The Grapevine Restaurant

I usually love this place, this time around not so much. My husband and I went for dinner last night and sat in the outside tables. Our waitress was distracted and would constantly forget about our table, for example my water was never refilled, she didn’t seem to forget the two tables next to us who she brought actual jugs of water! She would ask us in passing how are food was as she was already standing in front of the table next to us. The salad and desserts were very good, the meal was more on the greasy side. If it wasn’t for the service our experience would’ve been a bit better.

My wife and I love this restaurant. I am vegan and my wife vegetarian and find we can have great food, great Turkish coffee and rice pudding or baclava dessert.

Wow this place is amazing :). Fun relaxing environment, fantastic food and very good prices ! Utica’s hidden gem. Gotta try it … New Hartford :)

We stopped in and tried The Grapevine, and we’re very glad we did. The site is somewhat small, with 7 or 8 4-​tops, and a couple of deuces, with a few small tables outside in the nice weather. We sat ourselves and the waitress came over fairly quickly to get our drink order. I had a special not on the menu called Panalone (not sure about the spelling). It was rolled sirloin with a nice sauce over rice with some roasted potatoes (see picture). It was delicious, and I took some home to save room for dessert. My wife ordered the Hummis and Lahmi (another picture), which was also very good. For dessert, we both had the Baklava, which is a definite weakness of mine. This was probably the best I’ve ever had (although I’m not sure there’s any such thing as BAD Baklava), served hot. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly, and they played great music. I’m sure we’ll be going back in the not-​too-​distant future.

The Grapevine is a small restaurant located within the New Hartford Shopping Center owned by a local family. The owners are constantly working, day and night. You’ll always find them in the restaurant when you visit from opening to close, and also down on Verrick Street in their food stand. They’re wonderful people. There is also one waiter that we love there but I don’t know his name. He has a shaved head and is super energetic. So friendly and personable. The food here is amazing. I usually get the chicken skewer or spicy chicken. The flavor is amazing. I also always get the hummus as an appetizer with their warm pita bread. I always end up taking some home. My significant other usually gets a lamb dish. He says its good. They always have specials too. When the weather is nicer (you never know in upstate NY) you can sit outside. The restaurant is BYOB so bring your favorite bottle of wine, whiskey, etc. if you forget there is a liquor store right next door. This is a great little spot with healthy choices. Save room for desert! We highly recommend the cannoli cake.

A big thank you to other travelers before us who left reviews. After Unilocaling to see what was in the area, we ended up here. The ambience is good. Our server was awesome!!! Everything you need in a server, he possessed. — the enthusiasm, help with the menu, speed with which our orders were taken, humor, etc.
I ordered the vegetarian platter which came with hummus, babaganoush, tabouli salad, falafel, and Mediterranean rice. Everything tastes so darn good. For desert, we had a Godiva chocolate cake. It was too moist for my liking but others at the table like it.
Other things I liked (for those who care about details)
–Food was super fast. It’s as if they knew we had to get back on the road.
— Food portions were generous IMO
–It is family owned and everything is made fresh (this is what the owner told me but what’s he supposed to say? We buy packaged Mediterranean food from the International food section of the grocery store and microwave it before serving?)
— The bathroom was clean. By clean I mean spotless!!! Spacious as well; there’s enough space to run from one wall to the other. Okay, You got me. I exaggerated the last point.

Have been here a few times & does not get any better than this! I prefer Grapevine over Symeons by a mile plus! The waitstaff is always friendly, sometimes it does get crazy busy & noisy as it is a small place. The only reason I’ve visited Symeons is because every year my in-​laws give us a gift certificate, otherwise I would rather not go! I have had the vegetarian platter & it gives samples of the hot & cold appetizers, the salad is very good, as are the eggplant fries (OMG!!!) I have waited a long time for a table on a Friday night, & the only place to wait is by the front door, which in the winter is so cold, they do put a door curtain to try & keep out the drafts. The rice pilaf is made with water, not chicken broth and is AWESOME for us vegetarians, they do accommodate for food allergies/​preferences.
Ask for dressing on the side as it can be at times a little heavy handed.
Worth the trip!

Great locally owned restaurant. Owners and staff are great. Food is delicious! Can’t wait to go again

Stopped by on the way to Rochester. The service was great and the food came very quickly. Reasonably priced for the flavor explosion I received. Next time I’m around upstate New York you bet your Mediterranean stars I’ll be coming back!

First time ever using Unilocal or writing a review but this this meal really was such a disappointment. Stop in quick for lunch over other places in plaza because I was excited to get a gyro. Well it was by far the worst gyro I’ve ever had in my life. The beef was un chewable. I felt like I was biting rubber. You couldn’t even take a bite without the entire piece coming out. Really really greasy just terrible there’s no other explanation. To top it off I ordered an espresso on a cold afternoon and it was not an espresso. It was a keurig which tasted nothing like a real espresso. I wanted to warn the employees how bad the beef was in order to not dissatisfy any further customers but they were bragging with it seemed like every other customer how great the place was so I felt uncomfortable. Just a really disappointing lunch.

I came here for the 3^rd or 4^th time on 11÷25÷15 for lunch. Oh my gosh my friend and I had a GREAT EXPERIENCE here. First off our waitress, a young girl with short black hair– was literally amazing! So polite, cute and friendly. She had such a great personality. She recommended the special to us which was a Nui burrito?!! I think it was called. Well anyway this burrito was absolutely delicious. It’s stuffed with rice and your choice of meat (I chose the shaved lamb) and has a chicken Riggie sauce on top with peppers and onions. Oh my lanta this thing was delicious and amazing. The lunch special also comes with a fresh side salad and pita bread.
For lunch we had a appetizer of falafel ($ 4), 2 lunch specials with salad ($ 10 each) and two pieces of baklava ($ 8) the bill came out to be around $ 34 with tax. Super cheap and we ate like queens. Oh and the baklava was SO GOOD. Not too sweet.
I really love it here!!! Definitely recommended!

Enjoyed the ambience and friendly staff.
The lamb gyros and grilled chicken platter were very good.

The staff at Grapevine are very nice and the food is even better! I ordered fish and it was very good. I ended up eating all of my dish and some of my brother’s meal because the food was so good!

Excellent food and wonderful service. The owners are lovely and the wait staff is polite. The food is the best around. Try the baba ghanoush, it’s delicious!

Great food, super fast service and great prices. Had the lamb gyros and they were excellent!

Excellent. Great food, great service. Great prices. Definitely recommend. Bring your own drinks– liquor store 2 doors down. Lively on Friday night.

Wow, really good, authentic mediterranean food. Not greasy at all, but definitely not lacking any flavor at all. Will probably start eating here every day eventually.

Amazing food and staff. Great atmosphere.. Owner friendly and personally introduced himself to us. You won’t be disappointed.

Delicious food and excellent service. I was very impressed by how nicely appointed the restaurant is even though it doesn’t look like much from the outside. My group shared the appetizer sampler «trip to the middle east» and I had the special rice bowl with gyro meat. Both were excellent. At the end of the meal, we enjoyed some homemade baklava and amazing rice pudding. I would definitely come back here the next time I am in the area.

I too can’t believe there are no reviews about this place! It’s a little hard to find in the New Hartford shopping center due to a banner sign (next to the buffet place) but once you find it you won’t be disappointed.
I went with a party of nine and we had excellent service. Our server, Jeremy was a really down to earth genuine person. The food was fresh and flavorful. We started with several appetizers including two orders of the Trip to the Middle East, Khyar Bil-​Laban, and Feta and Olives all served with warm pitas. I couldn’t stop eating! For my entrée I got the Shish Lahmi which was recommended by our server. It came with one skewer, rice pilaf, and salad which was perfect since I ate so much beforehand.
This place is BYOB which I love. As for dessert, I couldn’t stay away from the brownie sundae even though I was already so full. Our entire party split the bill and I believe it only ended up being $ 25 per person at most which is very reasonable for the amount of food we got.
We were lucky enough to chat with the chefs/​owners of the Grapevine after our meal. A very friendly and authentic couple, definitely say hi if you get the chance. Overall I was very pleased with the Grapevine and would return and recommend it!