Vinotopia Restaurant and Wine Bar

07/10/2008 Posted by thewubby

We have been to Cinetopia once, and Vinetopia once. We dined at Vinetopia last night for our anniversary, so our hopes we high for a nice meal. We both ordered steak, and an appetizer of calamari. The steaks were good, and perfectly cooked. My husband raved about his. Vegetables came with the meal, and they were marinated or cooked in an acidic base. Maybe some sort of vinegar. Anyhow, I didn't care for them. The calamari appetizer was the worst we have ever had. It was overcooked, which makes it very tough. It also had NO flavoring at all! No spice in the coating, no nothing. It was terrible. Finally, the service was very lacking. It was early in the evening, and the restaurant only had several table full. Not once was our water refilled. And we had to wait a long time for the bill. We might go back again, just because we aren't sure where else to go for steak in Vancouver. But most likely, we will just cross the river.

Pros: Good steak, easy parking, fun concept

Cons: Not all food was that great, wait staff was lacking

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

06/27/2008 Posted by Justin02

Many of the reviews seem to absolutely rave about this place. Seems a little fishy to me. Don't get me wrong, I really loved the concept, the movie screens were incredible and the seating is very nice as well - though you definitely pay for the extra comfort. However, I can not fathom how this place got Best of Citysearch. My fiancee and I both consider ourselves foodies and were not overly impressed by the food. I had the burger (supposedly award-winning) and a coke, and my fiancee had some sort of wrap (that should let you know how memorable it was for us) and an Italian soda. Our dinner total was somewhere around $45, not mentioning the $30 we just spent on tickets. I can also share some of the frustration with the mandatory gratuity since I am also at least a 20% tipper (was a server once a upon a time). I am also usually a wine drinker but was turned off by the staff. The wine service is stuffy and overpriced, seems some of the managers just like hearing themselves talking about the wine and don't actually cater to the customer. Conclusion: Go for the movies, eat somewhere else or at home. I am sure most of us can grill our own burgers. They're trying too hard.

Pros: Seating, Screens and sound were incredible

Cons: unfriendly staff, mediocre food

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/20/2008 Posted by FASILIS

Last Friday my husband and I were looking to go for a nice sit down dinner and some good wine. All of our friends have told us to go to vinotopia for wine tasting and a dinner. Now that we have been there we wish we had gone sooner! When we arrived to vinotopia we were greeted very nicely from everyone that had walked passed us that work there. There was a little bit of a wait but they had a server make sure to start us of with our drink of choice while we were waiting. There was not only great live music but also a fire place that is fantastic! Everything is very chic and relaxing. After we were seated, the server came immediately to our table. She was aware of the wine that we were drinking, but after our menu selection she suggested a couple other wines that would complement our meals. We ended up spending the time that we were waiting for our meal, in their wine tasting room. Where we had the opportunity to taste and be educated on some of their many wines offered. When it comes to customer service I am a huge stickler! Our server went above and beyond. We ended up calling some friends to come down to have dinner with us! It went from a party for 2 to a party for 7 and they were very accommodating! Our meals not only looked fantastic but they tasted great! My husband can't stop talking about the rib eye stake he ordered. He said it is defiantly one of the best he has had! All the staff at vinotopia seems not only very knowledgeable and good at what they do but upbeat as well! They made our experience great and unforgettable! I recommended vinotopia to anyone that wants to eat delicious food, drink great wine, and be served with a smile! See you there!:)!

Pros: Great service, wine, food live music and relaxing atmospher

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/01/2008 Posted by ticklemepunk4739

My husband and I dined at Cinetopia/Vinotopia as a special treat. We had heard about the food and thought we should check it out. After looking over the menu on the web site my first impression was that the food was a little pretentious for a movie theater in Vancouver, even the fanciest movie theater! I must preface the following statements by saying the I am an experienced professional cook and can fully understand the pressure of a kitchen and the difficulty in coordinating the execution of a perfect dish for each table every time. That being said, my husband ordered the rib eye steak ( our reason for going there was specifically to try this steak ) we were informed that the steak was not available but the chef would be happy to prepare a NY strip for the same price. The cost was not really the issue and but it was a saturday night at 7 PM at a not so particularly busy time in the restaurant service! They were out of rib eye?!The husband changed his order to the pasta with seafood and I ordered the short ribs or should I say rib. We also ordered a glass each of the suggested wines for our dishes to be served with the meal. After our order was taken our server returned and said I might be interested to know that the wine I ordered was $15 per OZ. I asked her to choose something similar but perhaps a little less extravagant. To be fair I did not specify ,but the wine she chose tasted like grape juice( in a bad way ), did not compliment my meal and was about as expensive as the recommended wine. My husbands wine was more interesting and even though he is not a fan of white wine it went with his tiny portion of bland pasta and gritty clams. My gristly short rib ( yes just the one ) was served in what tasted like cafeteria gravy and was as cold as the stodgy mash it rested on. I would never wish this meal on my worst enemy but the knife was dug in further with the $80+ check we received with one appetizer and NO dessert and a 15% tip added in.

Pros: MOVIE

Cons: NO PARKING BAD FOOD BAD WINE POOR SERVICE

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/16/2008 Posted by megand34

I was taken to Vinotopia restaurant by a friend for dinner. What a beautiful, romantic place it was. The food was excellent, was the service. We were able to go into the Wine Tasting room and pick the wine we liked to have with dinner, that was so much fun. The staff is very nice, friendly and always stopping by to see how things were going and if we needed anything more. I would definately recommend this place to friends, I already have!!

Pros: Romantic setting

Cons: Wine tasting a bit spendy

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/14/2008 Posted by rdtrbl

Love this place! The atmosphere is warm, cozy and relaxing. The staff is helpful and very nice. The wine tasting room was a little slow to get started but once we got our card and started we were very happy! And even better we can reload our card for more tastings for a year after each time we load it! I suggest sharing the tastings as some of the pours were quite spendy, 3$ to 6$ an ounce. Wonderful to go and taste some great wines, find the perfect one and buy a bottle and then relax with dessert and a movie! Love the lava cake, but if you like ice cream with it, you have to ask for it! Little more on the spendy on side but worth it for a relaxing time with out all the noisy kids.

Pros: Ambience, service

Cons: Buy movie tickets ahead of time for weekend movies, and arrive very early

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

02/11/2008 Posted by beaker866

Saw a movie at Cinema 21 recently and loved the movie so much I went to see it again at Cinetopia/Vinotopia. First of all the presentation of the movie in the Living Room theater was much sharper than the first time I saw it.. and secondly I could get real food while watching the movie.. And, a glass of really good wine.. Will absolutely come back.. loved it.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

02/05/2008 Posted by ckh1969

I like the atmosphere but the menu is over priced and a little mis-leading. The meals are very small and ala carte. I took my husband there before we enjoyed a movie (same location). Spent $80 for one glass of wine, two salads and two small dinners. Yes that did include the tip and my wine was $15.00 a glass. Their wine selection is very good and they sell tasting cards which is controlled by auto pour machines in a small room off the dinning area (kinda cool). Service was great and I do recommend this as something you should try ONCE.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful

12/19/2007 Posted by thetruth82

I was disappointed with the food but the service was good. The food was more about presentation than the flavor. I think the only reason other people think it is so good is because it is in Vancouver and theres not much good food in Vancouver and the locals don't know any better. I dont mind spending a lot of money for good food but it irritates me to spend it on bad food. The food isnt very expensive but for the quality, iItihnk it should be about 20% less. Cool concept though. Go for the venue, once, to say you did it, but dont go out there expecting amazing food.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful

09/10/2007 Posted by juan_maldonado

Excellent, excellent place. The wine bar earns a solid 4 1/2 but with the added element of being able to watch movies on the best projectors/sound systems money can buy while enjoying your drinks, it should bump it up to 6 stars. Anyone who says otherwise is probably a competitor not able to bring their night-out experience to the level of fun and sophistication this place has to offer. My only criticism is that the entrees have had a bit of a price bump recently. It certainly will not prevent me from going here, just not as frequently as I would love to.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful