In Vino (Reported Closed)

Food is mediocre and the service is horrendous! One star cannot even describe how terrible the service is!!

My friends and I went to the restaurant on a Sunday night. We ordered a few bottles of wine, appetizers to share and an entrée each and the food came out bland and was not cooked properly. When my friend ordered her steak medium rare and it came out tough and brown in the centre, she naturally tried it and sent it back. The owner had the audacity to come out and lectured her in front of the entire restaurant making a scene; condescendingly asking if she really wanted to send it back. Then the servers huddled around the bar staring and gossiping about our table. Our server didn’t even come back to fill up our water glasses but had the nerve to add a 20% gratuity for our table of 5. (Note: the policy on the website states it is applied for groups of 6 or more)

What made the overall experience so terrible was the completely disrespectful attitude of the owner. He even pulled out his phone to show us what the definition of ‘medium rare’ is… Really?? When New York restaurants are a dime a dozen, you would think this shitty little hole in the wall would treat its customers with respect. Instead this restaurant owner and its servers lectured us at our table, charged us for the full price of the uneaten, overcooked steak, added a 20% gratuity arbitrarily and spoiled a perfect fun night. Avoid this place unless you want a scolding with your bland, overcooked and overpriced food. Left with such a bad taste in my mouth just like their food!

Wine not Food – I am not a big fan of eating in cellars or mud huts, so I find it strange that Invino has decorated its walls with a rough sand texture that reminds me of both. But I guess if you have to distinguish yourself from the dozens of other bistros that have sprung up in Alphabet city, it could be worse.

I had the Tre Insalate, three salads, a mint lentil, a bell pepper peporanta and an eggplant salad. The lentil salad barely tasted of mint. The bell pepper peporanta, roasted peppers had not had their skins removed, but the salad was very good.

We had a pasta dinner with Bocatini di Liguria, Bocatini in a nice pesto sauce, but strangely without pine nuts. Pappardelle con Gamberi Arrabbiati, spicy shrimp with papparadella. The shrimp needed more spice and a lot less salt.

You have the feeling that the chef is self taught, talented, but not experienced. Some dishes like Tre Insalate, antipasti, are enormous, while the Carciofi alla Giudea, literally artichokes in the Jewish style, is very small.

I am being a little unfair, most people go to a wine bar for the wine and In Vino had a tremendous and well chosen wine selection. We had the Primativo, a rustic red, that stands up to highly flavored food without being abrasive.

The food was good, dinner for three was $ 100, but go there for the wine.

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My favorite Italian restaurant in the East Village – The waiters are all really knowledgeable and friendly. It's a little cozy so you may have to grab a glass of wine while you wait. The food is delicious! We haven't had anything we've disliked yet. We took some friends there from out of town and they had a great time! It's become our go-to for Italian by our apartment and for taking friends from out of town b/c we know know we will be guaranteed good food, good wine and good service.

Not impressed – The food is eeHh......service is non existant....wait stuff is rude......it's not worth the price at all. Plenty of better places in this area. Do not waste your money and time!

amazing service, wine and food – We had a late staff holiday party here last Sunday. Zach took good care of us from the start. He suggested delicious wines to go with our entrees and pampered us with the most amazing service. I was the only vegetarian in the group, but the gnocchi bianco was the best I have ever had. Everyone else seemed to love their steaks and lamb as well. The tiramisu and creme brulee were also too good for words. This was a company party, but we all agreed individually that we would definitely be back!

we hada a good time at Vino – I came here with three friends. We were advised to order 2-3 plates per person, so we chose to order several plates and all the sides offered that night.

We came a little before the dinner crowd started to arrive, and it was a Sunday evening, which probably played a factor.

Service was fine. We had plenty of attention during our time there and there no glitches otherwise.

Food? Based on the way our wait staff explained our options, and on the way the food looked and tasted when it came out, I had a feeling that the menu here hasn't really changed in a long time and that people are making this food with their eyes closed.

Overall, we had a good time, and the food was tasty.

Great Wine – walked in at lunch and asked for a wine to be decanted ahead for dinner. arrived at dinner and wine was the right temperature, perfectly decanted, waiting for us. great service, great food, great location, could not ask for much more. the special risotto was a highlight.

Excellent food, wine selection and service! – Eight of us went to In Vino for a birthday celebration last week and were delighted by the quality of the food and the service at a very decent price. Having been there several years ago for the wine selection I was a bit uncertain about what to expect from the food but thought the laidback environment would suit our purposes.

Indeed, while the food menu is not extensive, everything was excellent. I had the skirt steak which was perfectly cooked and my friends loved the special risotto. The pasta was less impressive but still good.

The wine selection (Italian only) is deep and the prices reasonable (despite the occasional triple digit bottle, most of the bottles were in the $40 range). Unfortunately, 2 of the wines we asked for were unavailable (the suave had been consumed the night before by a large group and not restocked yet) but our waiter Zach was great in recommending alternatives. Overall, everyone on the staff was super nice and made us feel very welcome-no stuck-up pretenciousness so often found at NY restaurants.

We had brought cake from outside (for which the restaurant charges a small fee) so we did not try the desserts. Overall, great experience, highly recommended if you are looking for quality food, good wine selection, relaxed ambiance and reasonable prices.

Great ambiance and wine selection – I took my fiance here on Friday and we had a lovely date night. The wine selection is amazing, offering some nice variety in the regions available and pricing. The food was exceptionally prepared and delicious. We started the evening with a meat antipasto which was a nice generous serving. He had the skirt steak and I had the lamb chops. Both were seasoned and cooked perfectly. His creme Brule was exceptional, and I had a lovely cheese plate from the very nice selections they offer. My only complaint is that our server was not very attentive, though the table of single ladies across from us seemed to be get loads of attention. The ambiance is beautiful and the place is definitely worth a try.

The right place for great Italian wine and food – Arriving early definitely pays here, the small place packs out quickly after 7.30. Once you sit, unpretentious, but very courteous and knowledgeable wait staff will take very good care of you, make great wine recommendations (and let you try a few if you are not sure!). The courses come at a casual pace, food is great (pasta starter, steak and lamb were all great). It seems that a key employment prerequisite is love for food and wine, and that definitely helps to make this place a winner.

Ownership change seems to work – Had dinner on a Sat eve a week ago, group of 10, waited for about 40 minutes to be seated. The receptionist girl was nice although a bit insecure like not on the job for too long. The restaurant recently changed owners. If previous reviews are anything to go by, they also must have changed the entire staff and the chefs because the food was awesome and authentic and the service was great as well. The wines were fantastic and very competitively priced. Great place.

Disappointing – It all started well with fine bread and a nice bitter olive oil. The waiter was friendly and attentive but I wouldn't have known that there were specials if I hadn't asked him. The lamb chops I ordered were nicely done, but overly salty (and I like salt!) and the wine sauce too strong . I think they actually salted the chops after cooking since the sauce wasn't as salty as the chops themselves. (Is there a kosher salt craze at the moment? Same problem at Gustation). The oven-roasted potatoes were luke-warm (even after I sent them back for reheating) and tired tasting. The spinach with garlic was passable.

Maybe the pastas are what one needs to order?

You wouldn't like it, it's not cool enough. – Yeah, this place is definitely not cool enough for a cool person like you!

I hesitate to give this place the review it deserves, for fear that I'll never be able to get a seat there again. I think this is a truly great wine bar / restaurant. Love the place. Admittedly, I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to wine, but the wine section didn't just impress me-- it impressed friends and family who are far more knowledgeable than I. Combine that with a friendly, knowledgeable, and eager-to-help staff, and I might end up a wine connoisseur yet.

I've been disappointed with one, maybe two of the food items there, (perhaps my expectations for the stuffed olives were just too high to be realistic) but the rest of the items were great. Would I go back there? Bah! The only question is "how soon will I go back there?"

If you like to go out with your "bro's" [sic], especially if it is for some "killer" drinks whilst wearing your baseball caps with the bills "totally" folded, please, for the love of all that is good and pure, stay away. You probably won't like the place, your date will probably turn her nose up at it, and I guarantee that you'll ruin my experience.

Disapointing to the MAX! – Sorry to steal from my wittier fellow reviewer. This place had a lot of potential which was utterly squandered by the inept and creepy service. Our waiter spoke in sad servicespeak, the bartender's description of the wine were ridiculous (and inaccurate). The food it extremely middling, some dishes have nice elements, others fall completely flat, none are 100% delicious. Stick with Max.

Great Wine, Nice Folks, Cool Atmosphere, Bad Food – We had dinner at In Vino on a Friday evening. The restaurant was all so promising and still is, to a point. As you enter the establishment, you feel like you are in a small Italian winery... very cool decor (though lighting was quite dim). The folks, from the bartender to the waitstaff are all great guys... courteous, helpful and attentive. We started off with wine. The selection is vast and both the reds and whites tasted yummy. We moved on to the antipasti... I had the meatballs, which were pretty okay and my friend had the beet salad, which got a simple "okay". For entrees, I had the skirt steak which was doused in balsamic vinegar, was rubbery, chewy and just not that good. My friend got the lamb, which was bad. It tasted like someone threw it into boiling water, then sprinkled some rosemary on it... and said "voila". It was bad (grimmace as I think about the taste). They have only 2 choices for desserts: tiramisu and creme brulée. They were both pretty decent. All in all, go for the aura, the people and especially the wine... all quite fabulous. Venture into the food section with caution... we had a bad experience.

Take a trip through the oft-forgotten wine regions of southern Italy. – In Short
The cave-like interior of this smallish wine and tapas bar brings to mind ancient catacombs, while still looking a bit like a modern fabrication. Neighborhood regulars gather at the wooden tables, but the bar, backed by row upon row of wine bottles, is where the curious to experiment. Satiate the munchies with the cheese platter, a mix of soft, hard, and smoked Italian cheeses. Full dinners of lasagna, cannelloni, crepes and polenta are also served.

wonderful food and service in a great atmosphere – I just went back to in Vino for the fourth or fifth time last week and loved it just as much as ever. The service is polite, helpful and attentive, the wine list is long and varied with good choices for any price range and the food is fantastic. I'd definitely reccommend the meatballs and lasagna....the sauce is heaven.

Huge wine list, delicious food – In Vino just expanded their menu and now have entrees. I recommend the porcini mushroom ravioli in the cream sauce...it was very flavorful and the sauce had a lot of garlic. Yummy! The bread is wonderful too. Try it!

Benvenuto in Italia! – Having just toured Italy a matter of months earlier, this cozy, cavernous nook in the East Village gave me a serious flashback, as if I was back in Roma. With cheerful, on par service, a friendly vibe and a great menu, In Vino is a perfect date spot. Will be back!

worth the wait – we waited as well, but the decor takes you away, and the stuffed olives are amazing!! Definitely something to try.

Southern Italian Wine, HOT/COLD Service – En Vino glows like you're swimming in a glass of Burgundy. I've been to the restaurant several times, and until last week, always an 8/10 experience.

Sat. @ 10pm it was packed. We were told 1hr wait.

1:20 later after some cheese and wine @ bar, I turned around and noticed there were 5 open tables & asked the hostess if her brain was on, she apologized and sat us.

Our server we saw only once and he seemed pre-occupied with a b-day party. We waited for him to bring a check after the meal, but he couldn't pull himself away from a conversation at the bar(Bad)

(Good)The wine is exclusively from Southern Italy, a rare treat (you won't find names like cabernet. Bottles are named by the maker--Syrah being an exception).

Perhaps our service was a fluke. I'll keep going back. Hopefully Keith, our usual server, will be back.

Great place for Wine – Interesting wine list consisting of wines from southern Italy. These are very good and affordable wines. Good food too, and not expensive. As mentioned by another reviewer, a great place for a date.

Give it a try – My wife and I go here a few times a month. It's relaxing, with nice music and delicious wine and food. We highly recommend it.

Times have changed – ...at in vino. About a year ago, the wine list was enormous -- the most comprehensive tasting of Italian reds I've ever seen -- and the bartenders were friendly and highly knowledgeable. A recent visit proved to be SO disappointing! The wine list has changed dramatically, despite the bartenders' rude protests to the contrary. There are only a few by-the-glass offerings for each region, all in the $9 - $12 range (there used to be many $7 - $8 options). The atmosphere is still to die for, but the wine list has so clearly been pared down and marked up (as a result of higher foot traffic brought in by lots of rave reviews in local publications, perhaps?). My companion and I left without ordering anything, and we're not going back.

An Excellent Wine Journey – This place had good small food plates, but the real star is the amazing wine list with many affordable wines from southern Italy. These are some of the best wines in the world, yet few people have tried them. The ambiance is very nice as well. We had a great time.

Good place -dinner service ok – Wine selection very good -interestingly focused on Southern Italy. Very good vibe inside - feels like you're in some quaint little Italian bar. The place got really crowded around 8ish when I went right before Christmas so reservations might be necessary. Food was pretty good but selection is not huge...more oriented toward picking a few plates and sharing (cheeses, meats, etc.) Good date place....

MAXimize Yr Dining Experience Elsewhere – The single available entree arrived lukewarm and over an hour after we sat down. Our waiter came through with an excellent wine recommendation though, so maybe In Vino, Out Famished?