Chris R.
Yelp
Our family chose Winewood Grill for what we hoped would be a memorable Christmas dinner in the "Christmas Capital of Texas." With seven of us celebrating together and a bill exceeding $700, we anticipated an evening that matched both the reputation of Grapevine during the holidays and the warm, festive charm of the restaurant's main dining areas.
To Winewood's credit, the atmosphere upon entry was exactly what we were hoping for..beautifully decorated, lively, warm, and filled with holiday energy. Christmas lights, music, and a bustling dining room set the perfect tone.
Unfortunately, the experience shifted dramatically when we were led through that inviting space and into a stark, undecorated back room that felt more like a corporate meeting space than part of a holiday dining experience. The lighting was harsh, the décor nonexistent, and the silence (aside from the sound of silverware being retrieved from storage in the same room) was genuinely uncomfortable. Instead of a festive Christmas dinner, it felt like we had been placed in overflow seating with no ambiance at all. For an occasion as special as a family Christmas meal, this was a significant disappointment.
Our server, to his credit, was excellent--friendly, attentive, knowledgeable, and confident in his recommendations. We ordered the special surf-and-turf entrée, all cooked medium-rare. While everyone else's meals arrived correctly, mine was extremely overcooked...very very well-done by any standard. I almost never send food back, but given the price point and special occasion, it needed to be right.
What followed was the most discouraging part of the evening. It took over 20 minutes for my replacement entrée to arrive, during which the rest of my family had nearly finished eating. When the corrected plate finally came, it arrived without the "turf," requiring another wait. The person who brought it wasn't our original waiter and offered little acknowledgment of the disruption. There was no apology, no offer of a small bite while waiting, and no gesture on the bill...not even something as simple as removing the cost of the entrée that had delayed the entire experience. It was treated as casually as forgetting to refill a water glass.
At this price point, and for a holiday dinner meant to be special, the lack of accommodation made the mistake feel much larger than it had to be.
Scores
Ambience: 1/5 (Main dining room: beautiful. Assigned room: completely opposite.)
Value: 2/5 (A $700+ meal should never feel this uneven.)
Food: 4/5 (When prepared correctly, very good.)
Friendliness & Accommodation: 2/5 (Great server, but no recovery effort from the kitchen or management.)
Winewood Grill clearly has the potential to deliver a wonderful dining experience. The entrance and main areas show that. But placement in a stark back room with no atmosphere, combined with a mishandled entrée and no meaningful service recovery, made what should have been a special Christmas dinner feel disappointing and awkward.
I don't enjoy posting negative reviews, but this experience missed nearly every mark that a holiday evening of this cost and intention should meet. With some attention to guest placement and more proactive service recovery, Winewood could have turned this into a very different review.