Whine

Such a cool place to have a good drink and a snack! If you love bread get the olive oil trio! I also love the shrimp and they come presented in a really modern setting. The couches are comfy and the staff is really nice! I told them it was our first time and they gave us complimentary champagne with our dessert! Let’s just say I went back a second time that week with friends!

Stopped at Whine on our way north for the weekend avoiding the regular up north stops along way. So happy for our decision to check this place out. Very unique atmosphere, seating and tables. Loved it. Our sever, Amber, was helpful, friendly and attentive. We started with the charcuterie plate with chorizo, pam heat and two cheeses accompanied with an olive tapenade, delish! We split the shrimp and grits (better than any I’ve had in Charleston) and the tuna tacos with seaweed, nice bite, chill and crunch. Overall a great experience and this will be a regular stop next time we are traveling through midland.
,

Our favorite after work getaway! The waitstaff and bar tenders are the best around. The food is great and Brent comes up with some of the best cocktails you can find.

Final straw. We’re done and never returning. While the food is usually good and flavorful, Whine has never NOT messed up our evening. So among the issues, previously stated, here’s the crap awful service we had tonight:
1) The bartender could not have cared less to serve us all night — and there was only one other pair at the bar. Grumpy voice, no smiling, almost no interaction until #3 below.
2) My girlfriend and I ordered a salad for her and an entrée (Bison Pad Thai) for me. For some reason, they delivered hers about ten minutes before mine. Maybe they think it’s a «shareable plate» but people don’t share salads, especially those that small. Not once while waiting did they let us know it would be out in a few minutes, nor did it ever occur to ask if we’d like them out separately or not.
3) We specifically came on a Saturday, which has the special «half off the price of appetizers from 4−6pm. (applies to any shareable plates)», as indicated online. But of course, my bison pad thai was mysteriously not included without explanation. The server said «Yeah, we have a list of what’s not included,» and pulled out the list to read it to us. Was this ever brought to our attention? Of course not, because that would have been proper customer service. Also, we only come on Friday/​Saturday for these half-​priced dishes (because otherwise they are not affordable), and nothing had ever not been included before.
4) So, bartender walks away to «talk to the manager» to see if there’s anything they can do to take that all-​important $ 6 off our tab. Nope, nothing at all. Because no one could come to terms with the fact that their website specifically says half price off, but it doesn’t in person, and there’s no indication of that whatsoever from the bartender or the printed menu. It’s sort of ironic too that they’d split hairs over this $ 6, but we could have had $ 7 off, no problem, from their tuna tacos. I’ve also had half off a giant plate of pork belly. But no, half off a tiny portion of bison paid tha is impossible.
5) Portion size, portion size, portion size. Holy crap, why is three bites of bison pad thai and some wontons, with very limited portions of bison, a total of $ 12? Do they throw away to boards they’re served on every time they’re used? Also, serving pad thai in a tiny bowl on a small narrow plank means anytime something falls, it goes straight onto the counter.
I don’t get Whine. I just don’t. Maybe there’s a force field around me that forces all employees to lose 10 IQ points every time I enter. I’ll go to the doctor and get it checked out.

This is an interesting bar/​restaurant in Midland — the attitude of the wait staff and bartenders earn them 1 star, but the food quality and uniqueness in a town with less culture/​options than somewhere in North Korea earns them a second star. It should balance to a 1.5 — absolutely no more as this place is horrid. I’ve been to Whine three times, every time as a single business traveler attempting to order food — and being told this was «the place» in town. As someone is from the east coast and has lived in Chicago for 9 years — this place is an utter joke!
I have only experienced worse service in my life once before when I was charged $ 4 for ice water in Miami. The first time I came to this restaurant I was so excited — I sat at the bar and was eager to order my flight and some small plates. 5 minutes passed and I started my iPhone stopwatch since I was sitting at the bar alone and had nothing else to do. When that timer hit 10 minutes (15 mins without being spoken to) I walked out. I ended up returning three weeks later and having a great, albeit absolutely very overpriced (and btw a «wagyu» burger that was absolutely not Japanese wagyu beef) meal. I’ve had wagyu beef in Japan, in the US and in other places — the burger they sell is no better than Kobe and is probably just 90−95% chuck. Wagyu beef does not sell anywhere for $ 14 dollars a burger — it’s tasty but NOT what this company advertises.
I decided to come a third time as my project was wrapping up — the restaurant advertises being open until midnight. I sat down at 9:08pm and was told immediately that the kitchen was closed and I was out of luck. There were two more groups of patrons who received the same message — even though the restaurants website and Unilocal and google ads clearly state differently. The bartender recommended Buffalo Wild Wings and Big E’s.
I understand folks in Midland may not understand or care about ‘dining’ vs eating — but this is a restaurant that couldn’t and wouldn’t survive a month in a city with more than 100,000 people. They have ZERO org and zero care since they’ve «cornered the midland market» — good luck lasting for 3 days at a pop-​up stand in Chicago. You might last 3 hours at a pop-​up in New York. Might have been the worst customer service experience I’ve received outside of an airport.
At first I was astonished by how arrogant and entitled most of the staff and leadership at Whine was — then I realized it was the only «restaurant». This is definitely a place to skip if you want to save your money — just feel bad for the people that see this as the Four Seasons of dining here. It’s simply not at all.

Terrible servers! Our bar tender was the worst. He was rude when i asked about the beers on tap. No personality or social skills! He should not be a bar tender! The place has a very nice atmosphere, too bad the service doesn’t compliment it.

Service was bad. We sat at the bar, as the table we were first led to was near a group so loud that we couldn’t hear each other. That would have been ok except the service was spotty and twice were overheard staff speaking badly of co-​workers and other patrons. Food was decent but not good enough for us to return.

We had a bottle of medium priced white wine.24.one cheese and beef silami and the grilled white fish. all great and fresh bit all very good. look for Mike and karen at the back bar on Friday night there their every Friday nite. they know all the dishes and can guide you .fun people. .!

My friend and I came here at 9:45 on a Friday night and their kitchen was already closed. Who closes their kitchen so early on a weekend?! We decided to still give this place a try since we had wanted to come here for months. We sat at the bar, we’re handed drink menus and then were ignored a good 10 min, even after we closed the drink menus and despite at least 4 bartenders standing around a semi-​empty bar. I ordered a chocolate martini which was ok but cost $ 10. The ambiance is cool, intimate. There was live usic which we enjoyed but sadly, we are not planning on returning.

Do not come here if you are really hungry. Very small plates and pretty expensive. Good place for hang out but not that good if you are hungry.

We have had a number of very fun experiences here this year, with old and new friends. The one thing that makes each visit special is Tanya, who is such a friendly fun person and is always very knowledgeable about the beer, wine, and food offerings. Come and enjoy — lunch starting October 15^th — can’t wait.

Don’t waste your time. Overpriced, horrible staff, and so pretentious!

Very good wine selection and an interesting drink menu. I only tried the cheese plate but it was pretty good. Should be since you pick your cheeses. People sitting to the left and right of me also ordered food and they commented that everything was very good.

Great time last night! Service, décor, food, bar all exceptional! Looking forward to a return visit!

Great atmosphere and the servers are helpful with folks who don’t know what they walked into. I’m glad to see a place like this in Midland. My only complaint is that my food came out a long time before the rest of the group’s.

I’ve been to Whine a handful of times, so here are my general takeaways for interested customers!
Pros:
— Great ambiance and friendly service.
— Full bar, lovely selection of wines, and a great offerings on their menu.
— Wine Wednesdays (half off bottles of wine) is a superb deal!
— The outdoor patio is, of course, great in the warmer months and the seating inside is cozy and comfortable.
— Food quality is definitely good.
— Would be a good location for a romantic date or a girls’ night out!
Considerations:
— The menu can be unnecessarily pricy. I ordered a cheese plate which was pretty expensive (nearly $ 20) and the portions of cheese were very small for sharing.
— The location can be a little inconvenient — it’s the only restaurant of its kind in that area of town.

I was in Midland, Michigan for work and was very tired after a full day deposition. A deposition without a lunch break – so I was famished. Whine was a great solution to this problem. I arrived at 6:30pm and all the tables were full with a 40 minute wait. So I had the choice of the kitchen bar or regular bar; and opted to sit at the kitchen bar. A large party was also happening in the room next to the dining area, but it didn’t impact service at all.
The lighting is low at Whine and the décor is modern and decidedly upscale. The kitchen bar has brighter lighting, but the view of the chefs working is largely blocked by a tall island in the kitchen. This kind of defeats the purpose of a kitchen bar. Also, on this particular visit there were lots of kitschy Halloween decorations, which detract from the overall vibe. Otherwise, the atmosphere is fine at Whine.
For dinner, I started with the «Hurricane Shrimp» appetizer and had the Charred Hanger steak for an entrée, which included sweet potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and raw Brussel sprout salad with a Dijon aïoli.
Ok, venting for a moment. Like lots of places these days, Whine calls its food «tapas», but its all New American. This is a trend that should stop, since a real Spanish Tapas bar is a great experience.
Can we just agree to call New American, New American? Please? A plea.
The shrimp were excellent. They were wrapped in fried udon noodles, with sliced green onion, a spicy sauce and plated on a sweet plum sauce. I recommend them.
The hanger steak was medium rare and served sliced on a bed of puréed sweet potato. Mushrooms were on top and the Brussel sprout salad was on both sides of the steak. At first I was skeptical of the steak being mixed with the sweet potato, but it worked. It reminded me of the roasts my grandma would serve which I would mix with mashed potatoes. So, that’s a win based on sentimentality and properly cooked steak.
For drinks, the first thing my waitress, Tanya, asked was, «Do you like bourbon??» I said, «Of course!» (I love being asked this question).
She recommended the «Maple Old Fashioned», which is an old fashioned with real maple syrup. I took her advice. It wasn’t too sweet. It was the perfect amount of maple syrup and left a lingering aftertaste of maple syrup. For the second round, I opted for the Absinthe Minded. Because it has Absinthe and bourbon, so yeah. Can’t miss.
Last, service was great. Tanya was genuinely friendly, knowledgeable of the menu, and had great recommendations for food and booze.
If I am in Midland again, I’ll visit again.

Found Whine on Unilocal and couldn’t be happier. Between the phenomenal service Amber gave us to the awesome food to the cool ambience to the great assistant manager, Alicia, taking the time to educate us all about Whine. We couldn’t have picked a nicer place to celebrate our 28^th anniversary.
Hats off to the Whine team.

Last night a group of ten of us arrived just after Whine had closed. Doors were locked. As we stood outside trying to figure out what to do, Alicia unlocked the door, invited us in and gave us amazing service, not just drinks but full food service after close for over an hour, while we had the place to ourselves! It was the perfect setting for catching up with visiting old friends. Whine (and Alicia), won my loyalty last night!
If only every place had employees like Alicia. What an amazing example of over the top customer service!

Amazing cheeseburger. On par with Kumas Corner in Chicago!
This is my first stop at Whine and I usually wait to review but U really enjoyed my dinner. Staff was attentive. Presentation was unique and my burger was cooked a perfect medium rare without the bun being a mess.
The only draw back is there really isn’t a view besides the kitchen.