Bodega Grill & Wine Lounge

Ok, I have thought about this review for some time. Though time has not changed my opinion.
I give Bodega 1 star because I did not die and because the waitress tried. The interior of place is so depressing and creepy. The food is terrible, not sure there is any quality control. I ordered a twice baked potato and it was burnt. How do you mess up a potato??? There is so much more to say but I will keep it short. Don’t waste your time or money.

This place has the worst service I have ever experienced, how do you burn noodles? The food wasn’t anything to brag about! How do you not have wine? The owner Gus is rude he was yelling at his employees in front of his customers. The staff is unprofessional. Never will I return, or recommend to any of my friends.

Not one good thing I can say regarding this so called «restaurant». Actually our kind waitress was very pleasant. First of all, who ruins a plate of cooked pasta noodles? Lol
Most entrees they were out of! Horrible décor. Would not recommend this place to ANYONE.

Atmosphere is drab, the appetizer was undercooked and my steak was tough. The service was friendly and my martini was great. Probably a better bar than restaurant.

Absolutely awful experience. Two waiters didn’t write down orders. Kept forgetting drinks. Medium steak came out well done the first time then rare (cold) the second time. One dish came out 25 minutes after the rest of the party received their order. Party of two next to us walked out. Would definitely not recommend this place and will not be coming back. I would have chosen 0 out of 5 stars if possible.

I made reservations 5 days before our dinner date for Valentines Day as the menu looked great online and I wanted to have a special dinner and try a new place.
This was absolutely the worst restaurant I have ever dined at. We walked in, and were immediately taken to our table and given some water. Approximately 10 minutes later our server came by to drop off some dinner rolls, which were very good but did not take our drink order as she had to tend to another table.
We waited another 10 minutes for her to come back to take our drink order, our drinks arrived shortly after ordering however, even though our menus were at the edge of the table when she dropped the drinks off, she ran to another table without asking if we’d like to order an appetizer or dinner. The wine list was also nothing special as this is called a «wine lounge.»
We waited another 20 – 25 minutes before she finally came back. Both of our drinks had been empty for a while. She took our 2^nd drink order and dinner order. I ordered the salmon and my boyfriend got the larger size filet. The dinner entrees came out 20 – 30 minutes later… my salmon was warm however very fishy tasting, not a good quality salmon. My boyfriend’s steak was cooked appropriately to order (medium rare) but was ice cold. It literally felt like it had been in the snow. We sent the steak back and when it was brought out 3 minutes later, it was half the size and had been cooked in the microwave (the steak was half dark brown and half medium colored). The server took the steak back and took it off the bill with no apology and no manager to come by.
We both left the place as soon as we could and went to another restaurant even though it was 9pm. I have never left 10% as a tip but i could not justify leaving any more than that because it was so bad. We were both in shock at the service and the food. There were 2 servers for the entire place with close to 25 – 30 tables! Maybe they need new management???
You couldn’t PAY me to eat here again… not worth my time!!!

I did my best to like Bodega Grill and Wine Lounge, however the service and quality it’s just not there. My friend and I went for quick light meal on Friday night, we ordered two appetizers, I had club soda and she had one martini. Not big order, and yet the waitress charged us for two martinis, the place wasn’t busy so there was no excuse for mistake. The mistake was corrected by the owner so we didn’t make big deal out of it. However when came next time with large group of people, the very same waitress charged me for one person more (about $ 35). I didn’t check the bill until next morning and decided to let it go… let Bodega go…

Worse than mediocre.
After 2 attempts at enjoying Bodega I’ve decided to give up. I wanted to like it, really I did.
My first visit was decent as it’s difficult to get saganaki wrong. The other appetizers where lack luster but edible.
If I’m going to fork over the sort of cash I had to that night $ 50 for 2 appetizers and 2 glasses of wine I’d rather go somewhere where the portions aren’t stingy and the ingredients sub par.
The wine list was so so and to top it all of the wait staff was ill educated on it’s merits.
The second visit was just last night as part of a group dinner.
There where approximately 40 woman and the staff seemed overwhelmed by the size of the
group.
By the time I got through the line there was nothing left of the appetizer. Looking at the other guests plates I noticed no one had been greedy. What a shame.
The salad plate was tiny although tasty. I wish that had been the whole meal as it turns out.
The rice was flavorful but cold, the twice baked potato starchy and cold at the center and the piece the resistance was two miniscule stake kabobs which where under seasoned.
On this dinner plate the grilled peppers where the tastiest.
Lastly, what can I say about the pudding? If it had been home made and not So great I could forgive it, buy to serve boxed chocolate pudding with un desolved granual mix still present?
I would definitely like my money back as $ 30 FOR THIS MEAL SEEMED exorbedant.
I’m sad for the state of this restaurant in terms of service, quality of preparation and the products used.
A place like bodega should invest in a top notch chef, not cooks.

Not impressed. They are billed as a fancy wine bar with great small plates. I went on a Saturday night. They had a great keyboardist singing but the food was sub-​par. We ordered an anti-​pasta that had several meats and «imported» cheeses listed. It was deli prosciutto with grocery stored cheddar. The seafood was soggy and the service was sooo slow. All this with some $ 10 glasses of fairly unknown wine and we walked out $ 115 lighter. The meal would not have been worth half that.
I don’t mind spending over $ 100 for two people when the food and service is good. But this place is a waste of money.

Terrible start to finish. Received dishes over an hour after ordering. Excuses from the server not apologies. Food was cold and wrong once it did come. Stay away.

My experience started prior to arriving looking at their website and looking forward to the huge collection of wine they had listed. When I arrived I asked for the wine list and was told the paper sheet they had given me was all they have. After pressing the bartenders a bit they asked the owner. The owner does have some reserve wines but is apparently revamping the list but was nice enough to pull some higher end wines to select from. The bartenders and servers at the restaurant are nice but not very knowledgable/​experienced. The menu is all over the place which usually raises a red flag with me and with good reason. The food was a inconsistent and lacked inventiveness. The pasta dish was actually the only dish that stood out. Oh yah I have to comment on the appearance of the establishment. The atmosphere is interesting in a supper club way with many little nooks and side rooms… I liked its vibe. With some fine tuning this place could be a gem but needs some tweaks to make that happen.

Disappointing! Cold food not fresh.
Waitress was not informed on menu items/​what they are out of.
Bread served at table was 1 or 2 days old.
Ordered there most famous chicken dish– chicken tasted boiled (rubbery) with a
Splash of sauce, Not good.
All dishes ordered had problems, some the fault of the server. (sauce on some items
After we requested several times no sauce.)
It is a shame, the area needs a good restaurant.

We decided to try this place in my birthday. To sum it up: I’m glad we did.
The owners used to own Country Squire in Grayslake.
They have a great fresh menu, an awesome bar, and a great attitude.
We started with several appetizers that they described as small plates. They were anything but SMALL.
The salmon carpaccio was really good and smokey. It wasn’t sliced thin like I expected. It was served in chunks. It tasted awesome. I’d suggest they revisit their presentation.
We also had the meatball appetizer and the sausage appetizer. Both were awesome, just great flavor. But they were larger than what I would call small plates.
We had some great wine and an 18 year old scotch for after dinner. We really enjoyed the entire meal.
We will be back soon.

I came here with a party of ~15 after work the other night for dinner and drinks. I had high expectations; the décor is nice and the menu seemed interesting, but we all left disappointed at the end of the night.
The first problem was with the service. There were two waitresses assigned to our table (in an on otherwise empty restaurant), and several of my colleagues had to remind our server after waiting over 20 minutes for their drink. I ordered the wine flight, and about 15 minutes after my drink was served, I asked for some bread for the table. I received a surly response, after which I waited another 15 – 20 minutes for something to chew on with my wine. At the end of the night, the waitress made a huge deal of having to split the bill between cards (an equal amount on each card, split 10 ways). To punish us for imposing on her, she made us wait another 20 minutes just to get our cards back.
While the service was sub-​par, the food was even worse. I ordered the same sandwich as the co-​worker sitting next to me, and they came out on two different types of bread. His was so stale that he could hardly bite into it. My sandwich was edible, but about half the size of his. Virtually no one at my end of the table was enthusiastic about what was on their plate.
To sum up: we suffered through a lousy meal, which was prolonged by inept service. Definitely won’t be back.

When Bodega first opened, it was delicious! For the past few times, it truly has
gone downhill. They are repeatedly out of several items on the drink and food menu.
The Saganaki is good, but the fries tasted like they were made in old oil.
The bread pudding was really quite hard and stale.
But, service was good, and the décor is lovely. Lovely bar.
Would I return — No! Not even with a coupon! I gave them second and third chances, and they did not improve even after gentle recommendations.

Not great not bad.

Went with a group of 10 for a meal. Food was a 5. We tied 5 appetizers, and each of us loved our food.
Ambiance was a 5. Live music was really good, not too loud.
Hostess — 5. Very friendly.
Service 2. We had a waitress who was not overly friendly. Water/​drinks not refilled unless we asked. Got all of the orders mixed up when brought out.
I’ll try again with my wife and update. Hopefully I can give them a 5.

Last time (my first visit) it was great. I returned tonight and had a below average experience. I had the blackened salmon sandwich and waffle fries. Both were over cooked, particularly the fries and I love my fries. The blackening spices were a bit over powering for my taste. My husband ordered the lamb chop appetizer which he said was good.
Service and drinks were fine.
A bit pricey in my book for what you get, but then maybe I don’t get out much. I say go else where in Gurnee, but the pickings are slim unless you like eating at a chain

Décor: 2.0 stars
Service: 2.0 stars
Food: 3.5 stars
Prices: 2.0 stars
3.1 AVG

Décor: Our recent visit marked the third and final time that we will dine at Bodega. At best, its décor and ambience is confused. Its furnishings imply an upscale but casual feel, though stark light from numerous televisions, which runs almost 4/5’s of the width of the restaurant, pierce the eye through a dimly lit dining area, to create blare. Paired with piped in oldies tunes loud enough to make hearing at conversation volume a challenge, the two conspire to reduce Bodega’s décor and ambience to little better than ‘suburban family dining’.
Service: While we found the wait staff friendly and polite, they also tended to be tentative. We found them tentative, because during two of our three visits, our servers had to step away from our table to pose questions on our behalf about menu items. (In one instance, the answer that was offered (about Paella) proved incorrect.) We overhead other servers offer thorough answers to their customers at tables adjacent to us, so it may be that newer servers are not adequately trained and tested before they’re permitted to tend to customers, and/​or, management may not place urgent and high priority on preparation of menu items for servers to sample during their training, so they may first-​person address queries about Bodega’s pricey menu items.
Food: I ordered the same item, priced about $ 24, for each of my three visits. Though I ordered the same item by accident the first two times, I did pointedly order the same item on my third visit, because the flavor (and presumably, preparation) varied between visit one and two. The difference most likely involved the extent of seasoning (black pepper) and amount of sauce. My companion had a similar experience with paella. The first order was richly seasoned, characteristic of the beloved traditional dish. The second serving was spicy hot from, as we learned from our waitress, inclusion of fresh jalapeño pepper (with seeds), because, as she elaborated, «our chef thought that the regular version could stand something to make it pop». (There was no note or advice by the server that the version that included jalapeño, was ‘chef-​inspired.)
Price/​Conclusion: Absolutely none of the food that we ate could fairly be assessed as bad. It honestly just was not exceptional as Bodega’s pricing would indicate, and diners in the area of Bodega may go to its similarly priced, nearby, immaculately kept competitor in Gurnee, just minutes away, and encounter more consistently upscale décor and ambiance, consistently well-​trained and informed servers, and meals that do not vary in quality or taste.

We often seem to be bringing down the average age in restaurants in this area, and this wasn’t an exception.
My husband drove by Bodega several times since they opened and when we needed a dinner option on a Friday night, we decided to give it a shot.
Again with the unnecessary valet parking in the suburbs — Bodega is seated in a private lot with no other businesses that are open during the dinner hours. We skipped the valet and pared ourselves.
The host staff was warm and friendly. We were seated immediately and given our option of a table or booth. We later heard some panic amongst the host staff, as there seemed to be discontent with the wait staff about who was getting seated. This type of conversation isn’t entirely unusual, but it was loud enough and near enough to us that we noted the ongoing conflict.
Our service was nice and made helpful recommendations on the food. He seemed a little less equipped to recommend wine pairings for the selected entrees, fumbling through his responses.
As others have said, the ambience is a bit incongruent. The televisions distract from the experience. Why was I watching Alton Brown cook while waiting for my food? And why was my husband watching a White Sox game?
The food, though, was excellent. My husband had the seafood paella and I had the Bodega chicken. His garlic spinach on the side was great; my saffron rice was okay but not hot when it was served.