Grapevine Restaurant

Received a gift card to this restaurant for Christmas. They closed shortly after the new year. While we loved the food and service here while they were open, I feel so burned on this gift card situation. Why sell gift cards as Christmas gifts when you know you’re closing? Just wrong!

closed

Closed — saw on their website as of 12÷6÷15 «Sadly, The Grapevine Restaurant has closed its doors. Thank you to all of our loyal patrons.»

Haven’t been here in a while. Salem seems quiet now. The restaurant scene was pretty vibrant a short while back.
Marblehead was busy tonight so we expanded our search and found the Grapevine available. Pre-​kids the Grapevine was a regular spot and usually was very busy.
Tonight it was pretty wide open. Which raised concerns.
Actually the menu was fresh. Mushroom pocket, short rib bruschetta for appetizer. Three or four attractive entrees like the burger with Gorgonzola, Rigotoni and lamb, pork and beef sauce, scallops, chicken, and more.
We split the mushroom pocket. Short Rib entrée and scallop/​risotto.
Food was great. Flavorful. Original. Prepared very well.
We will be back. Good to have a delicious accessible regular spot.

My girlfriend and I went on a Restaurant week thursday night. Was initially half full, then filled up nicely. Had a live band singing chill music perfect for the background.
Overall, we quite enjoyed our time there. The server was good, but seemed sort of annoyed — I don’t think with us, but that could been better. Though she was quite attentive.
Started with wine and a beer, both of which were exactly what we requested. Decent liquor list.
They brought out complementary white and live bread, which was tasty.
My girlfriend ordered the tuna tartare and the baby arugula. the tuna tartare had good tuna, but wasn’t very flavorful. The arugula salad was a decent size. Not bad, but not impressive.
I went with the restaurant week order, getting the PEI mussels, free range chicken, and apple bread pudding.
The PEI mussels were great. The sauce was an orange/​red tomato-​y sauce with chunks of chorizo in it. I really liked the whole mix.
The free range chicken was a decent amount of chicken sitting in a brown sweet mushroom sauce surrounded by sweet potato gnocchi. This was fantastic. The chicken skin was slightly crunchy and delicious (I normally don’t like the skin). The chicken was perfectly cooked and tender. The sauce added a good flavor to the whole thing and the sweet potato gnocchi were soft, a bit chewy, and went well with the sauce and the whole mix.
The apple bread pudding was great. Warm, not too moist or dry. Covered in vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Sweet, but not overly so.
Good meal.

We were leery because of the reviews and the fact you could get a table on a Saturday night, but are very happily surprised by great service and great food. We were greeted by a happy server and extensive wine list. Sparkling Riesling? Yum! We had small plates of house smoke salmon and fried chick peas that were extremely good. Salads were nicely dressed. Two of us had pasta which was perfectly al dente, the bolognese and the pea ravioli. Dad had chicken and Steve had the seafood stew which were both also quite good. If the food and service is consistently this way I would definitely highly recommend. No it’s not cheap, but for this quality it’s worth every penny!

Very tasty, fresh food — and surpassingly friendly and helpful servers. Grilled salmon was perfect and the chorizo slider was great. The highlight was Carolina — perhaps the warmest and most helpful server in New England.

A very awful experience from start to finish. Our 8:15 reservation was delayed because there was not enough available clean flatware in the restaurant to set our table. at 8:15. That should have been a red flag for us, but we waited. We were seated at 8:35. No napkins were placed on the table and only 3 of us had flatware. After 15 minutes with no service whatsoever, we asked for bread and water and ordered our appetizers. My brother-​in-​law ordered a margarita, which never arrived at our table until he got up and went to the bar to order it again himself. For appetizers, we had the mussels, the mediterranean hummus plate, and the tomato and mozzarella. The appetizers were ok, but nothing special.
My nephew ordered the salmon and was served the duck. 5 of the 6 meals meals came and we waited another 5 minutes for the 6^th meal to arrive at the table so we could all eat at once. Our meals were bald and cold. My salmon was very overcooked. My daughter liked her chicken and risotto.
It was really a terrible experience overall until the restaurant owner came to our table, apologized for the poor service, mentioned something about a large party n the other room, and offered to comp our meals. Regretfully, we will never return to the Grapevine again.

This place has a lot of potential and they are really making an effort here– the service is excellent and the outdoor dining patio is great. However, Grapevine misses the mark in several areas:
–Food– the chef uses locally caught fish, herbs from the patio (saw a waiter snipping basil nearby!), local bread, etc. However, we found our dishes (flounder stuffed with crab meat and oysters, gnocchi and shrimp with goat cheese) to be fresh, but bland and uninspired. The mini chorizo burger appetizers were excellent, though.
–Ambiance– the indoor dining area was nearly empty at prime dining hour on a weekend– not a good sign. The place needs a bit of a facelift– it was too stuffy. However, the outdoor dining area where we ate was beautiful and right on the river. So, why are there barely any tables out there? Why no outdoor bar? Strange… Also, they had live music during dinner (bonus!), but she was about as bland as the food (wah-​waaah).
–Price– I have no problem paying good money for good food, but the food didn’t match the price here. If the food was brought up a notch or the prices brought down to the high teens/​low twenties, this place would be buzzing!
In summary, if you go, be sure to sit on the patio, order some small plates and appetizers with a couple of drinks, and enjoy the view!

Relaxing Sunday Brunch with Great Music!
Met a few friends here for Sunday Blues Brunch with music by Barrence Whitfield — loved it.
They call the restaurant a Mediterranean Kitchen & Wine Bar. The brunch features items such as Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast and Goat Cheese & Cippolini Omelet as tasty as they sound. The wine list is extensive offering reds and whites from Spain, Greece, Italy, France and the US.
The Grapevine also runs a «Hear it Though The Grapevine» Acoustic Music Series on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6 — 9, featuring Folk, Blues, or Jazz Musicians. A schedule is available on their website.
If your looking for a memorable night with great food and wine, try the Grapevine, you can even book a table up to a month in advance, online through OpenTable.

Beautiful deck and garden on the South River. Excellent food pasta salads seafood. They know their wines here. They even have local wines from Truro. Quiet sophisticated with a caring and patient wait staff. They feature fresh bread from a local Salem bakery A&J King Yum

Here’s the breakdown:
Bad food
High prices
Unfriendly service
Entire place needs a makeover
Served us filthy napkins with blood on them. Should have walked out right then as the experience didn’t improve at all. Ordered the pork chop which was underwhelming. Also ordered the special, which was some pasta dish — straight up gross. Bottom-​line: ridiculous prices for terrible food. I would never return.

Perfect, relaxing, enjoyable food and ambiance. You have to go there. Went last weekend and again this weekend.
Waiter, Shane, was extremely attentive to our needs and my allergies. Explained the specials to a tee. The new proprietor checked in with us to make sure everything was satisfactory.
The food was 5 star.
Will definitely be a regular there.

Great relaxed atmosphere and very high quality food. I had been here once before for drinks (fantastic cocktail list!!) and just recently went back for dinner which was such an enjoyable experience.
Service here is very friendly and attentive while not being intrusive… Once you place your order they being some tasty bread from a local bakery along with olive oil for dipping — we had a sourdough which had chunks of garlic baked in. Quite tasty!
Fig ravioli with duck confit and spinach was over the top amazing! My companion raved the bolognaise, which features lamb, veal and pork.
I will certainly come back to try more of their fantastic menu. I highly recommend you check this place out!

I was excited to see the Grapevine had reopened. We went with our 13 year old daughter to give it a try. The service was excellent and the food just as good, if not better. My husband thought his steak tartare was some of the best he had ever ordered and thought the Pasta Bolognese was just as good as it had been. I would highly recommend the salmon and my daughter polished off her caesar salad and steak. Prices are a bit high but given the quality of the ingredients, it is well worth the cost. Our friendly, helpful server rounded out a phenomenal dining experience. The only suggestion I have is regarding the flow of the space. The addition of the hostess station really divides the bar are from the front dining room. I cannot wait to return…

Went for dinner on Saturday night. Service was good but there were almost too many different people visiting our table: someone brings water, another takes orders, another brings bread, and a different person asks if they can remove the bread basket… too many interruptions.
Food was pretty good. We had the bolognese and ravioli and the wine list was extensive. Entrée prices were a bit steep. There are other Italian restaurants I would go to in Salem before returning here. Two glasses of wine and two pasta dishes came to $ 77 after tip.
They do serve a delicious garlic sourdough from A&J King Bakery.

After we walked out of the Regatta Bar across the street we were hopeful of the Grapevine. Got seated right away on the new patio — very nice, and then we waited, and waited a server gave us water– we asked for menus, and she told us our waiter would be over, so no drink order either– then our server magically disappeared! And the waiter never came over… after 10 mins we walked out! I am in the business– at least get a customer a drink and some bread! That is service 101.

We were early walk-​ins on a beautiful Saturday evening. We sat outside on patio that we thought was a great atmosphere, tastefully done and quite a surprise! We were casual but there were a few parties that were dressed a bit more formally however the atmosphere conducive to both. Wasn’t busy yet so we got to talk with the very cheerful staff… liked that they grew their own herbs surrounding the patio!
I had the cod Escarole, Saffron-​Tomato Fumé, w/​House-​made Chorizo Meatballs and a recommended chardonnay. Outstanding! Though it’s enough food — you wish you had more. My daughter had the Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli and she, for the 1^st time in recent memory, cleaned the plate (she rarely eats much). She did however share one ravioli with me and I thought they were made perfectly, al dente with a rich lobster flavor complemented by the ricotta and artichokes. My other daughter had Potato Gnocchi which she thought was excellent right down to the presentation which she called «a party in a bowl!»
Again, the patio, on a calm, mild night is an oasis in the city. My feeling is the back dining room is too dark, could be a bit brighter, and you can hear the kitchen commotion… but many restaurants have open kitchens… it adds some excitement to the ambiance. Just my taste.
We spoke to both Chef Tim and the owner Harry — both gave us and little background and education on the restaurant and the food. Must say, that is rare… and much appreciated! The staff was cheerful, helpful, seemed to be in training mode a times but with that comes enthusiasm!
The OLD Grapevine was tired. THESE FOLKS KNOW THEIR BUSINESS — and they’re doing it right with great attention to detail.
Based on the improvements and dedication of the staff, The NEW Grapevine will be a winner for another 10+ years!

We went there for Dinner and it was disappointing and not worth the money.
For Apps the Wife had the countneck clams, I had the oyster stew, both were ok, nothing memorable. The salad didn’t have enough dressing. Wife had scallops which she said were ok, but not fantastic as others have stated. I had the steak which was good, better than avg. Finished it off with strawberry shortcake which was dry.
The Staff though was attentive

We went here for the patio, as there’s a surprising dearth of nicer restaurants in Salem (read, not beer/​sports bars) that have ample outdoor seating. I had only been there once in early 2008 for my interview at Salem State, and had not returned. I had found it fairly good then, but since then Grapevine has a lot more competition, especially 62, which sits a block away. The patio adds a lot of space and a nice view of the water, but the landscape designer (if there was one) seems to have done a rather plain and uninspired job.
We went quite early on a Friday and were the only ones on the balcony. The service was great. Well, it was solicitous to the point of being annoying. Perhaps someone new was being trained but we had around three people constantly asking if we were ok, which makes it rather hard to have a conversation. The food was decent — I had the linguine, and we split a cheese plate, but it was certainly nothing to write home about, again given the quality of food, for similar prices, at the aforementioned restaurant a block away.
I’d return for drinks and to sit on the porch again…