The Vineyard Lounge at the Marcus Whitman Hotel

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.  We've always loved our stay at the hotel and have made it a point to visit the Vineyard Lounge every chance we have.  The Vineyard usually partners with a local winery for their wine specials, which have always been great for us.  They also offer great local wines (Long Shaddow, Gramercy, L'Ecole, etc.).  Their appetizers are outstanding, especially if you can take advantage of their happy hours.  The staff has been very friendly.  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.  It was a big disappointment.  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.  The only thing that saved the evening was the $5 happy hour glass of L'Ecole wine, which was delicious.

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.