V Bistro & Bar

This a must read, they need to fire the rude guy!!!
Please note: This review is for the side V Bistro Café NOT the main restaurant.
My friends and I went into the V bistro on New Years day, and a very nice lady waited on us at the bar I believe her name was Raylene? The food was amazing!!! Us girls went back to the cabin where we were staying and just raved about it to our husbands!
But one thing I did notice that day when we went, there was a guy working there that was just SO RUDE!!! He acted like we were in his way the whole time, but regardless we went back the next day with our husbands to share the Delicious food. We noticed there was not a table available, and a lady said we are not accepting any new tables today. Wow, not please come back later? As we were leaving 4 young girls tried to get a table as well, and this one rude server just snapped at them saying they weren’t seating anyone in a horrible tone.
But yes my husband wanted to try the deep fried olives, as I loved the bacon wrapped dates so, yep you guessed it we went back again on Sunday 1÷3÷16.
We peeked inside and it was full so we asked if they were serving outside, and it was the RUDE GUY! Yikes. He said «yes to sit outside but food is a long wait at the moment», which we were ok with UNTIL we arranged the tables for us 6 under the heaters.
The mean guy I think his name was Shawn, came out and undid our tables saying he needed a path which we understood Until he called us stupid people under his breath and proceeded to throw the chairs and table around!!! I could not believe what I was witnessing!!! He was very rude, making constant comments then turned around and went inside and literally SLAMMED THE DOOR!!! Well to say the least we left, I mean wouldn’t you? It was the worst experience!
I should have figured when my husband and I went the year before for dinner. We were seated but then we were completely ignored at our table for over 20 plus minutes. Needless to say we walked out.
So to the restaurant owner/​manager your food is impeccable, but you really need to rethink your servers as they are horrible!!! I am appalled at the way we were treated, you must not want your restaurant to survive? We visit Murphy s several times a year, but I will never go back to your bistro nor will my friends. Funny i work in SF and I always tell them about the quaint town, but i will tell them to avoid this place unless you make some serious customer service changes.
Sincerely,
D Christy

Spent the New Year in Murphys, have eaten here a couple of times in the past. Good and service was amazing, the fried olives and Devils on horse back are awesome. Today 1/3/16?we had an experience with Sean who was behind the bar and I assume was also serving. We arrived with a party of 6, Sean informed us that they were full on the inside and food was running behind (We all found this comment strange, as if he didn’t want to be bothered by us) We all said that was fine, we would grab seats outside and eat there. No one was outside eating, we pulled 3 tables together and started to sit down. Sean came shooting out the door and got snippy with use informing us that he needed a walkway around to the other customers (??? Like I said, no one else was seated out there at the time) and he kept shaking his head as he rudely reset the tables up as 3 individual tables. My wife said we were sorry, we saw he was busy and was trying to help him out. He mumbled something about us messing up the seating and kept rudely banging the chairs and tables around. We decided to just leave at that point. We had stopped in the day before ½/​16 and there was a group of woman who were being served and had the same tables set up in the same manner as we were arranging them and there didn’t seem to be an issue with it at that time. Sean also was very rude to a group that had stopped in on that day while we were there.
The food here is amazing, but I would suggest avoiding it on days that Sean is working. We plan on calling the manager and complaining to them also.

The gentleman who helped us was on point! He was a book of knowledge, my party had a buger, cob salad, fish tacos, soup, calamari, and local beer n wine, everything was excellent (except weather) but all in all a great place to stop n eat!

Umm. Good not great.
Warm, cosy atmosphere. Service was friendly. Our appetizers came out right away but it took over 20 minutes for our entrees. (And while we waited, our cocktail glasses were empty. And no one said anything; we actually were starting to think they plain forgot about us). Filet mignon and scallops good but not memorable. Calamari starter very good. Cocktails fine.
Probably will try something else next time back in town.
Not bad. Just boring with inconsistent service. Disappointing for how hard it was to get reservations.

Fabulous place to eat after wine tasting! Our server Collette was very knowledgable about the menu and very congenial! Some of the best waiting service I’ve received in the area. The food is great! I had the burger and fries. Simple, but after a day of drinking it was heaven sent. Go here!

Breakfast at the V bistro was wonderful, from start to finish. We were greeted with a smile by Melissa, who seated us and took our drink order. My mom and I ordered champagne with st. germain, my sister enjoyed freshly squeezed orange juice.
Cindy behind the bar brought our drinks promptly.
My mom ordered the eggs Benedict over polenta, I ordered the breakfast tacos with sausage and poached eggs, my sister had the open faced poached egg sandwich. The kitchen staff was accommodating with dietary restrictions (thank you).
Our food was brought out in a timely manner, presented beautifully. Flavors on point for all 3 dishes. The only less than perfect part of the experience was the coffee I ordered midway through our meal that came out luke warm. Otherwise, it was a terrific Saturday morning meal. We are all excited to have another option for breakfast in Murphys.

FOR THE MASOCHIST GASTRONOME:
(DATE: 10÷13÷15 evening)
Lovely setting. Terrific food. Terrible service.
Had Fish ‘n Chips and Beef Burger w/​salad. The homemade sauces were delicious: wasabe dressing on the cole slaw, spiced mustard on the burger and a tartar-​like sauce for the breaded cod. Food – excellent and prompt. Service – almost macabre.
First, we were ignored by two staff when we walked into the bar and opened a menu. So we sat at wrought-​iron furniture near a quiet fountain in the awning-​shaded patio. The drinks and food were ordered and served with prompt pleasantness. Then…
Our waitress noticed my empty water glass, said she would refill it. After about ten minutes I couldn’t even get her attention; so I strode inside and replenished my glass from a pitcher on the bar. The two staffers didn’t even look up.
Later I was rudely interrupted mid-​sentence by a blonde woman reaching for my plate. «Oh, you still working on that?» Her long finger hovered about an inch above my three remaining chips. «Yes,» I said. «Okay,» she said and moved on. My friend and I exchanged looks of surprise and displeasure and continued our conversation. (We had NOT been eating slowly, nor were we in any way obnoxious. Had only one drink.)
Within minutes, the male staff member from the bar stopped by. Lifting my friend’s almost empty glass, he said, «Almost empty. Would you like another? Some dessert? Or the check?» «No, I’m not done,» my friend said, and the look of shock on her face sent him on his way, sans glass.
Our waitress eventually returned, and my friend complained about the glass-​snatcher. The waitress apologized and cleared the table in icy silence. Soon the male staffer/​manager returned with our bill and commenced a lengthy and clumsy apology for having offended us, citing the distraction of a wedding as an excuse. I explained that it wasn’t just him, that his was the fourth in a chain of offenses – we’d first been ignored, then I had to get my own water, then the woman tried to take my plate, THEN him.
Never in decades of global travel have I received such rude service, especially from a place that serves $ 26 Steak Frite. I left a grudging 15% tip, because the most egregious offenses had not been the fault of the waitress.
Restaurant staff not automatons; they make mistakes. But my impression was that our experience may not have been unusual at this particular venue. Perhaps they will read this and reconsider their practices. Or send someone to a class on wait staff etiquette.

Good burgers and pulled pork sliders. Very friendly servers and decent prices. The inside exposed kitchen area could be covered up somehow so you don’t see a bunch of junk piled up there, but all in all it’s a nice place for lunch.

This place was not only extremely tasty but quaint. It gives you a perfect blend of wine country and southern gardening. We were a table of seven and loved our experience. Cocktails are wonderful!

Order the Sangria.
Trust the staff and eat the Devils on Horseback
ANd if it isn’t 100+ degrees, sit outside the beautiful courtyard and enjoy the day.

Ask about their Black Manhattan — Makers Mark bourbon whisky, Averna Siciliano liquor and bitters and an orange slice. $ 10. I believe this place is best known for some interesting designer cocktails.
Prosciutto Flatbread — rather good. It suited my need for a not-​heavy meal, and arugula is always welcome on my plate. The almost crackery flatbread was crispy around the edges. Yep, I’d do it again. But for $ 12? Hmmm.
Fish and Chips — Not bad, not great. Three small pieces of fish plus a huge pile of french fries and an ordinary cole slaw… mostly filler, not worth $ 15.
I think the bar has more appeal than the menu.

Wow … Food was amazing. Came for lunch enjoyed it all. Had Mediterranean flatbread, California sandwich and Thai salad. Sever collette was great!

Varied responses among the people in my family, but all of them are rather negative.
The first thing that I noticed is the very limited indoor seating. There’s only room for about 20 people inside, and most of it is bar seating. This may not be a big turnoff for some due to the nice weather in Murphys, but I always prefer to eat inside.
Upon entering, the hostess greeted us very warmly, which was awesome and almost immediately took our drink orders. Beyond that however, the service was less than stellar. In my mom’s words it was nonexistent. They took our order, brought our food, and we didn’t hear from them for the rest of our meal. We sat waiting with our plates stacked for a good ten minutes with a card out on the table before they got the hint. Also, not a big thing, but one of the waiters was singing along with the songs played from the speakers the entire time. Not full out singing, but we could definitely hear him from the other side of the room. He wasn’t even that great.
On the matter of the food, no one really liked their meals besides my mom, who ordered the Californian sandwich. My sister and I ordered some flatbreads, but they were far from flat. More like regular, greasy pizza. My brother’s sliders were LOADED we dijon mustard, and we all know that it only takes the smallest of dabs to get the flavor of dijon across.

Cute café with outdoor seating and super friendly staff. Food is really good and fresh. Good for groups and is dog friendly.

SHORT SUMMARY: Owners, you’ve got a big staffing/​service problem. An active hand is needed.
We left before our main courses arrived, asking for our check in order to leave. I have never done that before in 20+ years of eating at restaurants of all stripes all over the US and beyond.
Alchemy was full, so we walked down wonderful main street Murphys to get to V. One of our party had heard decent things, and despite my mention of so-​so Unilocal reviews, we hungry six headed there for dinner. Hint: In a town with several comparable 4+ star places, 3.5 stars might serve as a red flag, or at least cause you to prioritize.
The food was decent (what we had), but the service was terrible. The gentleman who met and seated us was friendly, but we never saw him again until the end of our «experience,» which an hour-​and-​a-​half later ended with me apologetically but unhappily telling him how a restaurant runs (turns out he was the self-​identified «day manager»).
We had a rough start as a very annoyed-​seeming lady take our drink order, and it took forever for those drinks to arrive. She did not seem to know much about various cocktails/​drinks, and we watched her chat up a couple of patrons (regulars?) at the bar while polishing glasses for a half-​hour before «getting to» our drinks and our empty water glasses. When she took our order, she huffed when we asked what would be appropriate for our very-​well-​behaved 5 and 7 year-​olds. «We make cheese pizza,» was her curt response. That’s fine, but her demeanor told us everything. and this was galling from someone whose own child was running around the restaurant (we love kids).
This was to be a theme for our evening — ignored and treated like a nuisance. We had to ask for silverware. We had to get up to ask (after 20 minutes) for water refills. We had to ask for our food. We got huffed at by our bothered bartender/​waitress lady. Bizarre and unacceptable. Be a professional.
The place wasn’t that busy, so hard to find an excuse there. Their prices speak of an moderately upscale dining experience, which V decidedly was not.
The treatment by V staff was unnecessary, unprofessional, and frankly, made me angry. You only know me as an anonymous voice on the Interwebs, but I am a kind, patient person and I sure try my darndest to exude bonhomie at all times — life’s hard enough. Anyway, we’d had a wonderful day in Murphys, and to have it ruined at a supposedly «upscale» (for Murphys) restaurant, was an unexpected, undeserved kick in the nuts.
I dislike confrontation, but when you’re about to drop $ 150 on dinner, you deserve to be treated like a customer, not a nuisance. I had to summon all of the chutzpah in my relatively mild-​mannered, aloha-​based, go-​with-​the-​flow self, and put my foot down. I asked for our check before our entrée arrived. As our grumpy friend rang me up in silence, our entrees were coming out, expedited by the «day manager,» who had earlier had to point our table out to his employees. He apologized and offered to box up our entrees. I tried to not be a jerk, but I had to tell him the truth, that V was a failure of an experience, and it was purely on the service side. I detailed our entire experience of being ignored, condescended to, and grumped at. He graciously apologized and offered excuses (on their end) and offered to box up our food. I was so unhappy that I refused, and he said they were going to have to toss it otherwise, so I did accept it. I shouldn’t have, as we ended up tossing it.
Ugly experience, and one that I hope was an anomaly. Watch for further reviews from others, and if they uniformly rave about the service and good vibes for a few months, put V Bistro on your possibilities list, but until then, you’ve been warned.

I guess the food is supposed to be good but we wouldn’t know. We’ve waited almost an hour and haven’t received our lunch yet. The bar is busy but we’re not having liquor for lunch, so that shouldn’t be the issue. The waitress doesn’t pay you much attention, if any. She hasn’t been by once in the last 30 minutes except to give us an order that wasn’t ours. When we come back to Murphys, it won’t be to this place.
Update: the food is amazing once you get it. Just plan on being here at least a couple of hours.

One of the best places in town! I want to go back up just to visit this little gem! Devils on horseback are amazing.

Looking for drinks beyond just wine. Look no further! The mixed drinks are the best in town. The appetizers bacon and blue cheese with dates I believe Devils on horseback or something? …super good. This place puts out great product. Oh and if red pepper soup is on the menu, order it. The patio is small but service and food cover the bad aspects. Again if you sit at the bar expect top notch cocktails. Ps. There is a corkage fee for local & out of town bottles of vino.

I eat here at least once every two weeks. GREAT staff, OUTSTANDING food, nice space.
I’ve taken all sorts of friends and relatives here. Once, there was a bit of churlish service directed toward someone in our party who was being a COMPLETE PITA. Twenty questions about ingredients and another fifty special instructions. I wanted to smack him. So if you are one of those folks who really wants a custom meal and not really order off the menu, do us all a favor and stay home.
Best seating in the place is at the bar. I’ve met great folks there. Sometimes that’s a horse rescuer, sometimes it’s chef opening a new restaurant or one of the wine folks. Always interesting, always fun.
The food is outstanding. It’s innovative. It’s always well prepared. And always delicious. Oh yeah and consistent, which is amazing because I’ve ordered the same dishes throughout a significant chef rotation.
While the artisan cocktails do vary according to who is tending bar that day, the blend never suffers. The V is one of my Go To places in Murphy’s. But if you are clearly a tourist, heavy on assumed pretension without clue about culinary craft and skill, skip Murphy’s… you’ll be happier in Sonoma. Well, okay, probably not, but it helps keep Murphy’s special — and that makes the rest of us happy.
Quite simply, The V rocks. It’s more than food on your plate and a drink in your glass.

My husband and I have eaten at «V’s» before, quite a few times actually. So when we were in the Murphy’s area with my parents we thought we’d stop here for a late lunch. Boy… were we wrong to stop here. We were all starving and their service was snooty and somewhat condescending. Why? I still can’t figure out… It’s not like this is the classiest place I have ever step foot in by any means.
The menu choices were equally unimpressive. I think the staff was turned off by the fact that we had a 4 year old with us, judging immediately that due to her age she is probably going to be a nuisance but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
We waited for a good 10 mins for someone to come take at least a drink order but the bar servant (bartender/​waiter) was too engrossed in a conversation with a buddy of his to notice.
We happily went next door to Grounds and had an AMAZING lunch and even better service. Thanks V Bistro for sucking so hard… you aided us in finding a great establishment next door.