Grape Escape Wine Bar

A hidden gem! This place is the perfect date night spot. It’s mellow, calm, has great service, wonderful food and of course, amazing wine. First time here and I will definitely be going back soon!

Came in here happy hour on a Wednesday and it was dead. Its half off glasses of select wine, which is about 27 different types. We didn’t try the happy hour menu because its all greasy foods, except for breasola. The biggest reason why I gave it 2 stars were the wine glasses were full of towel lint! Gross!

A good place for anyone who needs a place to stop off and grab a glass of wine after a long day.
The duck gnocci is the only stand out on the menu
There are better places in Burlingame

What a great find!!!
I went in here to catch up with and old friend over a glass of wine. First impression was that the place was empty because there was something down in the kitchen but I didn’t care, I was only there for the wine bar. The host took us to the bar and then I got to sample a few wines before I got to choose I glass I wanted — How cool is that? Its like a free mini wine tasting .
The owner, Ozer, was a big reason why I gave this place 5 stars, he was just so welcoming! When my friend asked him how he got run this restaurant wine bar, his story blew us away. A true Horatio Alger story and still super modest guy. I highly recommend, if its not too busy, introduce yourself to him. He is a great story teller about wine, himself or just the area.
After the conversation with the Ozer, my friend and I got to catch up. It was just a great relax and nice atmosphere to hang out with an old buddy.

Some reviews are pretty harsh.
I came in on a sunny Saturday afternoon and sat by a window. I LOVED the music, the Pinot and the whole ambiance. The owner was very welcoming and I can tell he is passionate about wine and his business.
Lets be real people, if you want to pay super low prices on a glass of wine maybe you should buy something from bevmo. I highly suggest coming in. Well kept, clean and friendly.
Ill be coming back :)

My family and I visited the wine bar last night and had one of our best experiences ever in a restaurant. The owner and his assistant were very knowledgeable and gracious. A bottle of 2004 Barrolo was suggested to us. We enjoyed it very much. the service was great. In fact, we were made to feel like family. I would highly endorse this restaurant to anyone.

We had about 4 different servers within an hour. Way overpriced. Disgusting appetizers. Not fresh. This is not a wine bar. Try B street and Vine in downtown San mateo… or go to il fornaio– better quality. Overall this place is crap. I bet they won’t last much longer.

This is not a wine bar. It is a restaurant with an acceptable, but generic, wine list with less than half available by the glass. Our server was not knowledgeable about wine, or the selection offered and had to refer to the menu several times while the 3 of us ordered a glass each.
After finishing our wine, we proceeded to wait about 10 minutes for our server and who we assumed was the owner to finish their dinners, conversation and greeting friends before asking for the bill. When they ran the card, they ran someone else’s (larger) tab. They did correct it without significant fuss, though.
Overall they have a barely average wine list, staff that has no wine knowledge and poor service. Maybe the food is redeeming, but in that case they have no business calling themselves a wine bar.
I will return eventually to try out their food (they do have a wood oven), but don’t go here for a quick glass or two of wine.

Love the concept — too few places to sit and awkward empty space made this a less than optimal night out.
Girls wanted to get together for a bit of food, drinks and conversation. Too few places to sit.

Service really sucks. Ten + minutes to get a drink order in. The manager didn’t help, he was too busy kicking people out of the outdoor tables. Get more staff. And reduce your prices for a glass of wine! The food did look good, we had the cheese plate. If the service wasn’t so bad, I may consider a second trip.

Food was good. Maybe not 100% worth the price. Bread was different. It was denser than anticipated but it was served warm. We got the fried shrimp appetizer. It was good and included tempura asparagus. It was only supposed to come with 4 shrimps but they added an extra shrimp since we asked (party of 5). We would go back.

Not a wine bar!
Despite declaring itself as a wine bar in it’s cute name, this place is just a restaurant with «wine bar» in the name.
1. The waitress didn’t ask for drinks, but instead described the evening specials for dinner, just like a regular restaurant. The menu was a typical restaurant menu. The wine list was tiny, and the waitress didn’t seem to know anything about wine. («I like this one» was as far as she got.)
2. The waitress seemed mad at us when we said we were just there to try out some wine. That doesn’t seem like a rational response in a wine bar. She then went on to close out the check after the first bottle, without even asking if we wanted anything else. She clearly didn’t want us taking up space just drinking wine at a wine bar.
3. They charged us an automatic 18% gratuity because we had 6 people in our party. I’ve never seen a wine bar do that before. Furthermore, the 18% was on the bottle price plus tax…
In the end, we paid $ 60 for what tasted like an awful $ 6 bottle of wine, and walked out, never to return.

This corner is notorious for restaurant turnover… this will be the next victim. As a food/​wine fan and resident of the B-​game area, we’ve long awaited a wine bar with great food. Something to give 31^st Union an alternative — sorry folks, this aint it.
The «cursed corner» could use a fighting shot, the service, food and wine and this place are all lackluster… where do I begin.
First: a wine bar with awful wine… by the glass, only a few selections, that don’t even rank with Mingalaba up the street. When the good take out place up the street has better wine… its not good (fyi… I love Mingalaba, and they actually have decent wine!).
so then the food: we had 9 appetizers and 7 entre’s… the only one that we considered decent was the pizza drenched in truffle oil, but it was about as good as domino’s if you drenched it in truffle oil. The duck — awful, sliders — how do you screw up the bun? Anything else I say will just seem rude, lets just say I didn’t like it.
Service… wait staff was very nice and attentive, but no real knowledge of wine. They did know the food… that was the highlight. My favorite is the owner/​manager. We asked him for water — he gave us a dirty look, pointed aimlessly to the back and said «ask your waiter» then proceeded to go back to his crusty podium to be utterly disconnected. Hard to feel bad on this one.
I’m looking forward to supporting a great wine bar/​food joint in burlingame, this just isn’t it.

Ozer, the owner is super awesome. This place is going to become my new go to «I need a glass of wine!» spot. Plus it is super close to my house (walking distance). They have a great selection in bottles, and a fabulous atmosphere. Only had a mini cheese plate here but it was great! We will go again soon :)

I came here after seeing this corner restaurant sign a few times while walking around Burlingame Ave. I thought Grape Escape! Ha Ha Ha! How clever! It’s a great idea: extensive wine list, small eats, reasonable prices (is $ 10 for a glass of wine reasonable?!). However, I wasn’t impressed. I wish B Street and Vine was on Burlingame Ave, because that’s what I was hoping for when I suggested this place for girl’s night. The wait staff is very attentive, maybe TOO attentive…
The Wine:
Pretty expensive for a glass of wine. Good selection.
The Food:
Mediocre at best. No mind blowing meals here.
The Verdict:
OK. Not great, but may come back for a glass of wine or two.

Came here on a Saturday night around 7PM but there weren’t that many people here and were able to sit down as soon as possible.
Since this was a Wine Bar, we decided to split a whole bottle of Pinot Grigio between 3 of us. The bottle was a 2011 and was about $ 42. I’m not a wine person but the wine was really easy to drink and was tasty.
Our waitress was nice and helpful in suggestions for food and wines but I found her slightly condescending when we were telling her our orders that were names in Italian. She was nice overall, however.
We ordered the Cheese Plate because we thought it would be like an appetizer but it came last and our waitress said it’s normally a dessert kind of food. For the amount of cheese they gave, I would have expected a little more crackers with it. The cheeses themselves were good though and the honey was sweet!
I ordered the Schiacciata con Porchetta. I honestly didn’t know what that was when I ordered it and was expected a fluffy pizza. Then I found out that the Schiacciata is a flat baked bread. It was cut into 6 slices with meat on top of each of the slices. It was actually really good. It wasn’t that filling, however, and I was still kinda hungry after.
Overall, this place is good for the different types of Wines they have but their food is kind of limiting. There were only 2 – 3 pizzas to choose from and 4 pastas. Our bill was a little higher than I had expected. I would come here if I just wanted to drink some wine and have some food to accompany it. I wouldn’t come here mainly for dinner and hungry.
Pros:
— Great place to chill and have some wine with friends
— Lots of seating
— Tasty food
Cons:
— Not the best place to come if you’re hungry and wanting to eat a lot

Brand new place, I liked it from the start. Very friendly lady welcomed me at the door.
I decided to seat at the bar.
The servers and bartender seemed happy to be there. Very knowledgeable staff.
I liked the wine flights featured that evening. I also had a small bite, I had the evening’s feature: carpaccio of beets, burrata and asparagus, so fresh, very delicious. I also had the citrus marinated octopus. I can’t forget the focaccia bread with the sun-​dried tomato/​olive tapenade, I liked it very much and the sommelier offered a glass of Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand which I thought it paired beautifully with the tapenade.
I should also mention that the owner was helpful and friendly
My new favorite place in Burlingame

This is one of those spots that have turned a few times in just the last year. Turkish, Italian, now maybe a llittle of both and American? On a nice weird sunny winter day we sat outside. Had the fantal cheese, lamb cheek & duck sliders, chicken tagliatelle, squid ink spaghetti and winter squash raviolis. Everything was solid. The pastas had unique flavor combinations and service was friendly. The line might have been a bit on the slow side but I think they can fix that with time. Hopefully they buck the curse of this space!

Yay for a wine bar in Burlingame! I ran across this place when I was actually searching for the Turkish restaurant that once used to occupy this space. To my pleasant surprise, in its space now resides Grape Escape. A small, welcoming bar with plenty of dining room seating invite you into a cozy interior perfect for a post-​work grape escape. :)
In addition to the compulsory wine (after all, we were in a wine bar), we also ordered:
— chef’s choice cheese plate: With 3 varieties of cheese, fennel seed flat bread, and truffle thyme honey, the plate looked sparse upon arrival (little bits on a large platter), but proved to be filling and marvelously delicious. The fennel, truffle, and honey flavors were all amazing accompaniments to the cheeses.
— panzanella: I rarely see this in Italian restaurants, but this traditional Tuscan cucumber tomato bread salad in a Grana Padano basket (think: made of cheese) was really fabulous! Beautifully presented, and while a shame to tear apart, we gladly did.
Overall, Grape Escape is a nice, quiet place to grab a glass of wine and some apps (they do have main courses also) with some girlfriends, a date, or colleagues. I wish the bar area was larger, but the seating is plentiful regardless.

FTR! FTR! This barely ever happens in the South Bay or Peninsula on Unilocal…
As a Burlingame resident for almost a year, I’ve been saying that we need a good wine bar in the neighborhood. With all the soccer moms who lurk around Lululemon and Euro trash who hang out on Burlingame Ave late at night, it only makes sense. Well, you also have Ms. Wino who lives a few blocks away… Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones :)
Grape Escape was initially a Turkish restaurant and has simply been rebranded as a wine bar/​Italian joint just a little over a week ago. It’s not a typical wine bar, it’s more of a bistro with a heavy wine influence. There is a beautiful bar with featured vino by the glass, but a majority of this space is dedicated to table seating and food. Totally fine! Simply had to point it out.
It wasn’t terribly busy when we stopped by on Saturday evening around 7:30 pm. That was likely due to the 49’ers game (aka DOMINATION), so most everyone in the Bay Area was either glued to the TV at home or a sports bar. Though I do have to mention that Grape Escape does have a TV at the bar and we enjoyed the last 30 minutes or so. You can also order anything off the food/​drink menu at the bar if you prefer, which I do.
Like many wine bars, Grape Escape has a small plates menu, in case you need to soak up some of the alcohol after a few glasses. My +1 tried the Brussel sprouts and mushrooms, both of which were tasty. Probably not healthy, since they were quite buttery, but who cares? I went for the pappardelle and pork dish, which was tender and salty, just how I like it!
Overall, a wonderful addition to the B-​game business lineup. They’re still relatively new, so give ‘em a break these next few weeks/​months. That shouldn’t stop anyone from coming in for a glass of wine or meal. Hopefully the weather warms up as well as business so they can stick around the ‘hood!