The Grape Tap — Restaurant in Wasilla

Update: my original review is from a visit several weeks ago. I was in Wasilla on Wednesday and decided to give the Grape Tap another try as my experience just didn't jive with all the great things I have heard about them. I am glad I did as this time it was as though I was in a different restaurant. When I was seated a ramekin of sweet and spicy nuts appeared with the water...they were wonderful. First off, I asked if there was a Captain's List of wines, there is. THIS one had a hugely better selection than what I had been previously been given. I told the waiter, TK (who is very personable and attentive without being intrusive), my preferences in wines and asked for recommendations. She was honest and told me she would ask someone more knowledgeable than she. I ended up getting on of the recommendations and was satisfied with it. Ordered the 8oz of Filet Mignon tips appetizer served in a Cambenzola cream sauce with Blue Cheese crumbles- delicious! It turned out to be enough for a meal for me so I had the Almond flour chocolate cake with swirls of raspberry sauce and Creme Anglaise, very good. The owner, Kirsten came around as I was finishing up and I told her about both experiences as well a having a nice discussion about wines. I had a wonderful time and look forward to returning.

Original post: Arrived as the open sign was hung up. Initial impression inside was it was funky which I liked. I was asked if I had a reservation this was at 5pm on Friday. Told her I didn't and after a few awkward moments was told that if I'd be gone by 7:15, I could have a table. I was given a menu and a 1/2 folded piece of paper with some wines on it. After searching for someone to help me after a bit I asked if there were more wines as they were supposed to have a great wine list. I was told "oh, you want the bottle list" and promptly received one. I opened it to page after blank page and was about to ask if this was a joke when I realized it had been handed to me backwards and upside-down. There is nothing on either cover to desigate front or back and 1/2 of the pages were blank. The wine list left me underwhelmed. I am used to drinking fine French and Italian wines but couldn't find any so odered a decent little Borolo, not great but drinkable. There list consists of middle of the road wines from $30-60. Okay for most restaurants but not for one that portrays itself as having great wines. Promptly ordered food. Dinner companion had the seafood fettuccine $48 and I opted to get several appetizers, starting with the Moroccan Scallops. The sauce was great, the 3 SMALL scallops were overcooked. Not impressed for $22 (the prices I quote from memory and may be off by a dollar or two). The scallops and shrimp in friend's seafood pasta dish ($48!!!!) were also overcooked but he said the sauce was great. Then I had some kind of bacon and herb "cheesecake " spread served with baguette, tasty. Next was their Sesame Ahi Tuna. What a disappointment. The sesame sear was nice, but the ahi was run through with connective tissue, not acceptable at this kind of price and supposedly good restaurant. I also ordered their signature appetizer, Not So Cheap Dates. Well, at least the name was correct....the bacon was good, tasty but not salty. However the dates were mushy, not a good mouth feel. My companion said that they were much better in the past. We also tried the 100 Years of Port. These were the 10, 20, 30 and 40 year Grahams Tawny ports. We were wondering at the big pours of each of these for a total price of $25, but learned why when we drank them. Graham's makes a lesser port. We were able to get through the 30.and 40 year samples, but found the 10 and 20 year undrinkable. Good idea for the flight of ports but I would suggest using a producer that makes good port. So, all in all, hugely disappointed. I don't see going again unless someone is taking me, or they somehow change course. Too bad, I loved the ambience and really wanted to come again and sit in the downstairs area and I was really looking forward to my...

I have eaten here a few times and I've always been let down by the food. Aside from their grape tap greens salad which also happens to be the cheapest thing on their menu so don't waste your money on anything else. The salad is actually really good, although nothing more than greens with blueberries, granola, and dressing. The only reason I went back to grape tap recently was because I was given a $100 gift card (I still ended up spending an additional $80 for me and my two friends) we ordered a few dishes for the table to share. The $45 salad we got was nothing more than terrible. The chicken was so dry it was inedible. We were also baffled that the salad cost so much for minimal ingredients. The sliders were also very dry and hard to chew. The gnocchi was flavorless. The sauce was decent though. The crab brie dip was alright but not worth the price. The only reason I'm giving 2 stars is because when we expressed our concerns to the waitress we were given two free desserts for the table. I would have much rather had them deduct the terrible salad or give us a discount. The desserts were no better than the main dishes. We got the peanut butter mud pie and the brownie was so tasteless and dense that it couldn't be eaten. The creme brulee was flat and tiny. Just save a lot of money and skip grape tap.

Editing to add: Grape Tap's response to my review was written 3 months after my initial review. I find it hard to believe they actually remember this specific order when they have had so many customers since. Stating that the food sat for a substantial amount of time is a flat out lie. There were three of us, the amount of food in each dish is lacking, we split everything, and we had a limited amount of time to make it to a movie on time so no it was not sitting at all. Yes we finished the brie dip and garden salad. No we didn't finish the way over priced dry chicken salad or the gnocchi. My sister tried to choke down the chicken as not to waste it. I ended up taking the leftovers home and threw them away. Yes we each ate a slider and all agreed they were very dry and I'm not exaggerating when I say hard to swallow. They were tiny so didn't take much to finish it. When we talked to the waitress(looks like maybe the owner) only half of the $180 worth of food had been eaten. Maybe it looked like we had eaten more because the dishes are so small. I don't remember being asked if we would like our meal taken back and fixed but if that was the case we wouldn't have been able to anyways because like I said we had limited time to spend at their restaurant. Like I said, I've eaten at Grape Tap a few times in the past for birthdays or other celebrations and was never impressed. The ONLY reason I went back again was because I had a gift card. It wasn't even worth it because I ended up spending almost twice as much as the gift card. Glad to hear you made...

Ok so I been here many time many many times and usually my go to is the Bri and definitely the filet it’s always good.. except for yesterday. I never write bad reviews I just don’t it’s like people who always just have something negative to say. On that note here’s where it gets dumb. I didn’t even have to look at the menu I knew what I wanted orderd for me and my girl both the filet. It took a bit the waiter was super nice got me a nice red. Food came out I asked for medium rare it came out raw in middle I tried to eat it I couldn’t I asked if they could make it better for me I got a new steak all right so 12 min later not long I get steak I eat most of it and don’t say a word I could finish it left what was a steak that was obviously cooked supe long on just one side so one side was well the the other was rare.. this was a first for me. I wouldn’t of cared at the old price of 22 bucks for a 5oz but the new almost double price got me too lol. The waiter noticed once again it was rare. He said let me take five bucks off lol... when 25% of my steak was left not eaten and obviously raw again! I still tipped but I won’t be back I’d recommend Everett’s or settlers for the price it’s not worth it and it was honestly a ruined date night thanks grape tap. Only reason I gave two stars instead of one cause the wine...