We've stayed at the Marcus Whitman Hotel over the last 3 years when visiting our son, who's going to college in the area. Â We've always loved our stay at the hotel and have made it a point to visit the Vineyard Lounge every chance we have. Â The Vineyard usually partners with a local winery for their wine specials, which have always been great for us. Â They also offer great local wines (Long Shaddow, Gramercy, L'Ecole, etc.). Â Their appetizers are outstanding, especially if you can take advantage of their happy hours. Â The staff has been very friendly. Â Despite being challenge to satisfy all fo the guests, they do a great job and are always wiling to asnwers you questions, regardless of how busy they are.
We're from San Diego and would love to have a locale like the Vineyard in San Diego to go to.
My friend and I were super excited to try this place during our first stay in Walla Walla. Â It was a big disappointment. Â The food was extremely bland and dry. For appetizers, we ordered the caprese and the lemon hummus. The caprese was fine, but the hummus was one of the most flavorless dishes I've ever had. For dinner, I had the fish tacos and she had the prime burger sliders. Mine had zero flavor and I couldn't take more than a couple of bites. They also brought me fish and chips originally and took that meal back and replaced it with the tacos. I am fairly certain they chopped up the fish from the fish and chips dish and stuck it in the tacos. The sliders were overcooked and were so dry they were difficult to swallow. They desperately needed some sort of sauce. Â The only thing that saved the evening was the $5 happy hour glass of L'Ecole wine, which was delicious.
Review Source:Since I have previously written a lukewarm to negative review for the restuarant at the Marc I would like to share that I have since had a series of extremely positive experiences at the Vineyard Lounge. The February for Foodies four course tasting menu paired with Long Shadows wines was fantastic. The three course tasting menu paired with beers was fun and delicious.. The appetizers have been outstanding. Most importantly, excellent service is paired with the high quality, local food. Silas in particular delivers outstanding service. He is extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic about food and spirits, and is fun and gracious at the same time. A great asset for the Marc.
Review Source:I really enjoyed my visit here. I was in town for work and this was down the street from where I was staying. Someone had given me directions to go here and finding the lounge was a little confusing the way I came from the back parking lot. I had to walk a long time once inside to get to it but it was worth it once I found it. Some signs to make it easier to find would be nice though since I wasn't sure if I was going the right way until I finally got there. The ambience was upscale but mellow and the food and service were really great! As usual, when I'm alone, I sat at the bar. The bartender was really cool and had moved from SF so we were able to chat about that. I saw that they had Amavi syrah by the glass so I had to get some since I'd been at the winery with my colleagues just that afternoon and only had a taste. I was enjoying the wine and told the bartender how much I loved it and that I'd been to the winery that day. He said that the winemaker was in the kitchen and introduced me to Jean-Francois who makes the wine for Amavi and Pepper Bridge wineries. Nice guy and fab vino! Pepper Bridge Winery had given me a card for a complimentary appetizer and told me how great it was so that's how I knew to come here. I had the parsnip soup (of the day) topped with crispy winter root veggie chips. The soup was perfect! I also had the oxtail ravioli and that was fantastic too! It was an awesome meal and I would eat here again if I'm ever back in Walla Walla Valley.
Review Source:I could talk about our amateurly-executed cocktails, but it was with my salad, though, where we really went off the rails. Â I'm sure that they were going for 'deconstructed caesar salad', but what I got was 3 things that didn't belong on the same plate. Â
There were some barely dressed romaine spears, a small pile of sun dried tomato puree instead of the olive tapenade described in the menu, and then the crouton. Â It was, at first glance, a big piece of cheesy toast. Â "Mmm, cheesy toast", I said, taking a big bite. Â Imagine the three different types of surprise that played across my face when it turns out to have been a cheese-covered 'egg-in-the-hole', with a fried egg in the middle of the bread; the crispy toast giving way to a mushy and uncooked-french-toast taste & sensation as I try to figure out what is going on in my mouth while my wife asked "what's wrong" and I genuinely didn't know what to say. Â This wasn't on the menu, the waitress never told me what it was, the restaurant apparently thinking that I would be charmed by the gustatory jape.
I guess I didn't get the joke. Â It seemed like an Iron Chef-gone-wrong sort of idea. Â And besides being a bad idea, it was a worse surprise.
This was our second visit to the Lounge, the first was strongly unimpressive, this one guarantees it'll be our last.
Not a fan of the overall decor of the lounge (or the hotel), but the service, wine and food were all great. Matt (the bartender) was exceedingly professional in the face of a drunk and mildly belligerent guest (who, thankfully, left without much of a fuss).
Chester Kidder (Longshadows) for $13 a glass -- that's a DEAL (the bottle retails for about $50 and is $74 on the restaurant wine list)! Really good tempura veggies (not too greasy and not overly breaded) and good Asian dipping sauces. Had steak salad and substituted the peanut sauce which goes with the beef kabobs for the salad dressing -- it was a little thick for a dressing but tasted wonderful!
The Marcus Whitman is pretty fancy shmancy, but we made it here for drinks on a Friday night. Â I was surprised to see some Cachaca 51, so I, of course ordered a caipirinha. Â It was decent. Â They have seating outside, and they had the Mariner's game on at the bar. Â But we were here for drinks, and they abided.
Review Source:We started off our Friday night having drinks and nibbles at The Vineyard. Was a bit confused about where the restaurant started and the lounge began, but we figured it out and the four of us cozied up to the bar. (If you walk past the bar though, the room you end up in looks study-esque, with fireplace included, where one - or a group - could really enjoy a nice drink on a cold evening.)
Knowing we'd be indulging in wine the next day, we opted for cocktails and bubbles. Was disappointed to discover two choices for bubbles by the glass AND they weren't even local...turns out one winery in Walla Walla "might" produce the fizzy stuff. The wine menu showcased a nice breadth of what the region has to offer - with no one winery, seemingly, being shown any preference.
Because we'd JUST endured a 4.5 hour drive, we were all a bit famished and decided on two small plates (the full dinner menu is available in the lounge) to tide us over till dinner - the Ahi Skewers and Garlic Cheese flat bread. The two items were tasty and perfect for sharing, BUT the skewers app only came with three skewers, which forced two of us to split one. =(
Overall, the experience here was good, but not exceptional. Our bartender kept us entertained by eavesdropping and chiming in on our various conversations - NOT a big deal...she was a cool gal. If it were possible, I'd give The Vineyard 3.5 stars because it wasn't so terrible that I wouldn't go back...oh, and it seems that in a downtown where most establishments close by 10pm, The Vineyard is open till midnight-ish.
I stayed at the Marcus Whitman last night and dined at the Vineyard. I love the atmosphere - they had a nice warm fire going and a plentiful amount of cozy cushioned chairs to sit on. So why the three stars?
The service was blah. I think they must have been understaffed. I don't know how else to explain the slow, abrupt service. In a bar, you want to be able to chat with your server and at least have some suggestions about the menu. My waiter didn't have any favorites on the menu...a bit odd if you ask me. The food was GOOD, though - not amazing, but definitely worth the price. I had fish and homemade chips (delicious) and calamari (YUM). I just wish the service was better...
Fancy, swank, plush, good cocktails, good wine list, not terribly overpriced for how swank it is, and HAPPY HOUR!
Stopped in on the 4th for a happy hour, and enjoyed a nice bottle of local red with a few $5 apps. A hefty serving of some GREAT local sweet onion rings, a quite good cold cantaloupe soup (cantaloupe, almonds, vanilla, and a little proscuitto on top), and some pretty darn good fish tacos. All three seriously hit the spot.
We walked in around 430 to a few people sitting at the bar, and by the time we left an hour later, the place was pretty crowded. I guess this is the local HH spot (or at least it was on the 4th, when most of the rest of town was closed down). Â
There's a main bar area, and then a back room with big comfy chairs, couches, and coffee tables. A great spot for enjoying a cocktail or wine and some tasty bites. Â
Our server was great. Totally on-point, friendly, and helpful with some local hints. Â
Good stuff.
Classy, elegant bar. Dinner menu available. Bar menu available late night. Pleasing wine selection. Great ambiance. Classic bartenders. Friendly service. Good sushi. But there's more... Â A nice crowd. A genuinely great group of folks hang out in this bar and are always welcoming to a new face. Stop in for a visit when you're here. Relax and kick back by the fireplace or out on the patio and make some new friends. Always a good time. Guaranteed.
Update: Â Sometimes service is slow, but it's worth the wait.
HINT: Check out the lobby of the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel before you leave. Pound out a number or two on the grand piano.
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