five minutes later, the appetizer finally arrived, its appearance no longer a cause for celebration. An hour later, the elusive cocktail made its grand entrance, only to find that my anticipation had withered, as the ice cubes had nearly entirely melted, and the diluted liquid sloshed over the top. One sip and I knew that the taste matched its unappealing appearance. I sent it back.

Upon receiving the bill, I found the forsaken cocktail still on the tab. The manager’s refusal to remove it from the bill led to a terse exchange, ultimately resulting in me calling my credit card company to dispute the charge. The ordeal left a bitter taste, unlike anything I’d experienced in my varied dining adventures.

Had the restaurant’s staff been trained in the fine art of customer care, not only would we have left satisfied, but we would likely have returned. Instead, we were left with a lesson in what to avoid, a cautionary tale we’ll be sure to share.

Even the one star rating is one star too many given...

I sent an email to your business over a month ago with no response at all. Will not be returning. Very unfortunate.

Good afternoon!

I hope this message finds you well.

I wanted to write to you regarding a visit myself and 2 friends had this past Saturday evening.

My friend ordered a glass of wine and an extremely evident lipstick mark was on the glass. We then noticed it was on one of the water glasses also. Our server did remedy the situation once we brought it to his attention. It was just strange that it passed 2 peoples eyes before reaching our table.

The same friend ordered a pizza and the crust was totally black on at least one side. She didn’t want it remade and ate around it because the time to remake would have been too long. I had accidentally dropped my fork on the floor and had asked for new silverware once the main meals were presented. It was at least a full 5 minutes before a set was presented. My friend had got up and asked someone else for some so I could enjoy the food while hot and with them.

We all work in the service industry and understand being short staffed, which perhaps was the issue and we could only assume as everyone working was zipping around doing many things.

It was all of our first times, we were at an event at …⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We frequent ….. and hope our next visit is...

I live in the neighborhood so it pains me that the restaurant is so bad. On the other hand this establishment won't last and will be replaced by a better one, eventually. It's entirely dark in the dining room such that we had to read the menu's via the flashlights on our phone. The waiter answered that the "lights were out" indicating there was an electrical problem. Notwithstanding I had a good martini but served in a glass with someone's lipstick around the rim. The shrimp cocktail was fresh and good tasting and I would have been well to get up and leave at that point. Instead I ordered surf and turf. Well, the surf (shrimp in this case) was good but the turf was inedible. The steak was thick, but all grizzle, served cold and impossible to eat. Another guest at my table had the same experience with his steak. Dessert was worse than the entree's, I didn't realize you could screw dessert up. The ice cream was freezer burned and the chocolate cake was entirely without taste. I have no idea what the bill was because I was the guest of my attorney. I hope I can hold down the part of the meal I was able to consume. BTW, you have to leave the restaurant to use the restroom. Try...