Grand Cru Wine Bar Review

Great lunch, super wine selection, good prices for the Arlington area.

The food was great but the service was crap, the guy was more like a car sales man trying to upsell us on everything.. it was not what you'd expect at a fine dining establishment.

My first visit to Grand Cru was on an unseasonably warm day this past winter. It was unplanned visit and I had my dogs and a friend with me. Their outdoor seating was closed for the season but they very graciously said they would serve us outside. We had wonderful salads and sandwiches and a very nice Malbec. They turned a lovely afternoon into one that was exceptionally pleasant. They have the most professional and kind staff, and their food and menu choices are excellent.

Fast forward to June 2017 and I decided to book a special event for my mother's birthday. There were 18 of us, and we had it in their private room. It was perfection! We had three options for a 3-course meal, which we selected ahead of time with Lena (their catering manager), plus a bar with very nice selection of wine and beer. The main course options we chose were prime filet of beef, Alaskan halibut filet and roasted breast of organic chicken, and they were amazing! Each meal tasted individually prepared and all of the ingredients were fresh. The staff were very attentive and it is a very special for my mother and all those who attended. We can't thank Grand Cru enough for making this a special memory.

Was looking for a new French place to eat....just ran across this and headed over on a lark. Excellent!! Service was excellent, as were the wines and filet mignon! Can't afford to go there every week, but will definitely be going back...if even to sip a glass of wine and sit under the stars....albeit the patio is wrapped by four buildings :-)

My only issue with this place is that the portions are too small. The food was great but we left still somewhat hungry. However, the food was very good. The way you choose your beer is a little odd but their selection of beer and wine more than makes up for flaws. Sidenote: The beer selection is fairly extensive considering this place is essentially a wine bar. Also, the bathroom sink had rocks in it...ambience++

Nice patio and good service. We only had wine, so can't speak to the food, but looked good. Wine list was fine, but I expected deeper options given the name. Fairly minor gripe. Sancerre and rose were nice on a hot day.

This is my favorite restaurant in town! We go all of the time. My mother has a very limited diet due to health issues.

The chef personally met with us to prepare a very special meal for my mother so she could enjoy her dinner with the family. The chef really went above and beyond so we could have a great dinner.

I can't thank him and the rest of the restaurant staff enough for going above and beyond to make a very special and delicious meal for us!

It's very rare in these times to find a restaurant that truly cares about their menu selections and most especially their customers!!!

Thank you for being the best restaurant in town!

This place happy hour isn t worth it. The Braised Beef Sliders tasted so dry like the meat have been sitting there for years. The bread is very dry. The Chicken Skewers were very over cooked and taste less. I got charge for hot water... This place is on the verge of CLOSING DOWN. It s nothing but old folks... DON T WASTE YOUR TIME COMING!

Friendly staff. Nice cocktail, beer, and wine list. Good happy hour.

Great wine list, splendid service, food was great. The mushroom orzo was a highlight

Fun restaurant with a large wine selection and good food. Come here many times for lunch which is great to have a sit down. The salmon cobb salad is really good and so are the sandwiches. Also recommend going there during good weather as the outdoor area is nice.

Excellent! The wine and the food is outstanding. Every time I come here I find a new dish I love. The waiters and very nice and can recommend a good wine to anyone. The owner is a very nice lady who is easy to talk to and very friendly. It's nice to see a small restaurant tucked away in such a cute part of Ballston. The outdoor seating very nice in the summer and spring. Come here for happy hour and to relax as there is a wonderful wine selection. If you don't want to eat and just buy wine this store sells bottles of wine. Always a Ballston favorite.

Surprisingly great, varied, and affordable selection of wines are offered at this rather hidden wine bar. I ve visited both for happy hour and events. The interior is spacious and definitely not urban or terribly sophisticated in style, which led to me to think their menu would be similarly basic. But the wines will impress you, and their flights are well curated. The food menu is heavily French and pair well with the wines. I recommend sitting at their large outdoor patio in fine weather and expanding your wine palate with the rotating list.

Excellent food and service. The wine selection is awesome!

Great food, great staff, great service, great wine selection...
I would have liked more beer selection and it was really dark. I could barely see the menu.

Food and drinks ok, but expensive. Beautiful terrace.

Good food, great wine selection, good for people watching but quiet enough to easily carry a conversation

Onion soup excellent, Cheese platter had almost no cheese not worth ordering. Waiter did bring one other piece. 1...

Delicious food. Very extensive wine selection. Excellent service.

One of my all time favorites in the D.C. metro area - the executive lunch is killer!

Duck breast was very good. But the bread pudding with blue berry ice cream was fantastic.

Food was good. But when we were checking out we found that we were double charged with the wine - when politely corrected the waiter and asked to double check the 2nd check to make sure this time it got corrected, the waiter got quite impatient and upset for some reason. Was he being mad at customers who wanted to make sure the check is correct?

Upscale restaurant with delicious dishes and a sophisticated atmosphere. The duck and salmon are amazing -- definitely recommend!

Nice cocktails, v. Good Food, different in a good way

Amazing dinner with excellent wine options. Rack of Lamb, french onion soup, and steak were delicious. Can't beat the awesome $5 happy hour specials on drinks and small bites. Service was good; although, expected more info on the wine and recommendations from the server since this is a wine bar. I would also skip the dessert. Tried the Apple tart and Molten Chocolate. They looked great, but just ok in taste.

Great wine selection paired with good food. Service was friendly

I honestly love their dishes and service, fantastic area nearby to where I live. The workers are always welcoming. Will come visit again.

Solid cocktails and we had a great meal. Definitely a bit pricey though

I get to eat here a lot since I work close by. I have to say their customer service is always good and they keep the place clean consistently. Rates are reasonable and they serve big portions.

Service is excellent. Food portions are so small and the combination of fish with veggies for the salmon and halibut are poorly paired and flavorless with mild fish. The cooked, & bitter as can be dandelion greens, with the salmon ruined the taste of the dish which had nicely seasoned salmon that had a delicious sauce complimenting it will. The salad portions were hardly enough to even share as an appetizer let alone be sufficient for one person if hungry. They won't offer bread unless you ask for it.

This is a review of the happy hour not the full menu, but the happy hour rocks! House sauvignon blanc was rather good and the apps were very Good! Ceviche tacos and brioche sliders were delicious! Pita bread was hot out of the oven, nice. Mussels only ok.

Excellent food. Courteous staff & wide selection of wines, outstanding ambiance & scenery. Some thoughts though were no military discount offered & did not validate parking.

This gem is tucked away in Balston. I've dined here several times at the bar with friends and have enjoyed a variety of items from the tapas menu. The charcuterie and artisan cheese platters were divine and I loved that I found escargot on the menu here. The truffle deviled eggs were also a treat. Usually I will do a wine flight here and sample several options.

This is our go to happy hour after work for everyone. Great selection of wines and since the new move they have a better location and set up

Not really french but certainly a lot of wine choices.

Grand Cru was perfect. Tasted great and presented well. Outstanding selection of wine with knowledgeable staff to assist you with pairing. Great atmosphere, makes me feel like I was a world away from DC. Highly recommend.

My friend recommended and we were both utterly disappointed. The duck crepe with bacon and dates was horrible. Rubbery crepes and non-existent fillings and the zucchini straws were cold. The waiter was
not helpful and management dismissive.

Got the steak with fries - the steak was cooked exactly as I requested, the waiter was attentive, and the atmosphere was welcoming. Parking might have been a challenge if I had driven, but the Ballston metro stop is really close, so no problem for me - I rode the metro.

fabulous selection and tantalizing food augmented with a neighborhood feel!

Good food, great service! We appreciated the attention to detail both in the food we ordered as well as the staff's proper and constant use of masks. We'll be back!

Always a good experience. The bartenders are friendly and pour a good drink.

One of my favorite places to go for a great dinner with a superb wine selection.

Love this wine bar. I go there for happy hour a lot.

Really enjoyed grabbing a bite and drinks here with coworkers after work. Great recommendations from the waiter, and not rushed out or pressured to order more. Will definitely go back next time I'm in the neighborhood.

So dissapointing:( at the price level, I expected the food to be as the menu described. The "baked" brie was cold not baked at all. The "molten" chocolate cake was a hard and stale cookie basically. Not the gooey center I had hoped for. I will say the flavor of the lamb Ragu was great, I just wish the pasta wasn't so overcooked and smushed into one big clump. Unfortunately most restaurants in this area are of the same quality.

Food/drinks are Great. Staff is attentive and friendly. Very affordable menus and great wine selections.

We really like this place. I work and live nearby so I've been for lunch and dinner. They have a nice menu, good wine and a lot of fantastic outdoor seating on a quiet but active courtyard when it's nice out. And if you have a large group for lunch, they do a nice job of getting you in and out but not rushing you. Overall it's a nice gem in North Arlington.

This is a good, pretty inexpensive European-style bistro, with a decent beer and wine selection and a good selection of light plates. The outdoor dining area is very pleasant when the weather is right, and is mostly shaded by the tall buildings surrounding the area and is also lined by small trees. The indoor seating used to be a bit problematic: you'd end up smelling like the food because the seating area was so small! They've moved to a larger space now, so I doubt that's a problem. The service is generally good and helpful, although I had to remind them to bring my draft beer the last time I went.

I didn't try these myself, but the menu has a fair number of European dishes that aren't that common here: frog legs, snails, duck and so on. My dining companion tried these and liked them very much. The pictures shown are of deviled eggs, baked brie, potato gnocchi, duck strudel, escargot, and frog legs.

Ordered the truffle deviled eggs and baked Brie with jam. There was no truffle on the eggs at all and no jam with the Brie. Very plain overpriced food. The Brie was clearly frozen and baked, not freshly made at all.

Best mac n cheese this side of the Mississippi. Seriously. Order the Rustic Mac n Cheese. Service can be slow at times. I've gone kinda frequently and 1 out of every 5 times we go a while without seeing our server.

Great food, immense wine selection. Love the flights.

Excellent French cuisine, first time on Mother's Day, will deffently yo back.
Our waiter was awesome, he explained the whole menu and happy hour.

Portion could have been bigger and the pasta was soggy and not al dente at all...maybe I'm picky, but for an upscale place I would have expected al dente. Also, they called a penne dish "macaroni and cheese", which makes no sense because they used penne rigate. Besides that, the atmosphere was pleasant, desert was delicious, and there was a diverse wine selection.

No vegan options. Tried to order vegan by asking for a dish to be slightly altered. They got my order wrong and gave me meat. Hostess was somewhat racist to a guest from another country. Bar looked promising, but we didn't order drinks. Not recommended.

Nice happy hour with wide variety of $5 wines and small plates. Large space and excellent service.

Happy hour
Food
Wine list

The wine selection is acceptable and the atmosphere not too bad, but I have had the worst service experienced. The servers are not very friendly and, frankly, they did not really value their customers. After a few bad experiences, we decided that we are not returning. (One time, just as an example, my date and I were talking casually to a couple next to us, so the waitress decided, without consulting, to combine our checks; she was visibly annoyed when we pointed out that we were not together and only reluctantly separated the checks. Of course, she then charged the wrong amount too.) It is unfortunate: I started frequenting this bar because it was the closest to my residence in Ballston. A positive outcome of this bad experience is that it was motivation to explore new places for wine and I have found some truly great ones not far away.

Felt very comfortable eating outside on the patio and had a very tasty meal!!

Limited menu a la Carte but great specials and awesome wine list

Food is priced above quality level. Large wine selection.

this is a great place to explore wines at a reasonable cost. We went here for our anniversary and were not disappointed. the mix of outside cafe and the inside wine bar made to look outside on the inside was endearing and reminded us of our time in Europe. Our server noticed my wife did not exactly like the wine she got an quickly got her several small glasses (gratious) of other whites to select another glass. the foie gras tapas with marinated figs was exquisite, the onion soup was tasty, the organic beet salad with goat cheese incredibly, the lamb perfectly cooked and garnished with mashed root vegetables and roasted vegetables (we split the entree) and the chocolate fondue with things like fresh blackberries dipped in 65% rich European chocolate and french press cafe made this a meal to remember. we will be back,

The food is great and, as the name implies, there is a large selection of wine. You can even walk around and select your own bottle. My wife and I have been here a couple times and I'm sure we'll be back. I'd particularly recommend the lamb shank. The French onion soup is also fantastic.

nice atmosphere, decent prices, good French contemporary menu. serves beer and wine.

The food was wonderful. The wait staff was courteous and we didn't wait long at all for the courses to arrive.

Certainly a place worth trying, the food is good and well prepared, the prices are fair and it is consistently well organized in here. Keep it up.

I didn t want to post a review because this place feels like a local secret. Excellent wine selections (tastefully paired) nice variety in the seasonal menu as well. I will say that the cocktails are a bit generously priced for their quality and service can be on the slower side (whether it s busy or not) but the food more than makes up for this small complaint, given that the kitchen is quite fast. I probably eat here 6+ times a year.

Food is good, executive lunch is worth the money. Rotation of soups is excellent.

Increasing the stars in response to owner's comments. i'll trust that what I saw was a isolated incident.

The food was sub-par and expensive

Update: This is in response to the owner's comments:
I came in to your establishment on Thursday 8/23/2018 at 12pm. I ordered Lobster Bisque Soup which was watery salty and funky aftertaste, Classic Burger was cooked well done even though I requested it to be medium well and no lettuce, tomato or onion but guess what, everything was on it. I had to send it back to request a new one; when waitress brought it back, you could tell they just simply removed the toppings and returned it. I told the waitress that I would like to have a new one made and I'm holding on to this one until the other one comes. Burger just felt like rubber and extra charred. Desert was White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, it was decent but little more sugar could have made it even better.

I paid total $35 including gratuity and taxes. And this is not cheaper than any other bistro in the area. And I don't compare a place with another locality in quality or prices. Every spot is different unless it is a chain restaurant which Grand Cru isn't.

Reviewed the menu on their website and decided to visit. Upon arrival, the menu given to us was substantially reduced than their online version. Marcello saved the day and started us off with an excellent glass of wine and suggested several items on the menu. Potato Gnocchi and escargot were excellent. We shared a heirloom beet salad that was well conceived with excellent presentation but tasted like ordinary bottled pickled beets. My wife ordered the rack of lamb that consisted of two thick lamb chops and although the portion was large she was still chewing the bones when I left the restaurant. Needless to say her entree was perfect in every way.
I ordered the halibut that arrived in a bowl with peas, corn and a rather strong broth that overwhelmed the fish. All in all we will come back but will not rely on the online menu.

I think this place is actually a gem of the neighborhood. I went there for lunch recently and was shocked I had never been there before. The lunch special is super yummy and you get a great portion for the cost. They have a wonderful wine selection which I look forward to trying during happy hour. I look forward to going here again.

The Executive Lunch special was a very good deal. The carrot & apple soup was surprisingly delicous. The flavors went very well together. The short rib terrine was also excellent, very tender and tasty. The french press coffee was very good, nicely roasted beans and a well-made press the let minimal grounds escape into the cup. Service was outstanding, very prompt and friendly. The ambiance was nice and quiet, perfect for a relaxing lunch.

The food was quite good, and the service was quick and friendly.

I always stop by grabbing some food in this spot. I like the speedy service and well cooked dishes. They never disappoint.

The dishes were a little hit or miss. The rack of lamb they offered when the lamb shank was sold out was phenomenal but the Brie had a strange sour taste to it that made it inedible for me.

I have enjoyed my visits here very much. It is great on a nice night to sit outside and enjoy a meal in the courtyard. The interior seating is great as well. Excellent food and service. Great atmosphere. Wonderful wine and beer selection. The deserts are not to be missed as well.

The atmosphere was perfect. I loved the escargot and foie gras. Would definitely recommend trying their wine flights. Our waiter was fantastic. All in all, definitely one of my favorite spots for French food in the area.

Would surely recommend eating here. Exceptional character, tasty dishes, excellent service. Great work.

Received incredibly judgemental look from waitstaff after saying we're not sure what we're drinking yet. Almost left right then - should have. Alas, she got the beet 'salad' - it was miniscule and almost completely devoid of anything one could consider lettuce.

Orzo was tasty. But it's really not that hard to make good orzo.

Verdict: pretention for the sake of pretention. The worst kind of fancy restaurant. Save your money and go to sweetgreen