Sip Wine Bar & Restaurant

We live next to Sip and have been there a few times. Dinner for two averages over 100$. I find the food to be oversalted oftentimes and just not ""that good"". I can cook better myself! The winelist is extensive if you are into such things, and if you love wine more than food, maybe this is the place for you. Our cheese plate was good. The salads were okay. The fries were so salty we couldn't eat them. We are vegetarian, so unfortunately there is only one (sometimes two) things we can choose as a main dish. When they have eggplant wellington, it is pretty good, but too mustardy--mustard is all I can taste. The Southern Style Sunday dinner Eggplant parmesan was terrible. So tough and salty! Even the garlic bread on the side tasted like a salt lick. My tea and coffee were both great. The desserts are hitt or miss. Standing cannoli was weird--not what we'd figured it would look or taste like. The filling portion was too thick, and the cannoli shells were not tasty, just deep fried flour. The warm apple cake was okay, but they serve it atop a berry reduction--which would have been great, except the parchment paper was still around my cake. Gross and messy to eat! We got bread for our table when we were almost done with our main dish. At that time, we weren't interested in the bread anymore, we could have used it earlier in the evening! Sometimes we get no bread (but see other tables with it) and once we got bread in the begining of the meal--I think that was the best time we were there, and it was on their second or third day open. \r \r Our waiter was actually nice this time. Most of the time, I feel that the wait staff is incredibly snooty. I give three stars because I like the cozy interior and the food often looks cool. However, food should only look cool if you can still showcase the flavors and if it is still similar to what the person who ordered it was expecting. Not something this restaurant excels at. Every time I go, I say never again. more

Living near the restaurant, I use to frequent it quite a bit until this past winter when I noticed their service and food completely going downhill. Now I (as well as my other friends) try to avoid it as much as I can. Service was extremely slow the past 3 times I went and the food (other than their small plates) was horrible. Even dessert was a disaster when my bread pudding was stale and another person's creme brulee was liquid. I also had to send my dessert wine back because it was flat. They did nothing to make it up to us. I did email the manager but I received no response. I don't think they care. The only saving grace is Wednesdays or Thursday nights when you get half-priced glasses or bottles (of course not on every bottle available). If you must go, I suggest either Wed or Thurs and only nibble on small plates. Then it's not so disappointing. Pros: Atmosphere Cons: Service & Food more

Took too long to check it out - especially since we don't live far - but I just don't get the buzz about this place. It sort of epitomizes all that's wrong with the far-east 'burbs of Seattle, in that I don't think it knows what it wants to be, with a wine list that is like a parking lot full of Tahoes & Yukons - all the same, all big, no creativity, largely unnecessary. I mean, honestly, how many palate-walloping WA syrahs & cabernets for $40+/btl could we need?...the pages full of them here seem far more than enough. Serious wine lovers should pass on coming here for any enlightenment.\r \r Some details: the food is pricey, with entrees costing more than downtown superstar tables like Union, Wild Ginger, and Palace Kitchen - is saving the gas and not driving the bridge really worth it? The fare was OK, in fairness, but nothing inspired (the ""frites"" were overly salted, oil-soggy french fries, probably the worst thing we had). The service was a bit cloying, and seemed without real commitment. There was a hockey game on a ceiling TV that pointed into the dining room - very odd. But the greatest disappointment was the wine selection. This really isn't a wine bar, but a restaurant with a pretty extensive yet unimaginative list of domestic wines, all the stuff that country club types drink to impress their friends. The import selection was shockingly small (we were told that it was recently cut in half, because everyone drinks WA wines - huh), and even the domestic selection was ultra-heavy in the basics, not some of the creative & food-friendly things that are happening in US wines. So rather than education and experience, it's about giving 'em what they will pay for, I guess, a money grab to cater to the middle-aged guys at the bar in Nike hats who were checking out the soccer moms as they came in...get the picture?\r \r Sorry, but that's the view from my seat. It really does remind me of a captive audience restaurant at a country club or overpriced hotel. \r \r Pros: Location for residents of Issaquah and Sammamish Cons: Price, wine selection, overall lack of soul more

After all the hype about this restaurant, I was disappointed. The salad was bland, the Osso Bucco was way too fatty and I thought the menu was lacking in variety.\r \r However, the service was excellent and the wine flights were great.\r \r Pros: Service, wine selection Cons: limited menu more

This place ROCKS. My husband and I have been to Sip many times. Each time we have never been disappointed. The service has been steller. Kenny, our server, is the man. The food is incredible and consistent from the apps all the way to dessert, we have tried it all. We have stopped driving into Bellevue because there is nothing that compares to this place. We heard there are more Sip restaurnats in the works. Now we can see why. more

I have enjoyed Sip both as a date night with my husband and as a girls' night out with a friend. I have always enjoyed their wine recommendations. I do feel like I have to be responsible for keeping the price in check. That $18 glass may be perfect but I don't want to spend that much on one glass of wine. Most recently I had the paella. The waiter described it as having a risotto base. I quite enjoyed it. I did notice that my husband's empty plate sat in front of him too long but other than that I didn't feel like the service was bad. Half-price wine by the glass on ladies night seals the deal for me. Pros: half price wine by the glass on ladies night Cons: don't expect them to recommend the cheapest wine more

My husband and I went to Sip last Friday for our first date night since moving to WA state in January from the Midwest. We are self-proclaimed foodies who love to cook and eat, are very picky about taste and presentation, and love trying new places. So far our experience in the Seattle area has been a little disappointing--but we haven't been out a whole lot yet. We live in the Highlands, so pass by Sip on a regular basis and note how consistently the place is PACKED, even on weeknights. We were so pleased with our choice to go there! The food was wonderful, the wine divine (my husband played sommelier, so we have no comment on the waiter's knowledge of the drink), and the service was a little slow. For appetizers we had raw oysters and crab cakes; the crab cakes were served with some kind of onion/raisin relish and a light sauce and the combination of the three flavors was melt-in-your-mouth perfect. For our main courses we had the beef tenderloin and the veal special, and again, both were wonderful, with doneness as requested. We also had a cheese course at the end of the meal (they billed it as an appetizer; it was not on the dessert menu) that was nice, but nothing outstanding. It's a great date place with very romantic ambiance. My only knocks against this place are 1) it's QUITE expensive, 2) we had to ASK for bread, 3) no reservations for parties under 9 (we had to wait about 20 minutes, and then only sat because we swooped on a bar table). But honestly, I can't tell you the last time we've been to a restaurant where we walked out and RAVED about the food instead of complaining about it. To put it another way, I never write reviews on the internet--I just read them--but the food at this place was so good I felt it was my duty to do so. Especially because some of the reviews of this place are not so stellar. Pros: Fantastic food and romantic ambiance Cons: Expensive, slow service more

The food has improved from opening day. It is moving up there with Jaks. THe wine list is long and expansive. Flights cost too much. Depending on the waiter and which person is playing sommelier for the day will dertimine if you can try before you buy a glass. The outside seating is dirty and service is very bad overall. If you are in the area and have the time, dont pass it up due to bad staff that appear as though they are on something. Pros: Great Food, Great wine list and Good Eastside People Watching Cons: Service, Service and Service more

Just....I dunno....really not that good all around. Food was average and the service was horrible. Judging from the other reviews on here this is their MO. The server messed up on most things, was 'missing' for very long periods of time....water glasses sat without refills, dirty dishes stacked everywhere. I guess if you live near the place it is ok for a meal every once in a while...if you have to make a drive...do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. Pros: ambience Cons: service, price points more

I've eaten at Sips several times and my experience there has been fairly consistent: good food but horrible service. Overall the horrendously bad service outweighs the good food and I do not recommend Sips. The hostesses seem to change weekly and never have a grasp of customer service. The pre-wait staff likewise is confused, slow, and inattentive. The wait staff doesn't have good timing -- they're never to be found when you need them. I have given up on Sips. If the service was merely poor instead of atrocious I could put up with the inconvenience but a meal at Sips is an ordeal you won't want to put up with. Pros: Good menu selection Cons: Unbearably bad service more

I really wanted to like Sip. Really. However the service my wife and I received there was the worst I have ever experienced at any restaurant. I don't mean bad service, I literally mean the absolute worst service ever. The incompetence started from the moment we arrived at Sip at 5:00pm. The hostess seemed clueless and told us that we'd have a 15 minute wait -- there were empty tables everywhere but no serving staff. We waited. And waited and waited. After 30 minutes the hostess told us just another 5 minutes. By the time we were eventually seated it was nearly 6:00. Things only got worse. The wait staff was inefficient, discourteous, and just plain incompetent. The food was OK at best. Do yourself a favor and avoid this restaurant. Sip cannot last long and hopefully its eventual replacement will be better -- no restaurant could possibly be worse in terms of service. more

my girlfriend and i checked out SIP on the 30 for 30 offer going on in may. we were seated outside, and didnt receive any service for atleast 15 minutes other than water. we got up and sat in the bar. the bartender took his sweet time serving us as well. he was unaware that the 30 for 30 was going on, and did not want to honor this as well as the wednesday 'ladie's night' wine discount. He had to confer with another coworker than finally served us. Our appetizers took anywhere from 15-30 minutes, us asking about them 'they're coming out now' then waiting another 15 minutes. im not sure how experienced the service staff was, they were nice enough but not on top of their speediness. other than that, the wine was fabulous. the food was yummy, and the atmosphere very upscale and trendy. i like the shape of the bar, and the best hidden secret is the bathroom, both men and women sharing a sink with tvs in the mirror that allow us to look at whats going on in the lobby. i would recommend the bar as a great place for dinner or evening cocktails. good luck with service. hopefully this was a one time thing. Pros: variety and tastiness of menu, good wine selection, atmosphere, bathroom Cons: very slow service, wait staff more

On March 1st my wife and I had dinner for the first time at Sip and were impressed. The food, wine selection and the service were excellent. We were enthused that finally we had and upscale restaurant in Issaquah.\r When we checked our credit card bill, however, an extra $5 had been added. My wife keeps receipts for everything and when we checked our receipt it was clear that I had left a $30 tip (20%) but $5 had been added that showed on the credit card statement but was not reflected in the bill I signed at Sip. Our waiter that night was Eric. When I took the evidence to the restaurant a young man named Nathan listened to the story. Eric was there working that night. Nathan felt that a very perfunctory apology and a $5 refund to our credit card was satisfactory. When I said that I doubted that this was the first time Eric had done this and that he didn't seem to be taking this as seriously as I did, he stated that he had to go talk to Eric, as though that was quite a chore for him.\r I felt this young man just wasn't experienced enough in customer relations to properly handle the situation so I contacted the the company who had sent me an e-mail touting the virtues of Sip Restaurant. On may 18th I received an e-mail reply from Lauren Hunt with the title ""event coordinator"" for Sip Restaurant. She said she would iinform the management. I am assuming the management thinks all is well, since I haven't heard from them. Eric the miscreant pilferer gets to keep the 20% tip and I assume his job. \r Its a nice place but should you decide to eat there check your restaurant receipt against the billing on your credit card statement. more

Sip is a beautiful restaurant with a unique and delightful menu selection. The atmosphere is very inviting and encourages people to relax and enjoy, and the staff is attentive yet unobtrusive. The bar, handmade of wood, is comfortable enough that one could easily enjoy a meal there, or just savor a glass of wine before dinner. The menu offers a nice variety of different foods to please any palate, from seafood to steak to vegetarian selections. Everything on the menu sounded amazing, and I found it difficult to choose just one meal. I settled on an appetizer -- Crab Cakes, a salad -- Winter Citrus Lobster, and an entree -- Scallops. All the seafood was very fresh and perfectly cooked, and each dish had a unique flavor that never competed with the next course. For dessert, I had the Creme Brulee Trio, which didn't disappoint (my favorite was the chai brulee), and I had a bite of a friend's Blood-Orange Cheescake, which was delicious. Sip also has a nice variety of wine. My dinner party stuck to only one winery for the night, but I'm looking forward to returning to the restaurant to try other meals and featured wineries. Overall, my dining experience at Sip was very enjoyable, and I highly recommend the restaurant for a romantic dinner date or a lively dinner party with friends. Pros: Ambience, service, menu selection, wine selection, parking more