Vinola’s Restaurant and Bar (Leola, PA)

I have lived near Vinola’s Restaurant and Bar for a while now, but have only visited twice, and now I remember why

Sunday afternoon my boyfriend was looking for somewhere to go for a birthday lunch, and since my niece (who we had to drop off) only lives 5 minutes away, we went here.

Upon first entering, there was only one table occupied, and about 3 bar stools…well…it took a few minutes before anyone even realized we were there. Not a big deal, it happens, is what I was thinking at the time.

About 5 minutes later, our server comes by, very friendly male server. He took our order, delivered our food (luckily we only got apps), finished up with his other table, then decided to go on break :/ Normally this would not be a big deal. He said the bartender would take care of anything else we needed (drinks, check, etc.). Since she was busy with her whole 3 customers, who she was constantly checking on, I thought it would be fine…no drink refills, plates sitting empty, and waiting for the check to get out of there…. A new waitress who JUST clocked in (thankfully) came by to see if we needed our plates removed and asked who are waitress was. A minute later, the bartender drops the check and runs away. Luckily I had enough cash so we could just leave, who knows when she would have come back. Not a great birthday lunch!

So the service was pretty bad…how about the food?? I cannot say the food was horrible, but it definitely was not top-notch.

We decided to get the Loaded Fries…they were covered with cheese, and did not taste too bad overall. A few burnt ones in the mix, but to be expected.

Also, we got the Bang Bang Shrimp. I was not a huge fan of these. The shrimp is seasoned and flash fried, which apparently does not fit my taste buds. When I think of Bang Bang shrimp, I expected coated in batter and fried. I did however like the sauce that was dribbled on the top of the shrimp.

If you are looking to visit, I did take a picture of the lunch menu to share, since I could not find their menu online anywhere.