Vin Sur Vingt Wine Bar - DC — Restaurant in Washington

Will not be returning after tonight. I had been to vin sur vingt at least 6 or 7 times with no issues and in fact have always taken guests visiting from out of town, and have highly recommended it for server knowledge of wines and walk-in availability of tables. A friend of mine made a reservation for us tonight to celebrate her recent move go town, and we were going to get wine flights. We were told by a manager after being seated that they were too busy to do flights on this night. My friend then ordered a glass, but I chose not to. This was not received well by the staff here; when our waiter stopped by, I asked again about flights and mentioned we were told no—he said he thought we could but that he would check, to which the same manager told him that no, we could not. I once again politely declined ordering anything since we came to this wine bar for wine flights—my friend also ordered another glass, so they definitely had a check from us. A different woman we had not spoken with came by our table and said she understood we wanted flights but could not offer them, to which I said that’s fine but that we were good at our table. Obviously I was being discussed among staff for my politely declining a glass while my friend did order.

You can imagine I was very frustrated to look over and see another table receive a flight of wines from our same waiter—giving them personalized attention and discussing the wines with them. Are you kidding me? I did not want to make any more fuss so did not mention this to any staff, but I definitely should have called them out on that. After about 45 minutes, our waiter finally returns and tells me I can now have a flight. At that point, I certainly did not want it nor did I have the time to spend enjoying it, we did not have all night to wait to finally be given permission to purchase a wine flight. I was extremely disappointed and frustrated that we were treated as an inconvenience for ordering a flight at a wine bar and being told they are too busy for that, upon realizing that that was not the case for all customers—when we have eyes to look around the restaurant and see when we are being treated differently than everyone else. I am sitting in your restaurant wanting to spend money but am told I can’t since they are too busy to deal with me. I never ever leave reviews but had to in this instance. Shockingly unprofessional, rude, and unexpected based on so many great experiences. I live just behind the block and am very local but am sad to say I will definitely not...

I moved in the area recently and decided to stop by for a drink before going home. I sat at the bar and was greeted by their Sommelier so I was told. He suggested the flight, I opted for champagne/sparkling flight and cheese selection. I was definitely disappointed in the flight choices because they were flat. This wasn’t up to par with what a sommelier should offer. On the other hand I was pleasantly happy with the cheese selection which included St André which is my favorite. They seem to have an excellent wine selection, cheese and menu(in French👏🏽). However, the service was mediocre, the Sommelier who was also at the bar was busy taking care of a group seating on my right at the bar, filling their water, free wine sample and never bothered to ask me of my thoughts on the flight or the cheese or offer me any water any wine suggestions. It was very frustrating to see the care on my right and I have to tell someone else to help me. By the war, it’s a very small bar so there’s anyway to miss me especially if you are talking to someone next me.At some point one of the guy in the same group he is chatting with him had to call home because I wanted to ask him for a different wine. It put me off!! Not sure why he chose to treat me differently but it felt intentional. On the fence if I will be back, but then if I do I will definitely request...

Opening a French wine bar across the street from Le Diplomat is a bold play for sure, the bar is set fairly high. And crowds have spoken, Le Dip is 5 times the size as Vin Sur Vingt and the line is out the door while VSV is sadly empty on a Saturday night.

On the plus side, the service is excellent and wine is pretty good. However, the the food was disappointing. The mussels seemed to be cooked separately and just had the sauce poured on after, so the mussels themselves were flavorless. We had the mussels a la creme with leeks, which were very odd, they seemed to be pickled or canned and added on top (I thought they'd be simmered in the sauce). The bartender was very nice but couldn't answer our questions about the mussles. The French onion souce was thick with almost crunchy onion slices, tasted heavily of beef broth and a hint of flour. Probably could have simmered a few more hours at least.

The tables are so tiny, it's a struggle to have more than two espressos at once. The coat check is a tiny closet full of the staffs coats and extra chairs. Maybe that's the French cafe aesthetic, but I felt cramped in an empty restaurant.

I'd be curious to visit one the originals in NYC to see if it just didn't translate to DC or this is what the restaurant is...