Grape Expectations Wine Bar & Merchant

I’m sending a huge thank you to Chef Justin for the incredible vegan meals he has thoughtfully prepared for me. They have been unique and unbelievably delicious. I am grateful for your care and kindness.
To all my vegan friends out there in the Plymouth area–
Chef Justin will happily prepare you an incredible meal, from appetizers, to entrees, to deserts. He has a knack for combining flavors and textures, and you will certainly be going back again and again. For those of you who are vegetarian, there are many great options on the menu, including a mushroom pizza which was my old favorite.
The servers has a great knowledge of wines and they are always willing to make suggestions if you would like. Lauren has been our server for many special events, and I always look forward to seeing her. Blake is terrific, too! Be sure to check out this restaurant, especially on a nice day when you can sit outside under the shade of the umbrellas with a crisp white wine. Perfect!

Grape Expectations is a truly charming wine bar in downtown Plymouth. They’ve really done a beautiful job with the interior, including a cool upper level loft and walls lined with bottles of wine. They also have a great outdoor seating area in the summer.
The wine flights are a really fun way to try new wines, but if you’re not a wine person, they do have a full service bar as well (and a pretty killer sangria when it’s on special).
The menu is mostly small plates, but they pack a lot of flavor into those small plates. I really like their bruschetta — especially the herbed goat cheese and black olive spread. Tip: Order extra bread right away because they don’t serve enough for 2 generous portions of their spreads, and you’ll definitely want more!
Probably not the place to go if you are really hungry, but great for sipping vino and snacking on tasty little dishes. Also, it can get a little pricey, but you kind of expect that from a wine bar, so drink up!

I went here for the first time with my husband and another couple. I had a great time and thought the wine and food was delicious. I had one of the white wine flights (can’t remember the name) and my friend had one of the red wine flights. Mine was better! :) My husband had the scotch flight and really enjoyed it. The only disappointment was the Cutting Board. I was expecting some better cheese selection and it was just a standard white and yellow cheddar. I will definitely be returning. I think a good addtion would be live music!

I went to Grape Expectations last night with some friends, and I was very pleased with the experience. We each had one of the flights, I had the Pinot Envy, my husband had another one, and I kept the little sheets with the descriptions and names because the wines were quite good. Our waiter really seemed to know what he was talking about re the wine. We also ate there, and I was please with my food — a nice simple salad. I wish I still lived in Plymouth because I would go more often. However, this lovely spot will make it into the rotation.

I like this place. In fact, I cannot think of a single snarky thing to say about it and I shall return.
I really like the space and their flights. I can never settle on one thing so flights and samplers are an easy way to win me over. Their food menu had a lot of interesting items but I settled on several small plates (referred to as Tapas on the menu, but they were more small plates then tapas since they were not Spanish). I enjoyed the marinated olives, Spanish cheese plate, and crab cakes.
I was less impressed with the baked brie, which should have been amazing, but it was not baked enough. It was only warm. I like my brie ice cold or melting. I felt that the overall quality could have been improved with a few minor adjustments: (1) A wider variety of carbohydrate vessels. Everything I listed above came with water crackers and crostini. (2) Better quality fruit. The apples were flat and the strawberries were past their prime. (3) That cheese plate needs some fun stuff! I love cheese plates that have fun jams, compotes, relishes, etc. to enhance the flavor of the cheese. Sadly this was lacking here.
It is not may favorite place to enjoy a glass of vino, but it’s definitely my favorite in Plymouth.

We had the trio of white wines, an order of the panini, and shrimp pasta with chorizo sauce. All were wonderful but the pasta was a bit too rich for my preference. Ambiance is wonderful and the sangria was delicious! Note: during my lunch, I noticed a shipment of Franzia boxed wine being delivered to the bar and I suppose they use it to make the Sangria. Nonetheless, it was a great experience.

I’m starting to feel a little like a lush, realizing I haven’t tried much of the food at the places I like to hang out. Although I have had the cheese & cracker appetizer :) Grape Expectations is a fabulous wine bar; you can’t go wrong by the glass, bottle, or flight. I would suggest trying the Cashmere or Matchbook. I have tried all of the flights including the scotch and have been happpy with all of them. I know you can create your own flight, but my suggestion to the owner would be to change up the flights now and then to add some variety. ***UPDATE*** I was at Grape Expecations and they had added some new flights… Perfect! I think that deserves a bump up to 5 stars!
Most of the waitstaff has been great, we love to sit outside and just relax… hmmm I’m getting thirsty

First I will say that I find the food here to be very good and the wine selection is also very good. I like Wednesdays because they offer 50% off bottles of wine, if you order one of their weekly special entrees, of which there are two to choose from. I have done this twice and found the weekly entrée special to be very good both times (and around $ 20).
Thanks to the owner’s response I have updated my review. The 50% off wine is a great deal, and if they are out of one of their special entrees, they will allow a substitute as long as you spend the same amount of money which is perfectly reasonable to me.

Having been there only once, i cant say giving a strong review is fairly warranted. However, my one visit met with great expectations, no pun intended. Nice place, plenty of wine selections to choose from.
Wines are pricey. I had the steak salad. Was so delicious. Try it, you’ll be impressed.

Stopped in while visiting in Michigan, and instantly loved the atmosphere, which is a mix of cool urban chic, and warm casual elegance. And the wine flight I had was fantastic — in fact it introduced me to a now-​favorite wine, which I actually ended up serving at my own wedding a few months later: Concha y Toro, Marque de Casa Concha Cabernet. Sampled a few of the apps, too, which were all tasty!

I will confess that I love Grape Expectations more when they have a deal. Luckily the daily $ 5 a glass happy hour works for me, if you are not into wine they also have $ 1 off beers and 25% off mixed drinks. If you are feeling like a midweek night out, you can take advantage of the half off bottles of wine on Wednesdays with the purchase of an entrée.
As I am usually a single glass type of girl with a non wine drinking partner, I love places that have good wine by the glass. It is hard to come by fresh, quality wine of good variety when you drink in this manner but it is no problem at all at GE.
I have found both the cutting board option and the cheese plates to be tasty. I also have enjoyed the chicken bistro and Italian vegetarian paninis. I will give a shout out to the la forestiere pizza with the variety of mushrooms and goat cheese as well as the apparently popular pear, gorgonzola and walnut which has already been mentioned by others.
Is it spendy? Well I would not come here ravenous or anything but it is a great place to come and enjoy a casual lighter nosh and glass of tasty wine if you are at all worried about your wallet. It is not cheap per se but for what it is it is not outrageous either. Give it a try for happy hour and judge it for yourself. You will find tasty things at a variety of price points. I will grant the fancy special meals are indeed a bit steep but a panini is not.
Oh and the desserts are very nice according to friends, but once I have had the wine its off limits for me sadly.

My favorite hangout in Plymouth. It’s got a great European warm modern feel and the staff is very friendly and professional. The food is very tasty and interesting.
A great place to meet with friends who are wine drinkers!
Another hidden gem that is uniquely a part of Plymouth!

I’ve only been here once so maybe I needed to try more things on the menu but, other than the cutting board, which has a nice variety of meats, olives and cheeses, the food was underwhelming. My friend and I got the crab cakes and patatas bravas and I’ve had better. Much better. The crab cakes were more cake than crab and the patatas bravas had an off flavor and lacked spice.
On the plus side, they have a great beer list – and Delirium Tremens, my absolute fave beer, costs a little bit less than usual. Granted it’s still $ 7.75 but that’s a big dif from the $ 10 I’m used to seeing. There are also reasonably priced wine flights (about $ 10-​$ 11) and the cocktail list has a lot of classics like the French 75 and Sidecar and newer faves like mojitos. The service was also decent – very friendly but a bit slow.
I’d go for drinks and maybe the cutting board but pass on the food next time.

OK, this is the first wine bar my girlfriend and I ever been to. We wanted to try something new and decided it’d be best to suit our girls night. It was nice there. Very empty with a few groups scattered around. I loved the wall of wines. Our waiter knows his wines and was very helpful and picking out some for us. The food was good. It was quiet enough to talk but had a nice ambiance. I’d definitely want to bring my husband here next time. We ordered the cutting board thing with cheese, chorizo, sun-​dried tomato, and olive. It was good. Crab cakes were good too, loved the mango salsa. I think I may have found my new favorite white wine that is sweet but not too sweet. Must come back! Oh did I mention it is nonsmoking? Loved that!

I stopped in for a drink with a good friend on a Saturday night. The place wasn’t real busy and we decided to stay inside. The waiter was helpful in picking out wine and allowed us to enjoy our glasses without interruption. It was the same server as I had before but my experience was totally different. I was impressed with his ability to recommend a good wine with limited guidance. I’m looking forward to going back for the $ 5 wine specials from 4 – 6 or one of the special tasting dinners.

Nice décor, interesting tapas-​like menu with nice variety, imagination and tasty results. Nice pastry and desserts, and as expected, a broad selection of wines by the glass/​flight/​bottle with reasonable prices.
Hostesses and waitstaff need training on how to properly welcome and serve customers. Service and management lacks graciousness and hospitality expected.

I think this place almost qualifies for gastro-​pub rather than wine bar. Great variety of imported beer and domestic microbrews too.
I don’t have much to offer unique beyond the other reviews here — I have to also vote for the Pear, Gorgonzola and Walnut pizza. The cheese plate has been nice too. Dessert has been great here too, when paired with one of the several ports and sherries they offer by the glass.
I don’ t really know wine very well, so it is nice to get the flights of three wines that are preselected so I can learn more and enjoy some reliable picks at the same time (rather than learning the hard way on my own).
I think this is a smoke free environment — which I love.
Service has always been very attentive, knowledgeable and helpful with the menu and wine list. We have never even waited for a table more than a couple of minutes — surprising for such a great spot in Plymouth.
One of my most favorite places.

Now that they’ve taken my favorite Rubizzo off the offerings, I may have to back down.
The food here is excellent, and the atmosphere warm, though the last visit was full of soccer moms who were overserved and demanded the waitstaff suck up. It was wrong in so many ways.
Overall, for Plymouth, it’s a good place. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and the cheese stinky and good.
My fave is the pear, walnut, and gorgonzola pizza. Closely followed by the mushroom pizza.

I simply can’t wait for the weather to get nice out, because once it does I always drive on down to Grape Expectations. I really enjoy their outdoor set up, it reminds me of Italy. You are on a not on a really busy street but the people watching is still fun. I highly recoment thier Pear, Gorgonzola, and Walnut pizza it’s individual sized so you can easily eat it on your own or use it as a fun appetizer with friends, I would also recoment their Bruschetta its so fresh! Their J. Moroe Medium White Wine is TO DIE FOR, it’s not too dry but not too fruity personally, its perfect! The service is OK but the atmosphere is spectacular

This is a wine bar first, but only in name. The food is excellent, with unique options that you will not find on the menu of your local pub. Try the Arugula salad to start, and then move into a Pear, Gonzola & Walnut pizza. The Panini is also excellent and the starters include warm baked brie, croquertas and stuffed pimeientos del piquillo ensalda.
The Atmosphere is warm and inviting. Valuted celings give Grape Expectiatons (GE) a sense of space, but the warm colors and simple dcor makes you feel at home. The staff is great, with plenty of experience.
Of course, you cannot forget the wine. The proprieter works with a number of local distributors to give you a large variery of unique AND reasonablly priced wines. My wife and I always find something great to drink for the night.
GE also sells wine by the bottle and hosts montly tastings. They are very reasonablly priced and are usually sold out. Call GE early to get on the list.
If you are looking for a great atmosphere, excellent food and an extensive wine list — give Grape Expectations a try. The owner, Lisa O’Donnel, is local resident and is committed to the town of Plymouth. With outdoor seating in the summer and plenty of space during the cold months, add this wind bistro to your list.