tonight, the girls and i hit up coal vines – uptown pizza wine bar.
when: 7:15pm, tuesday
wait: 30 minutes
customer service: B
food rating: A-
when steph and i first pulled into the small parking lot (coal vines is a little hard to see as it’s right on a corner in uptown) – we got a spot right in front. however, we were quickly hollered at by the valet who claimed we had parked in a valet spot. tip to coal vines: mark your valet spot with cones/signs/something. steph went back to her car to re-park and the only there was only one way out, and the valet flagged her down once again and insisted she turn around and go back the other way (what other way?!). she ignored him. score 1 for steph.
meanwhile, i went in to let jessi know we were here and was hounded by the manager who kept insisting that valet was free (except for the fact you have to tip them, of course…) and that i should call stephanie or chase her down to let her know. i politely let him know it was fine and that she wouldn’t be parking that far. he decided to follow me to the bar all the while telling me i NEEDED to call my friend up to let her know it was free. it got kind of bothersome, but he left after awhile and i grabbed a cold beer with jess. steph soon joined on the beerage.
the ambiance of coal vines is fairly cozy. the walls are red brick creating the nice coal oven look and feel. all the booths & tables are very close, so if you are claustrophobic, may want to rethink coming here (unless you get a seat outside on the patio – more spacious out there). i was literally sitting 2 feet from the couple in the booth next to us.
customer service was mediocre. our waitress didn’t smile or seem overly friendly, she read off the specials to us and instead of asking if we would like any appetizers or if she could get anything else – she promptly just turned on her heel and left. not that i’m super high maintenance even though it seems like it from the previous sentence (hehe), she just didn’t make any eye contact and left without giving us the chance to ask/say anything. she recited the wrong order back to us and rarely came by to say hi.
we got one of the specials of the day: large baked sea scallops with black truffle, parmesan cheese, grilled asparagus and tomatoes and one of their pizzas: sausage & red peppers with pepperoni and basil.
sea scallops: very good. strong taste, maybe a little bit too salty – but the truffle was mild and parmesan cheese gave a great contrast in taste and texture. the grilled asparagus were really good. very tasty and tender, with the charcoal grilled taste. yum!
pizza: unfortunately i ate the pizza after it had cooled down a little, but even a little cool it was still very good! they give you red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese and oregano to spread over the pizza. crust was good.
all in all, i would go again. if you’re looking for awesome customer service, look elsewhere – but for a little uptown pizza bar with a decent selection of wine and the noise level to a minimum (don’t have to shout to hear each other) – not too shabby!