First of all, the only reason this review is not 5 stars is because of the service, not the atmosphere, or the wine. The wine definitely deserves 5 stars, hands down.
The first time I went there, I did a tasting. It was only $5 for 7 tastings and I felt like they were generously poured. I tried a nice variety of reds, whites, and blushes. If you want a nice gift, or wine for yourself, the wine here is unique and excellent. They also sell many of their varieties at Hy-Vee--this is where I plan to get the wine from now on.
As for the service, I was not impressed. The first time I visited, there weren't very many people, so it was not crowded (probably one table and a few others at the bar), but I felt like the servers were annoyed by my friend and I when we sat at the bar. While the servers weren't rude, they were definitely not friendly and they did not offer any suggestions or advice. In fact, the customers at the bar told me more about what Prairie had to offer than the servers did. I let it go since it was the first time I'd ever been there, and the wine was really good.
A few days later, I convinced my husband to try it again with me. I thought it might be a romantic date night, but he also was not impressed with the service. First of all, when we walked in, the chairs were completely removed from the bar. The servers just sort of stared at us when we looked at the bar confused. They did not say anything at all, and I immediately felt uncomfortable. There were a couple of other people sitting at the tables, so we decided to sit down figuring that perhaps they would come to us. After waiting for a long time (still no directives from the servers both behind the bar), my husband went to the bar and politely asked, "Do we come up here to order?" and one of the servers simply replied, "Yes, we don't serve you at the table." I felt like they could have said this to us since we were only seated a few feet away. Still, I let it go...AGAIN.
When we wanted to do the tasting, they explained that it was not being offered that day. This was a bit disappointing, but we each ordered a glass of red wine. While we are not wine connoisseurs, we are pretty knowledgeable about wine. My husband was disappointed that they did not serve the red wine in a "goblet" style glass and filled the wine well beyond the bell curve. Ok, not a big deal (who doesn't want more wine, right?), but the people next to us had red wine AND traditional red wine glasses. They seemed like regulars, so maybe they bought the glasses? I wouldn't know because they weren't offered to us.
Overall, the wine is fantastic, but I did not feel welcome or appreciated as a customer. The atmosphere is super cute, and I hear they have live music nights. I may try again, but I doubt I'll talk my husband into it. read more
