D'Vino Cafe' & Wine Bar

Absolutely Awful!

This wine bar is connected to Dominic's Italian Restaurant.  Do NOT waste your time or money. I can't remember the last time I had an experience this bad at a restaurant. I used to be a server, my husband used to work in a kitchen, I feel we are reasonable critics.

The Service:
horrible. I really don't know if I can describe how clueless and unprofessional the staff are. We called for a reservation and the woman made my husband repeat the request several times...4 people at 7 pm. We got there a little late (got lost - the combo of yelp address and our phone's map took us to the police station) and the place was almost empty (guess reservations weren't needed).  We sat down and a very unprofessional young kid finally came over to take our drink order. He was snippy and rude. To save space and to keep this review short I'll highlight the exceptionally bad parts:
*he put in our order (we watched him) he did it wrong and then yelled at his coworkers about using the computer wrong
*he doesn't know the menu at all -- had clue what burrata was (one of their specials for the day)
*he was sarcastic to us
*my husband asked for a class of cab sav...the guy came back and told us they were out of sav blanc (dude, you work in a wine bar, at least learn your wine).
*the woman (equally clueless) took our order, well she tried, got overwhelmed, and had to go get a piece of paper (there were 4 of us). Then she gave the scribbles to our waiter and we watched him to enter in the computer (this was about 10 min after we gave her our order and he had to get help to enter it), when the runners brought the food out they were all fighting about where it was supposed to go -- he entered it wrong again. Mind you this wine bar is one room. There were 3 other tables taken. We were sitting in the middle of the room, 5 feet from where they were fighting. We finally had to say it's ours!
*the clueless woman took waters to another table. She did this by sticking her fingers down into the four empty glasses to carry them to the table, then came back to get the water jug. Gross. I don't want your fingers in my cup.

I hope the entire staff was high, that would be the only way I could understand their behavior.

The Food:

Um, the best part of our meal was the free breadsticks if that says anything.  I had wedding soup, my husband got the special -- Shrimp filled ravioli with a garlic, crab and shallot tomato cream sauce, my brother-in-law got the margarita pizza and his girlfriend got some mushroom and cream pasta.  My soup was bland, the pizza looked a little soggy (the tomatoes were diced and large -- if you're going to bake pizza with tomatoes they must be thin or else it gets soggy!), and the mushroom dish looked and tasted like something you could heat up from the freezer.  

Now to my husband's dish. The daily special. It was most definitely frozen and pre-prepared (if not, i feel bad for that chef).  The shrimp in the ravioli were those little tiny shrimp you sometimes see in mexican-style shrimp cocktail. Not what we expected. The 'cream' sauce was just the tomato sauce they serve with the breadsticks. We complained about this and one of the waiters had the nerve to tell us that we were mistaken and this was the correct sauce. We persisted and he went to ask the chef. He came back and still claimed it was the correct sauce, but they forgot the crab. I call BS.  

I'm adding a picture -- you decide. Is the sauce pictured garlic, shallot and crab in tomato cream? The answer is no, it is not. The only hint of pink color (telltale sign cream has been added to tomato is from the cheese spilling from the inside of the shrimp ravioli).  We demanded they take it off the bill, to their credit they did.

I'm upset that we wasted our money on their crappy food and horrible service. ALL of the workers in the bar area should be fired. I don't understand how this place is still in business, I am also baffled by the good reviews it received on yelp.

Very cute place. Definitely stop by for dessert and a glass of good wine. Service was excellent and prices are quite reasonable. It's kinda stored away in the corner so its really quiet. If you are on the pier and a wine lover, do stop by.

It was Sunday evening and the place was light to moderately busy. I was expecting a hole in the wall but it is a large cafe that has outdoor dining. We sat at the bar and had a pleasant view of the harbor - the music helped create an intimate atmosphere. Our bartender Pam was knowledgeable and helpful in our wine selections.

We had a Groupon and this was one of the best experiences using one.   Finally, an establishment that realizes if they offer a first class experience people wil return.  The prices ere very reasonable and I can't wait to return with friends