Underdog Wine Bar and Restaurant

Members at Concannon and love spending time at Underdog… BUT made reservations way in advance for Mother’s Day…1PM. Our waiter (Travis) was overwhelmed and apparently busier elsewhere…(doesn’t come around very often) ordered a bottle of red and app… and he showed up several minutes after app was delivered with small water glasses for wine… didn’t work. Ordered another item to eat… out of item… picked another and again service was ??? Very disappointed compared to many other experiences that’s why 3 stars… usually ⁴⁄₅ star (food always been good) but service terrible this time. Spoke to manager… so-so…said what she thought I wanted to hear.

Wow. Walked in to checkin with the host, I asked for a table for 4. The guy says «NOPE, reservations only.» He’s totally rude. I’m speechless.

We were celebrating our boy’s milestone event and wanted a simple gathering that catered to both kids and parents. Underdog Bar at Concannon Vineyards was the perfect spot to satisfy both. Kids enjoyed a sunny afternoon playing lawn games while the adults watched as they enjoyed wine and appetizers. Win-​win situation!
Location
Inside the Concannon winery (but under a separate restaurant management group). We were a large group, so the staff reserved half of the patio overlooking the beautiful vineyards. The comfy lounge chairs and tables were perfect for guests to enjoy a relaxing afternoon!
Service
Rachael, the restaurant manager, made the planning process smooth and easy. She responded quickly to my emails and helped prepare the fixed menu that worked well for our party. Travis was our point of contact on the day of our event, and he made sure that everything went well. Food arrived on schedule, and they also setup an ample area for the celebrant’s cake.
Food
For a large group, we had a tapas buffet comprised of their appetizers and shareable plates menu. Everyone enjoyed the food, which included cheese/​meat plates, spring salad, skewers, ceviche, tri-​tip wraps, flatbreads and tiramisu. The kids also had their own menu of cheese flatbreads, chicken nuggets and fruit. They also have a great wine list, and if you’re a member of the winery, you get 20% off Concannon wines.
We spent the entire afternoon here! It really is the perfect way to celebrate– worry-​free service + beautiful setting gave us the opportunity to celebrate and enjoy time with our family and friends. Highly recommended!

My friends and I have frequented this spot for years. It’s nice to drink some good wine, or get a carafe of sangria and a cheese board, head out to the grass and relax. It’s nice in the summer and spring. A bunch of chill folks just relaxing, enjoying the scenery & weather. You can byob (bring your own blanket) or grab one of the tables or benches.

Hmmmm. Weird place. Stopped in without reservations around 6pm on a Saturday and a few tables were full but there were a lot of empty ones. However, we couldn’t sit at any because they all had reserved signs on them. So we sat out in the grassy area which wasn’t too bad but it gets cool quickly. Stayed for a bottle of wine and no one sat at any of the tables that were supposedly reserved?! Maybe more people would come if you had a few first come/​first serve tables?!

Very disappointing — new menu is not good, and the music we made a special trip to see was cancelled– with no notice. There wasn’t even a sign letting people know! Then we were charged for food we didn’t eat. We caught that, and it was taken off, but it was just about as disappointing a time as I can remember having. I won’t be back in a hurry, if at all.

I’m so upset with the service here and I’m not writing this just because this happened once.
Let me tell you about the first incident:
Six girls, including myself, came here excited to try it out. The hostess said all tables were booked– looked empty to me, but whatever not a big deal. We walked out, no apologies, whatever.
Second incident happened yesterday.
Six girls from all over the place, including myself again, came here super excited to try this place out. Once again, tables are booked. So we asked if we can sit outside. The hostess said it only fits five. We offered if one girl can stand. The hostess said she will ask the server if that’s okay. (So it’s really up to the server). She came back and said the server said no. So we went over to the bar area and sat and then were told the table is reserve in the next hour. Lady, we just want a quick appetizer. We were the only ones besides another couple in the bar area. Maybe I’m exaggerating but we could see 20 open tables. It wasn’t even crowded. They never offer to see how they could accommodate us.
Discrimination? Probably not–
Horrible service? Most definitely.

We came here for Valentine’s day and it was pretty much a great experience despite the busy holiday weekend crowd. Needless to say the staff was a bit overwhelmed but did a good job of keeping the patron’s glasses filled and jolly. The wine tasting menu was pretty good. They had two grapes outsourced from Napa and the rest (four) wines were sourced onsite. We enjoyed their Merlot the best and ended up bringing a bottle of it home.
Just outside of the tasting room is a great place to bring your own food and setup a picnic with your loved ones. The place has so much history and would be nice if they were to open the home nearby for sightseeing since it was rennovated recently.

Went there today to celebrate my bday. Got seated and no one ever came to serve. (Waited 20 min) Left a message at the empty reception desk that we left. (Left my number to see if they would call back to apologize) obviously they did not care because I never received a call.

wine not bad restaurant horrible it took 25 minutes for them to take our order. and extra 25 for us to get tired and leave. the place was not full so i did not understand why they took so long. never will i return there

It had been a while since I’d been to the Underdog as the last time I had eaten there the food really bad. There is different chef now and I was quite pleased with the food we were served recently. We started off with Brussel’s Salads that were delicious. Second up was the Yellowfin Tostadita and it was great. Last came the Five Cheese Flatbread with Arugula and it was fabulous. The great food, modern décor, and good wine are the perfect combination for a good time!

They only serve cold food for dinner, very limited menu selection and the service was terrible.

My Underdog experience was average.
If your ambition is to go to Underdog, drink some great wines, have some meats and cheeses, and relax with friends, then you are heading to the right spot. Anything more than that, and you need to give it a little more thought.
We started with drinks, a three cheese plate, and a three meat plate. Both were decent. The chorizo and cambozola cheese were notable highlights. Both plates are served with sliced baguette, which is ok, but considering the quality of the meats and cheeses provided, is an unremarkable pairing. There are so many great breads and crackers that could be on that plate. The house mustard and honeycomb provided on the plates are key, and since the portions are so small compared to the meats and cheeses, you will need to ask for more right away.
For shareable plates, we got the Yellowfin Tostadita and the Cuban Missile. The yellowfin was very tasty and perfectly prepared. There were four very thinly sliced pieces of tuna on tortilla chips. The salsa fresca and chipotle crema were sparse but nice, but I didn’t see the $ 14 value for such a small dish. The Cuban Missile was a disaster. Keep in mind that the four chip yellowfin tostadita and the Cuban Missile are on the same «shareable» menu. The Cuban Missile was basically a foot long Cuban sandwich that you would expect to find at Subway, grease included. Didn’t smell good, didn’t taste good, and I wrung the grease out like a wet towel. Not good.
I ordered the truffles for dessert, which I was pretty excited about. Unfortunately, they were very hard and didn’t taste like much. I ate one and a half of the five. Fortunately, one of my friends said his kids would eat anything and took them home to avoid wasting them.
I should mentioned that I tried to visit Underdog a couple of times before tonight. Their website marshals you in to Open Table, which always makes it look like they are completely booked. I heard from a staff member that they do that on purpose to have people call. The problem with that is when something looks booked, I go somewhere else. No telling how much business Underdog is losing as a result.
Considering that it wasn’t overly busy during my Saturday night visit, the service wasn’t great. My glass was empty for ten minutes at one point before I was able to flag a waitress down for a refill. She was helpful for the most part with food and drink selections, but the attentiveness was lacking beyond that.
Underdog isn’t terrible, but if you live in Livermore proper, and especially if you live close to 1^st Street, there isn’t much reason to go to Underdog.

Why you try’n’ to play me Underdog??? I know what a slider is and it is not a hoagie cut in thirds. That is called a sub sandwich cut in thirds! You can’t surreptitiously put that in front of people trying to pass that off as «sliders»…bad move U-dog…bad move.
On top of that Underdog has committed the ultimate tapas sin… serving small plates at high prices that are not delicious. The Roasted Turkey Sliders and Cuban Missile Sliders were a huge, dry, plain disappointment. You can do better Underdog *shaking head in the ultimate projection of shame*
Great wine list, lots of flights, nice interior, awesome patio, but man the tapas and service are for the birds!!!

We came here recently to watch a comedy show. The place was a quaint little joint with a warm atmosphere. Perhaps a little too crowded and loud for the amount of people in there. The food was very good and we got to use our member discount on Concannon wines. I hope they have more events like the comedy night.

Wow flights of wine cheese plate & meat plate are phenomenal Good for four or more people!

I always enjoyed my time over here. I’ve been to this place may times. I love the ambiance and scenery and the food is great. It’s my favorite place to hang out with my fiancé and my girlfriends. I would love to get married here, it’s beautiful and relaxing.

Awful, awful, AWFUL service.
Service was extremely slow… in fact, our bill arrived before several of our dishes.
Asked our server for water 3 times and another passing server for water before we even got our first glass of water!
We will never return and neither will the rest of our party who had joined us on a Saturday afternoon.

Yes, this is happening… I’ll apologize in advance to Marky-​Mark for what I’m about to do to his classic «Good Vibrations»
— — — — — — — — — –
Come on come on
Smell it See it
Taste the Libation
Underdog is Relaxation
It’s such a Taste-​sensation
They serve the best libation
It’s such a sweet sensation
— — — — — — — — — — — –
Well I don’t need to sing you his whole song… there is nothing quite like an afternoon on the Underdog patio, nibbling on a flatbread or maybe some cheese while slowly sipping a flight or more likely a glass of Crimson & Clover (which incidentally is a ridiculously awesome priced red that is smooth and delicious). If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the sense I always get when I’m here: relaxation, taste-​sensation, great libations!
I always try to make a reservation on Open Table because this place can get packed. And while I do love a flight at the table, I usually come a little early to do some tasting prior to sitting down.
While downtown Livermore has some truly excellent restaurants, if you want to sit in the heart of wine country and order food, I feel like it’s kind of limited. Yes there are plenty of places to sit and bring some cheese but not so many restaurants per se (and even Garre down the street which is great, just isn’t what Underdog is)…Underdog presents a very relaxed yet elegant tapas menu in a gorgeous setting, excellent service and of course, amazing wine! For all that, Yay! I’m a fan!

The food took what seemed like long. The food dosen’t really match the food. The wine flights has repeats.
Wishing the sliders were as flavorful as the ones at johnny garlics

Ummmm yummmm ?!
What’s better than cheese and more wine after a day of wine tasting ?! Nothing !!
The snacks were yummy, cheese and cheese and more wine, I’ll definitely be back for another snack and more wine.

This place is located inside the Concannon Vineyard. They have outside seating which would be amazing in the warmer months.
We had few flights, they range between $ 10 — $ 14 dollars. I had their Amazing Reds flight, an Amazing Whites flight, and truly delicious Dessert Wines flight! I have never had a Cabernet Franc before and their Equinox Cabernet Franc Red Ice Wine was sooo good. With Strawberry and Rhubarb it had a very interesting flavor.
For food, the sliders and the salmon were delicious, and shareable! The desserts are really good as well. I’d recommend them.
Our waitress and the hostress were both very nice and helpful, and the other tables seemed to be getting very good service as well.

Came here with my family on a Friday for lunch happy hour, it was a beautiful sunny October day! We sat outside in the patio overlooking the garden: highly recommend doing this. We noticed that a couple of families brought their own food (coolers, sandwiches, etc…) and sat outside on one of the picnic tables on the grounds. Nice idea and cool that Concannon Winery allows it :)
All of the foods/​small plates we chose were great. The wine and cheese pairing was tasty and was a good selection. Tip: get the flight of sparkling wine with Earl Grey tea. I forgot the name but it was heavenly!

The food is delicious, well portioned, and perfectly paired. The meat and cheese trays are generously served, and the shared entrees are are a good variety.
The best aspect of the restaurant, is the outdoor, courtyard seating under the pergola, surrounded by floor to ceiling outdoor drapery! The large grassy knoll is so inviting and the tasting room is fab!

If you’re wine tasting in the Livermore Valley, plan your visit to Concannon Winery to coincide with lunch or an early dinner. Because then you get to enjoy your wine with some amazing appetizers and dessert at Underdog Wine Bar on the Concannon premises.
My wife and I recently had a couple of exquisite experiences at Underdog before catching plays at the Livermore Shakespeare Festival.
Our first time we tried pairing appetizers with wines, the second time we tried flights of wine with a variety of our (now) favorite appetizers.
Standouts for me were the beef carpaccio and the flatbread pizza. The former is thinly sliced to the point of ideal translucency, with a sprinkling of feta cheese; the latter, toasted to perfect crispness with a fine balance of herbs and spices.
Pairing or flight? You could go either way depending on how adventurous you feel. I truly enjoyed just one of the three Pinot Noirs in my flight during our second visit, whereas the full-​bodied red I ordered my first time around was a hit.
Finally the dessert — an unequivocal YES here. Both desserts we tried (dark chocolate truffles and pecan torte) were sublime. My wife and I lingered dreamily over them both — gazing over the peaceful and beautiful scene before us from our prime seats on the Concannon patio — till it was time to catch our show.

We needed some A/​C and snacks mid-​afternoon and it was proving to be a challenge until we rolled up to Underdog.
We got a Zin flight (
), Flatbread (garlic cream, white cheddar, mozzarella, oregano and crisp sopressata;), Rosemary Roasted Almonds (
) and a Citrus Braised Beet salad (mixed greens, goat cheese, pistachio and a charred lemon vinaigrette
).
Everything was satisfying, though the almonds had almost zero rosemary. Next time I’ll bring some from our bush on the patio ;-)
Service was pretty slow. They were between shifts and our server changed while we were eating which was probably a contributing factor.
We’d come back, if we were hungry and in the area.