Vinoteca | Restaurant & Bar

Matt Harris

Calimari. Hmmmm

jjacks 01

Take out-first time - clams luiguini-very good

oaklanddba

We really wanted to like this place. It was quiet and tucked away. A good spot to rest and enjoy dinner. My husband ordered lasagna that was just over 1” tall, filled with meat ground to a pulp mixed with bechamel and over spiced sauce. I had the chicken parm. Sadly, it was fried to hardness, a nutty dark brown sure to cause acid stomach, which was guaranteed when I tasted the robustly oreganoed marinara. I grew up in New York and this was the spiciest tomatoe sauce I’ve tried. Service was in no way attentive. The happy hour crowd has the place sliding into what feels like a bar fly hiding hole. And then the bill arrived declaring that if we chose to use a credit card, we would have to pay 4.3% more…though I didn’t bring my lawyer to review the terms and conditions of service in a hospitality environment, I probably should have. What good will or pity we had for the place evaporated at that point. We paid cash and headed home for alka seltzer. An hour later and we are still suffering for taking a chance. Officially off the list.

Joe Somename

It was the first time at this restaurant and was hoping to have a great experience but was very much disappointed. Restaurant was underwhelming, boarder on just clean enough that if you were not paying attention that you would not see how dingy the space was. The staff were friendly. Most of the customers were leftovers from the happy hour. The bread that was served was almost hard as if it had sat out most of the day. The food was ok, not very inspired. Chickenparm was over fried, the pasta was cooked well while the sauce lacked flavor other than tasting of one herb. The lasagna was pipping hot from being in a pizza oven to heat, so they got the right! The lasagna itself was made of finely ground meat (which made it taste weird) with very little pasta and no trace of ricotta cheese. The sauce used to top the lasagna tasted like it was not fresh made. We are exploring new Italian restaurants and after our meal felt this restaurant would be at the very bottom of our return list but not fully off the table for future consideration. When the bill came there was a cash price and card price listed. The restaurant charges you to use your credit card on already highly priced food. Fortunately, We had adequate cash to cover the bill and tip so we did not have to pay a card fee. If a restaurant cannot absorb the cost of doing business then raise your prices. Banks charge business customers to process cash just as credit card processors charge transactions fees so this fee makes no sense. The card fee is what pushed this restaurant off our return to list. Lastly, as I write this review my stomach feels as though I have a 20 lb rock sitting in my stomach and I am wondering what I was served that was not fresh…very very very very dissatisfied and disappointed because friends said this place was great at one time.