Flour and Vine

Michelle and I along with her mother Sue, and our daughter Anya had such an absolutely wonderful dinner again last night at flower and Vine! The staff is amazing the chef is truly unbeatable, and the environment is perfect! Much love to everyone there for all of the help that they gave us last night and the food that they gave us was just beautiful!

As a regular theater «goer», friends and I frequent Flour and Vine pre-​theater performances. Although service has not always been consistent, the small plates/​Happy Hour appetizers have been delicious making this one of our favorite restaurant destinations. This drastically changed this past Saturday night.
Initially, all was well, and our waitress was very cognizant of our time, a little over an hour before the show, and eager to accommodate us. The order seemed to take longer than usual, however, not a problem. The problems began when we were ready to close out our bill and discovered we were not offered the discounted appetizer price per the 2 parties, (total of 4 people), at our table, as has been previously honored. We were told only one appetizer per table… okay, perhaps a glitch or change. Upon further inspection of the bill, we also realized we were over charged, not given the same prices for the exact same 2 party orders, because they were ordered from different pages. Keep in mind, we have on other occasions, been told by wait staff and have done so, that it didn’t matter which page we ordered from as it’s all the same price. We explained this to the waitress, gave her our credit cards, and she was willing to check on the discrepancy.
So, time is ticking, we need to get the play, no waitress. When she does return to our table she said, «I’ve already given you your credit cards, right?» Not a good sign. One card was returned, two were missing. She then suggested that she could continue to look for the cards and we could come back after the play to get them. I suggested she continue to look, she agreed to do this. She also said that she would take care of our bill-​which is appropriate. We continued to wait. Then, a member of our party noticed the waitress was actually waiting on tables rather than looking for our cards as we were told. At that point, I went and spoke to a manager, explained all that had taken place, also, that we close to being late, and would not be admitted into the theater. He nonchalantly suggested we leave our contact info and perhaps return at another time to collect them, or they could be mailed to us-​seriously?! Customers credit cards are missing, considerable time has passed, and that’s the response? No worry or concern? At that point the waitress saw us speaking, went to look again, and lo and behold, they were shortly found on the floor and returned.
Needless to say, this was a very unpleasant experience…

Short ribs and polenta was absolutely delicious tonight. Every Time I eat here the food is amazing and the cocktails on point. Reasonable price for the quality.

If you are looking for an amazing meal, great quality, great size portions, at a decent price this is so the place for you!!! Service was incredible! All the waiters were so much fun with us, playing the piano and singing after hours!!! I highly recommend this place!

You know I had a great evening evening here. Our server was awesome, the wine was good
But something just feels a little bit grimy and not quite right about the place.
Food is absolutely fine. Good in fact. But not quite as special as it is clearly setting itself up to be. I can’t quite put my finger on why, despite having a lovely time with some of my favourite people, I definitely wouldn’t hurry back here.
Maybe it’s the lighting, maybe it’s the slightly
Off balance colour combos — but the atmosphere didn’t work for me at all. Maybe it’s something to do with the acoustic — probably it’s just a combination of lots of little things. Nothing glaring just a bit flat feeling.
I’d definitely opt to sit outside if we came here again.

The service is horrible. We were one of the first 3 tables when it opened at 5 pm, but our waiter (a hipster looking guy) took forever to bring us water or take our drink order. Finally, some 10 minutes later, we ordered our drinks and an appetizer and never saw him again. Someone else brought our appetizer because our waiter found another table more interesting and spent his time there. When he finally came back to check on us some 20 minutes later, we told him we were ready to order. Because we had been there so long already, we ordered a salad. It was decent enough. The appetizer was very good by the way. Our waiter left again to stay with that same table he preferred so I went to hostess and asked for our bill so we could leave. This is ridiculous. We will never come back. This place was recommended to us by a friend but she must have had a totally different experience or else she hates us or was punking us.

Service was slow. For being right next to the theater, with many diners obviously theater patrons, you would think they would be a bit more sensitive to «gotta catch a show.» But, not really. Food was passable, but my squash soup was lukewarm at best, and the seasoning on my broccollini marsala was overpowering. Next time, maybe Schlotzskys across the street would be a better choice.

Love the ambiance of this restaurant! The owner and staff were incredibly nice! I gave them three stars because the food was subpar.

Well, we are crossing this one off the list. Granted, we only had drinks and small plates. First, I specifically asked about the sweetness of the cocktail I was thinking of ordering, because I don’t like a syrupy cocktail. Although I was assured it wasn’t too sweet, it was like raspberry candy. Bleah. Then the food was mediocre at best. We got the flatbread, the cheese plate, and the tuna tartare. They all tasted like they could have come from Café to Go at HEB. The service was also bad. We waited forever with empty glasses before we could order a second glass of wine. Finally, I don’t know if it was because it was a pre-​theater crowd or what, but my husband and I, in our mid-​40s, brought the average age of the crowd down significantly. That by itself might have been refreshing in central Austin these days, but the whole experience was a drag.

Food was decent but this place has hands down the worst service I’ve ever experienced. The food could’ve have been the best ever but the service was so bad it ruined the meal.
We were in Austin for work and a group of 18 of us went to grab dinner here. Once we were seated we did not receive any water or menus. After about 20 minutes without a server the restaurant brought us some waters. Still no one introduced themselves as our waiter or waitress at this time. 15 minutes go by and we finally receive our drinks but no one takes our order. We literally arrived at 8pm and did not get to order our food until 9pm. Please don’t forget that during this whole dinner we never really knew who our waiter was.
To make matters worse we were the only table besides one couple in the entire restaurant. I would seriously give this place 0 stars if I could.

Worst service i have ever received at a restaurant in Austin. Upon arrival our first impression was that it was a nice big place and nice décor. We sat at the bar and waited quite a while until someone finally asked us if we wanted a drink. When the other couple arrived we elected to sit outside on the porch. Bad idea because no waiter ever came to see us. We eventually flagged down someone who sent a waiter but he seemed put out by our desire to order some apps and more drinks. Of course he brought those, without small plates or without silver wear. Which he had to go and retrieve. we didn’t see him again for 20 min. Finally we made our dinner order and when it arrived it was just ok. My fish was over cooked but the sauce was nice. Someone at the table had the braised ribs which were quite good. But overall… there’s a lot better places in Austin to eat and we won’t likely go back here.

I’m a bit surprised at some of the lower star reviews for this place. Maybe there was a change in management or something…
We went at about 830 on Saturday night before Easter. There were only a few tables taken.
Atmosphere:
Nice, lower lighting, good variety of jazz music. Great for a couples dinner. We sat by the window, was just fine.
It was a little weird there weren’t more people around, even at the bar (grand total of 0). Might not be your scene of you’re seeing/​being seen or like ppl around.
Service:
Our server was fantastic. He was very attentive and gave detailed opinions on appetizers for us. He shook and generously poured my cocktail (Black Roses, which I HIGHLY recommend) at the table. He gave us plenty of time to chat while making sure we had what we needed, letting us know how much time was left between courses and drinks.
Food and drink:
I had the chicken and waffles starter. I’ve actually never had this before, but it was very appropriately sized for a starter (given the size of other chicken and waffles). The Swiss chard set it apart and complimented nicely. Now that I’ve had it I would try something else, it was delicious but not something that’d become a mainstay for me.
I had the lamb meatballs and pasta for my main. The al-​dente pasta was dressed in a very nice citrus creamy sauce. This went very well the savory meatballs. Very satisfying portion size; enough but not too much. I would get the meatballs again for sure.
As mentioned, HIGHLY recommend the Black Roses cocktail if you like an Old Fashioned and cherries. Eating the black cherry and taking a sip is a wonderful mixture of flavors. No skimping on liquor either .
Price:
Reasonable and comparable to other similar places. 2 starters, 2 mains, 3 drinks = 76 $.

This place was great! I had the salmon and it was so good and if the helping wasn’t so generous and my tummy wasn’t so full, then I would have ordered more! My partner had the shrimp and grits and he really loved it. There was also live music (hooray for Austin!!) and he was playing Beatles songs on the acoustic guitar which was so perfect for date night. Our server, though I can’t remember her name, but it was a very pretty name was really great, very attentive and helpful. We’re definitely going back!!!

3.5 stars
All the entrées we ordered were good, but none stood out that would make me want to come back for.
1. Seared scallops — 3 scallops, seared, same preparation as any other restaurants.
2. Pan seared snapper — crispy skin, check. There were two pieces of snapper which was a generous portion. The surprise was the fried risotto cake.
3. Sea bass — nicely cooked. Wilted spinach with a beets purée?
4. Grilled portobello — didn’t get to taste but my fiancé liked it.
5. Red relvet cake — it was alright, moist but the cream cheese frosting was too sweet
6. Chocolate truffle cake — flourless. We didn’t finish either desserts.
Service was excellent until close to the end. Another waiter mistakenly gave one of our entrées to another table. He came by to apologize because we had to wait for them to make another one. We said it was alright but he insisted to comp our dessert. When we got our bill, we were charged for our desserts. Perhaps that waiter didn’t communicate with our waiter so we ended up getting charged. We didn’t fuss about it because the other waiter wasn’t around.
You can park in the garage behind the restaurant.

Awesome happy hour. Food is delicious. Only complaint is that most times we’ve been here the place has been empty. We used to live in the COLE building above the restaurant and this was a great go to spot. We really couldn’t figure out why everyone else didn’t think so. Maybe it’s because of the location (but they have free parking in the garage). Great cheese plates, the gulf shrimp plate is $ 8 on HH and it’s really really good. $ 5 – 7 glasses of wine/​cocktails on HH which is 5 – 7 weekdays and 7 – 9 Saturdays. oo and their habanaro honey bree — yum!

The Hangar Steak
The flavor in every dish here is spectacular! The presentation, atmosphere and service is great. Definitely my top 5 restaurants in Austin. I can’t rave about this place enough!

The Bad:
This restaurant has a terrible noise problem.
My family and I went to Flour and Vine on a Saturday night at 8 p.m. The restaurant was about 75% full, but there was a large table that was loud (but not any louder than normal for a large party). The issue was that the sound from this one party completely dominated the little restaurant. My parents could not hear anything we said and another table actually got up and left the restaurant without ordering because of the noise problem. To make matters worse, there was a musician with an amp. A space that size does not need to add extra noise, and if they must have it, it absolutely has to be acoustic.
The Good:
The staff bent over backwards to help us and ended up moving us to the corner of the bar.
Once in the bar, the noise was better and we received excellent service. As another group of patrons left the restaurant, they even stopped at our table to comment what a terrible time they had because of the noise.
What to do?
They need more sound dampeners and A LOT of them. The space is full of hard surfaces and that is making the problem worse. If you are going to put large parties in the corner near the kitchen, consider a screen or something to dampen the sound. A party of 8 – 10 will always be loud. It’s the owner’s responsibility to solve this so the employees don’t have to apologize to patrons for the noise.
We have theater tickets in two weeks, but we’ll probably try Juliet. I just don’t want to chance having the noise problem again. And too bad, because the food and the service were wonderful. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how good the food and service are if the restaurant is so noisy that it’s uncomfortable.

The food and service is great.
I realize that it is more of a wine bar but they really need more beers — local ones.

First time here and I love the atmosphere. Tried the Spicy Shrimp and Grits, LOVED IT. Would come back anytime, the bar manager David is the best…

Went back to Flour and Vine after a long time, and I’m happy to say the service continues to rock. It was Happy Hour time and we opted to sit at a table in the bar area, along with our kid (yes I did). The bartender who waited on us was courteous, came by often enough (and not too often to be bothersome), and was «just right» for the task.
We had the Bees Knees (yes it was!) and a glass of wine– wonderful drink choices and good selection for Happy Hour. Sticking with the HH theme, we ordered their grilled shrimp small plate & pulled pork sliders. Both were excellent choices. We also got the Mac & cheese off the regular menu, which hit the right spot.
The only low point of this dinner was the crème brûlée, which was missing the little black dots that tell me real vanilla bean was used. It also had too thick a layer of sugar on top, to where there was a layer of uncaramelized sugar crystals under the bruleed top layer, making each mouthful overly sweet. Not a bad dessert by absolute standards, but given my crème brûlée snobiness, it fell short.
Their patio looks inviting and I’ll have to head back t F&V for an outdoor brunch some time.
Tip: The pulled pork sliders and the mac & cheese are great kid friendly options.