The Wine Guy

I was in the mood for wine on Saturday night.  Wait...I think that's every night...but let's get to the point.  My dear friend Lisa and I decided to check out The Wine Guy in Gahanna, OH for some food and booze.  She had a buy-one-get-one coupon, and we're all about free eats.  I'd been there once before last summer on a fairly disastrous date (hey boys, don't ever tell a girl on a first date that you've been prescribed Cialis...legit creepyballs) so I think I tried to black out my memory of this joint.  But when free food is calling, you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

When you walk in, the walls are lined with hundreds of bottles of wine.  You can walk around, pick one up, and have it served with your meal.  We decided on the wine flight so we could try a bunch of vino.     

I'm such a red wine snob.  There's something about a heavy red and a fat steak that gives me all sorts of meaty, boozy emotions.  But I was sweating my balls off in this crazy Midwest weather, so we opted for a sweet wine flight, which included three whites, and a light, chilled red.  Without coincidence, my favorite was the Rosa di Rosa.  It's satisfied my need for a red, but was also cold and refreshing. 

I'm also a bar person.  I need to sit at the bar.  If there is a choice between a table and the bar, you know where to find me.  That may come from spending close to a decade behind one myself, but I've been known to wait around and stalk people to see when they're leaving just to get a seat.  On Saturday night they offered "bar bites".  Basically, all the apps were five bucks.  SCORE!  We started with the hummus and olive tapenade and the ricotta and honey jar.  Lisa and I had entered into a deep convo at this point and realized it had been about thirty minutes since we put our order in.  WTF!  We asked the bartender where the eff our food was and he went back and brought it out to us, mumbling something about an incapable server.  Hmmm...okay.  Despite the wait, the apps were deliciousballs!!

       

The ricotta and honey jar app pretty much rocked my world.  I think Lisa ate one slice of the bread because I hoarded the plate like a starving child.  Oops, sorry girl!  I was so full after our round of booze and carb-filled starters that I didn't know if I could eat anymore, but the coupon was for a free dinner entrée so we pushed through our ever growing food babies and rallied on.   

I ordered the ahi tuna and Lisa ordered the barbecue chicken flat bread.  Unfortunately,  both plates failed to deliver, as they looked much better than they tasted.  The flat bread was decent, although fairly dry, and the ahi was nothing more than average.  I left the plate half full.  Who even does that?!  This girl usually leaves her plate squeaky clean, then starts mooching off everyone else's plates.     

 



Alright here's the lowdown on this place.

Pros:

• Good wine selection.  No complaints there
• Great atmosphere and a large patio
• Tasty, cheap appetizers
• Located in a cute part of town and close to tons of bars if you feel like bar hopping afterwards

Cons:

• Service is only so-so
• Entrees were average at best
• Fairly hefty prices for the quality

If you're lucky enough to reside in good old central Ohio and are looking for a wine joint, this is the spot.  If you're looking for a dinner spot...this isn't your guy.  My recommendation is to hit up this spot as a starter, have a few glasses of wine, maybe an appetizer, then move on.  Or just stay there all night and drink your calories.  I promise I won't judge. 

Cheers!