Vignola
| Address: | 10 Dana St, Portland, ME 04101, USA |
| Phone: | +1 207-772-1330 |
| Site: | vignolamaine.com |
| Rating: | 3.8 |
| Working: | 5–9PM 5–9PM 5–9PM 5–9PM 5–10PM 5–10PM 5–9PM |
Location
Photos 87
Reviews 5
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Rob Payne
I dont think Ive ever written a negative review but this place really chapped my ass. Aesthetically, this place looks amazing... In the front. It reminds you of nice places in historic Charleston, Savannah, and Boston. The wine list is also very good. Food wise this place is one of the worst Italian restaurants Ive ever been to. The charcuterie is very over priced for what it is. This place wants to be taken seriously, but its hard to continue doing so when they cant even do a charcuterie correctly. (It had some type of pork that reminded me of a bad version of Carolina mustard bbq... Just stop.) To that point, here is a note to the entire northeastern United States; if you are trying to imitate a southern style of cooking... Such as bbq, maybe you should actually try that meal rather than just looking up a recipe for white or mustard bbq sauce. This crap was so bland Im not sure if it was white or mustard sauce. However, Newks Eatery does whatever this place was trying to do 9999x better. Its an insult to the customer. My dates salad was bad... Yep, I said it, the salad was bad. My risotto was ok, but at that point I was done with this place. The charcuterie really rustled my jimmies. Lol at the guy who said it was good. The most disappointing thing about this place is the hosting. The front of the restaurant is amazing. Gorgeous light fixtures, low lighting, big windows, wood floors... So why are you putting two attractive young people dressed very fashionably in the back room that looks like the new Mellow Mushroom in Warner Robbins, Ga when you have five open non reserved tables in the front? Thats pathetic. I understand if its a bunch of kids or underdressed people, but that was not the case. This is the only saving grace of this place and your hosting staff is throwing people in the back like sardines... Genius business plan, fellas. Our server was great though. Long haired shorter guy... Fantastic! Hes the only reason this place didnt get a one star. Ugh. I feel like a doucher Yelp reviewer now.
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A Private User
Our group of six was looking for dinner at 10pm on a Saturday night which is surprisingly harder than it would seem. We stumbled into Vignola, and were pleasantly surprised to find they were still serving. Our waiter took our drink orders, and when we told him we were ready to order, he said, "well Im not ready yet" and left the table. He came back about 15 minutes later, took our orders with a curt and surly attitude, and left us again for another 15 minutes without bothering to check on us. Not sure what he was doing, as the restaurant was only half full and there were four waiters. He almost took my head off when I held up my wine glass to be filled, snapping at me to "just put it down on the table." Fortuntately for him, it was a good bottle of wine, cant complain about their extensive wine and cheese selections. THe menu, however, is a bit sparse and I felt backed into a corner, finally deciding on a pizza which was decent but overpriced. All the meals came at different times, one of our friends who is pregnant asked for the dessert menu, as she wanted chocolate cake for dinner. Our meals came and went and no cake for her. My husband got up to address our waiters poor service, and found said waiter enjoying a glass of wine in the waitstaff section of the restaurant. I guess the restaurant policy of adding 20% gratuity to all parties of six or more bought him immunity from having to be anything but prompt or pleasant. Will never dine there again, and will make it perfectly clear to all fellow diners to avoid this potentially charming bistro at all costs. Also, when my husband tried to let the management know about the poor service, the bartender was apparently the highest authority on duty that night. When we called the next day, during the lunch shift on a Sunday, there was still no manager on duty. We did receive a call from the manager promptly after placing the call, and he offered us a gift certificate which we declined, and then he offered to reimburse us for our meal.
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Julia Scott
My husband and I decided to try this restaurant on the eve of my birthday. I didnt realize that it was such a large restaurant! I was worried at first, because section near the front entrance/bar was VERY loud. However, I was pleasantly surprised when we were showed the section in back that was very mellow with a pleasant atmosphere. We were seated at an awkwardly placed table (in the middle of the room next to some kind of metal beam), and it struck me just how plain the place was (not in a good, modern way). There was one tea-light per table and the silverware had a very cheap feel to it. Food-wise, the burrata with speck was probably one of the best tasting appetizers Ive ever had in Portland. The mussels were so-so. For an entree, I ordered the lamb which came out VERY tough and chewy. My husband ordered the steak with fingerling potatoes. What he received was steak with FRENCH FRIES. Im sorry, but that is unacceptable. If the chef ran out of fingerling potatoes, s/he should have had the waitress check with us to see what we though a reasonable substitution would be. For the price of those entrees, we never should have seen a fry on any plate. Additionally, the knives we were given to cut our tough meat with were more dull than butter knives. Overall, service wasnt bad, food was sub-par for the price, and atmosphere/decor needed some serious work. I dont think well be coming here for dinner again.
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MARY CAPUTO
Horrible experience. Even with a reservation, we had to wait. They sat is next to a screaming baby. Oh, you say "Babies are cute". Uh, not this one... The wine list is a joke. I saw no Reisling listed and asked about it. They had NO Reisling. She offered a Moscato instead. If I wanted a melted popsicle I would have ordered one. I ordered mussels and was disgusted by the "liver" like flavor that they possessed. My companion had the Frito misto. The tiniest fried oysters (3) were served. I truly think they divided one oyster into 3 parts,battered and fried it. There were also 2 way overcooked shrimp and a small handful of calamari, all served with an unremarkable sauce. The prices are sky high for this overrated food. Do NOT be fooled into thinking this place has the panache it did a few years ago. It is completely substandard in every way.
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A Private User
We stopped by Vignola based on menu and looks. A mistake. Go if you feel like being a bit of a sucker. They did not want to seat us with a small child though they had many empty tables. Said that we had to wait 15 minutes. So we went to the bar. Then they waited to serve us, served others multiple times. But when ordered the food, it was very overpriced, and they substitued undercooked rice for the Mhamsa couscous. When we asked about the this, they said the chef said it was, I kid you not, "asian couscous". We left, because we thought this was a kind of racism against us (I am indian), and think minorities should steer of this place. Very unhappy with this, and reflects poorly on Portland ME.
