The Hidden Vine

Such nice people. The outdoor ambiance is very nice as well. I had white fish there and it was very bland. I would not get that again, my wife had a vodka sauce and she said it was excellent. We had fried eggplant for an appetizer and it was excellent. It is a nice relaxing atmosphere outside and again the server was very nice.

Love going here for a nice night out with the lady. The chicken piccata is my favorite! The food is always fresh and delivered with great service. Jackie whom always seems to be behind the bar is a charm! Cant wait to be back :)

Updated my review from the first time that I went here several months ago.
At the time the food was a miss. Some problems in execution, some problems with ingredients that were clearly store bought and not great quality.
The food got worse — it is not edible.
Both the chicken and fish entries we got looked like both had been purchased pre-​cooked and frozen. The chicken marsala was in gravy… not…marsala sauce… The fish was swimming in liquid to the point that you could pour of the liquid.
The mashed potatoes were not edible.
The waitstaff is nice, but needs to be a little more professional — appearance and how they interact I almost feel like I’m a bar instead of a restaurant.
I really want this place to work :-(

Not sure why the ratings are so high for this restaurant. Upon arriving, the hostess left us waiting for a while, and the restaurant wasn’t busy at all. The atmosphere seemed decent, it was quaint with nice décor. However, our experience was not anything to brag about. The waitress, Denise, came to our table, and did not even welcome us. Literally stood over us and just said «Hey guys» and waited for the 30 second long awkward silence to pass before asking for our orders. No drinks, anything. The penne a la vodka was so watery, store bought pasta and all. No flavor. I suppose the only decent part was the bread before meal. Very disappointed :-(

So tonight was our 3^rd time for dinner. Our server, Denise, was excellent. My wife and I loved the expensive olive oil and delicious Italian bread. We both got house salads. I got the Bolognese and she ordered the chicken parm. I also got a side of asperagus which was seasoned and cooked perfectly.
We loved it and ate off each others plates. Desert was awesome. I’m a total chocolate fan but the lemoncello cake is amazing. My wife ordered the chocolate cake. Fantastic!
Oh, the best part is that we sat outside and they lit the fireplace for us. The whole experience was terrific. This place is becoming our new favorite destination for when we want great food and to relax!

I came here with two girlfriends for an event. Nancy was pretty funny and attentive. She was a great face to the restaurant.
The calamari was ok. It felt like ¹⁄₃ of the pieces were breaded peppers, though, so I felt a little gipped. The flatbread was a good portion, but the cheese kind of fell off too easily. There wasn’t much flavor.
Nancy did recommend a really stellar Pinot Noir, though. It was the cheapest one on the menu, though, and I drink it beyond this experience. So that’s a nice result of this experience!
Solid overall, though I probably wouldn’t come running back.

We stopped in while we were in the neighborhood. Looked up Unilocal and it led us here.
FYI, no beer on tap. This is primarily a wine bar. Beer in bottles but nothing quality.
Both of us had a glass of Rodney Strong Cab, (I think)…
It was a dead night. Cold, dreary night with two or three people at the bar with just the two of us in the dining room. The waiter was nice but chomping at the bit to assist us. He was a little overwhelming…
We decided on the Broccoli and Chicken fettuccine and I had the chicken picatta.
Food was good but nothing mind blowing. Again, it was an off night. I felt bad that the chef was still there and we did stop in around 9 so it was late. The food was good and I would give it another chance. I would like to go with a couple other people to get better feed back.
Will return again in the future.

Great little Italian restaurant and wine bar found in Newington. We went on a Friday night and found the main dining area only had one table left near the entryway so we decided to take a seat in the lounge area. At the time they had a music duo playing a relaxing jazz set. We started off with a couple drinks, Riesling and cape codder, along with calamari. Both came quickly, especially considered how busy the place was. Then for our main dish we had the chicken parm and chicken marsala. Both of these were delicious as well and the portions were just the right size, with little to bring home. After our meal, the owner visited our table to ask about our meal. She seemed very considerate and made us feel welcome in her establishment. Overall a great meal and we will definitely be back, although next time we will probably take better advantage of their wine selection.

Awesome! Great place!!! The staff and owners are great and really know how to treat a customer.
I ordered the chicken marsala along with a malbec wine. They both were amazing, I will be returning with my girlfriend as it is the perfect place for a date night!

Great food and drinks. Very friendly staff and owner. I had the sole florentine and the best risotto ever. Very busy on Friday. Great food

What a great place to have a first date. On Thursday night we went here to have dinner, they also had a gentleman playing the guitar which was great. Melissa Our waitress was the best. She was very attentive and her personality was very pleasant and was like you were talking to a good friend.
We started off with drinks that were on point and very delicious along with appetizers and dinner which was also delicious.
We had the pleasure in meeting the owner Josie. She was very nice enough to come to our table and introduce herself to us, which is a plus in my book.
After dinner she personally brought over 2 lemoncello shots as a thank you for coming there.
All in all not only is it a great place for a first date With good food and atmosphere but the hospitality alone is worth going back over and over again.
It reminds me of a little NYC Bistro in a Newington setting.
I definitely will be back! :)

Great food and great service! Josie and family are wonderful and really make you feel welcome from the moment you sit down. I love this restaurant and will continue to come back. Everything I ate was delicious, but it is the new owners that make this place so special!

Nice to know the original chef is back. The Rib Eye melted in my mouth, but a tad salty. We had Prince Edward Island mussels for a appetizer that were fantastic. We had Margaritas for cocktails and they were great.
The only downfall was the service was a little slow for some reason. The other wait staff seemed to be on the ball. It took quite a while to receive our drinks and water and bread.
The new owner is very personable and enjoys talking to the customers and making sure your taking care of and pointed out if you needed anything she was there to please. The atmosphere was very quaint and cozy. I highly recommend this place

First off… Hidden Vine is open. Apparently they must have closed in early 2013, but new owners have come in and kept the name along with basically everything else about the place. My wife and I had a date night and ended up here a two weeks back, which was apparently only their 2^nd weekend open under new management. Honestly, we had no idea that the place was closed and re-​opened based on appearances and only figured it out when our waiter explained what happened midway through service.
So, I would say the commentary on location /​vibe /​décor from previous Unilocalers still apply here. A nice little wine bar tucked into Newington town center. You’re not going to find it on a street drive-​by. There is a large parking area behind most of the store fronts and you should come upon it by driving around this lot (closer to Main Street and near ‘Black Rose’). Has an outdoor seating area for spring /​summer which is nice. Very modern /​romantic feel inside which is perfect for taking your significant other to.
While management decided to keep the vibe /​décor the same, they have changed up the food menu a bit. One of the things we liked previously was the creativity shown. We would come here and treat this place like a tapas bar and choose a few fun apps from the menu. Options were modern with American /​Italian influence. With new management, the options are much more traditional in nature. The basic Italian options you know. If that is your thing, then you are good to go. For us, it was somewhat boring. Nothing on the menu made me say ‘I have to try that!’…So I asked for the specials and was told they had scallops. A personal fave, so I ordered w/​o asking any further.
I probably should have asked more as the scallops were… OK…A bit on the small side (they were sea scallops) along with asparagus and risotto. If I was charged somewhere between $ 18 — $ 23 for the plate, I would have walked away content. But the ‘special’ was charged at $ 30 and that was too much for clearly inferior scallops served with basic sides. Similarly, my wife’s dish was average, but not inspiring. They also used to serve an assortment of bread, but now serve the basic warmed up rolls. Overall, the food here took a step down from what we remember and would probably stay away for a meal. Should also note that it took quite a while to get the food out as well, but will cut a break as this was only week #2 and there are probably some kinks to iron out in the kitchen.
I will say that the wine & service were very good. It was a crowded Saturday night and we were able to score a table for 2 with no reservation, so we were appreciative of that. Our waiter (son of the owner) was very personable and attentive and made the long food wait go better. The owner was also walking the room and checking on things which is always a nice touch. My wife had a question on the difference between 2 Chardonnay options and the wait staff brought over a sample of each which was also a positive. Prices on glasses of wine were a bit high, but you should come to a wine bar expecting to pay $ 6 — $ 10 glass. We walked out with a particular find that we will search out to drink at home.
Overall, a mixed bag. I think we will probably give it another go when the weather is nicer and the outdoor patio opens up. Would say this would be a fun time to bring a bunch of wine drinking friends for a happy hour with wine and apps. Hopefully the food catches up (and /​or the prices come down) to be able to recommend Hidden Vine as a place for a full meal.

Wanted to try this place out after reopening and I’m so glad I did! Fantastic service, excellent food, and a great atmosphere. The owner Josie was very friendly and came over several times to introduce herself and check in to see how things were. For being open only 2 weeks I am extremely impressed! Can’t wait to come back.

Sad to say it is completely closed with a realtor «for lease» sign in front. The Hidden Vine is gone and closed.

Seems to be closed for now, if not permanently? We wanted to try The Hidden Vine on Saturday night — the phone is off and it was dark/​empty. There are no announcements on their fb page or website — hope everything is alright and that they will be reopening soon!
Would recommend calling before you show up! :o)

A nice job by a cutsey little wine bar, relatively new to downtown Newington. I’d say their number one attraction is atmosphere — they definitely play it up with the wood, marble, lighting, fancy furniture and adornments, etc. We stopped by for some drinks, of course, and were reasonably pleased.
I will say, –1 star because the wine bottle list doesn’t exactly run the gamut on price. They start at $ 28, which is not for the faint of heart or wallet. I didn’t check, but I can only assume these bottom of the list bottles are selling for $ 8 – 10 at the closest liquor store.
Still, it was a nice little luxury, and the bottles we ordered were very professionally served… big honking glasses and what not. Maybe we’ll be back for food sometime.

Had the steak, a panini, and some ravioli if I remember correctly – Last year. They were all lick your plate clean amazing!
Then we came this year and were just confused. I ordered the same steak and it came out covered in some odd red sauce that reminded me of a slow cooker meal. It was chewy and had a weird flavor. I’m not sure if this was the «carmelized shallot demi glaze» that the menu stated I would be getting but YUCK! The chicken francise that we had was mediocre at best. Brushetta was okay, but how can you really mess that up. I’m not sure what happened, but we will not be returning.
I also had friends that went and said they had so much trouble using their groupon, it took longer than the actual meal to figure it out and they were also grossed out by the steak.

Great service, great food… Nice prices
We came with a groupon offer and we will def be back!