XO Restaurant Wine & Chocolate Lounge

I have no reason to not give this place 5 stars. While I didn't eat here, I certainly thought the bartender was very friendly as was the rest of the staff I encountered.

Apparently they have two levels, I did not go upstairs so I can't rate that area but the bartender told us that we could go upstairs to hear some live music and that they have a lounge area.  The customer service was good.

We stayed at the downstairs bar and sat at the dining area, some bars won't let you sit in the dining area if you're just drinking but it was pretty quiet.  We asked if it was okay to sit at a table since the bar was full and they had no problem with it and in fact were accommodating.

I enjoyed my wine, while it was a tad too quiet in the bar it was certainly preferred over the usual ear bleeding, screaming to talk bar atmosphere.  And we always had the option to move upstairs with the live music.

Overall, I would definitely go back. Friendly service, decent wine selection and I liked the lighting. The place was very clean including the bathrooms.

And they're open late which is a plus!

Really like this place. If you're looking for a romantic, intimate ambiance-this is the place to go. The lighting is dark, there are candles. The two times I have gone it wasn't too crowded, and the tables are spread out nicely so you have privacy. The shrimp/lobster mac and cheese is good. My favorite apps were the pulled pork dumplings and the calamari. I'm very picky with calamari but this one was delicious. It had a thai peanut chilli sauce, which I loved. It wasn't overly battered either. For an entre, I really enjoyed the pan seared scallops. I'd like to go back and try one of the pasta dishes. The service is very attentive, and extremely friendly. Upstairs, on weekends you can watch live music for a more upbeat atmosphere, and have drinks since there is another bar up there. I hope XO sticks around. I wasn't really impressed with the death by choclate cake, but the fondue was to die for.

Such a huge disappointment!!! I hate to give a negative review on here, but XO was so bad I feel compelled to share my experience.

We went to the original XO and really enjoyed it, but the new incarnation is a total disaster. What was supposed to be a romantic dinner date turned out to be one of my all-time worst experiences at a restaurant in my life.

First, no one greeted us when we arrived, so we awkwardly stood around not knowing where to go or who to speak with.  I instantly felt uncomfortable and like the restaurant didn't care about its guests.

Finally someone acknowledged us, and looked at her reservations list for our name, which she couldn't find. Mind you, the restaurant called me to confirm my reservation only a few hours earlier.

The woman then disappeared for a solid 10 minutes, so we continued standing around. She finally came back and brought us upstairs. We sat down and immediately noticed that it was FREEZING cold with a draft enveloping our table. We eventually said something to the wait staff and they actually "raised the heat to 70" for us. Thanks.

Around 9:30pm we ordered our dinner, which sounded like it would be delicious. Also, we were starving from a long day. Cue the HOUR-LONG wait.

At long last, our meals arrived. I ordered scallops with a lemon crab risotto, and guess what I saw on my plate. Scallops with RICE. Seriously! A huge pile of regular old rice you could make in a microwave, with a few shreds of crab mixed in. My husband ordered a lamb dish with some kind of cherry reduction. His plate was covered in the kind of cherry liquid you would see on an ice cream sundae. Really? We waited an hour for this?

After the thoroughly disappointing entrees, we shared a few truffles. The milk chocolate and hazelnut ones were good but the Oreo one was surprisingly gross. At least the wine was nice.

All in all, XO gave us a horrendous experience and I definitely will not dine there again. It's really a shame because the menu is good on paper, the concept is unique for Huntington, and it really seemed like a promising addition to the local restaurant scene. If you like spending $30 for a plate of rice, XO is for you. If not, try someplace else!