Sip Kitchen & Wine Bar – Baltimore

I would like to point out that i predicted this place would close (I am patting myself on the back). Boom.

I drove down to the Sip Kitchen on Sunday, September 13, with a friend in the hopes of sampling and enjoying various wines and partaking in their daily happy hour, but it was not to be.
After paying for parking and walking across Key Hwy. to the establishment, l noticed that the hours of operation were removed from the front door, oh goodness, that can’t be a good sign, l thought. I than shaded my eyes from the glare of the sun on the glass door and peaked inside only to be met with darkness… the Sip Kitchen was gone! I proceeded to pull on the door handle, but it was locked. I peeked in again just to confirm what l knew in my heart, it was gone, closed, abandoned, out of business, shut down, finito… you get my drift. My disappointment turned to anger as l realized l had money left on my Sip Kitchen card for additional wine tastings. What a bummer…

Sadly I have not posted re Sip and Kitchen before now… have gone about a ½ dozen times and loved it each time. I love the good and wine pairing suggestions and the what can I say the «sips» of wine are my favorite… great selection of wine easy relaxing atmosphere and love the fish tacos

3.5 stars. The self-​service wine bar is a great concept. You load up a card with however much dosh you want, pick your glass, stick the card in the slot, and select your serving size (1 oz taste, 3 oz half-​glass, 6 oz full glass).
Wine selections come primarily from New World sources (California, South America, Australia, South Africa, etc.). There are some classic Italian, French, and Spanish offerings (Cote du Rhone, Rioja, Burgundy, Chianti, etc.).
Of the food we ordered, the crab cake sliders were the most appealing. Fish tacos weren’t bad, with some spiciness in the sauce, but were a bit drippy for eating at a lounge table. Artichoke fritters sounded like a good idea, but weren’t a favorite. They were less like fritters and more like fried artichoke chips.
The lounge service staff were friendly if a bit scattered. The wine dispensers could be a bit finicky (one refused to validate cards at all because it had disconnected from the wireless network and couldn’t be convinced otherwise), and they’re not smart enough to detect if a bottle empties before you get your full selected pour size. If the bottle goes dry while dispensing, you get charged the full amount, and you need to find a server to either top up your glass by hand or credit your card appropriately.
Now, I do have to give them props for running a Unilocal check-​in deal where if you spend more than $ 25 in food, they’ll double the value of your wine card up to $ 25.
All in all, an OK space with decent enough food and a nice system for keeping you supplied with your vino of choice. We’d probably head back if only because the self-​service layout in the lounge really lends itself to a casual chill-​out where you don’t have to keep looking for someone to pour your next glass.

I think that Sip has an interesting concept as far as being able to try a lot of different wines. You can purchase a card and use it to dispense wines at the machines or the restaurant is willing to get your requested pours for you and add them to your bill. There is a good selection of wines and our server was generally knowledgeable and able to make some helpful recommendations. That being said, the food was fine, but nothing spectacular. I might return to try different wines, but I’d probably order some appetizers and eat dinner elsewhere.

My first experience with Sip was back in April and I cannot say enough about how good their establishment is. My friend and I each ordered a half salad, the soup of the day, and dessert. My Kale Caesar was perfection and I wanted to go swimming in the soup. For dessert I finished the night off with a key lime cheesecake and I could not have been happier.
I plan on returning again soon. :)

Came here for a bachelorette party and enjoyed the atmosphere. I can’t comment on the food as we only came here for the wine but the seating area in the front is dimly lit and is cozy with a good amount of seating. There’s a good selection of wine to choose from and I really like this concept and I’m glad to see more places like this. There aren’t really any signs to this place so it was a bit hidden and hard to find.
The downside were the glasses… they were all dirty. Some of the glasses were actually dirty with some nasty things glued to them but the majority of them just had water stains; even the latter is not acceptable.

Ok, so, we are residents of the Ritz. Don’t hold it against us. We went to Sip Kitchen’s soft opening last December 2014 looking forward to finally getting a restaurant on site at our condo. At the soft opening, they didn’t even have a menu to show us. And it has been down hill from there.
We have had dinner at Sip four times since the opening. Time # 1 the waiter dumped a plate full of artichoke fritters on to my lap. I got a little apology and no offer for dry cleaning. Oh well. Second time was interesting because we went with our neighbors. Jim, my neighbor, is very knowledgeable about wines. He ordered a bottle for the table and the waiter said they were out of it. He ordered a second choice and guess what? The waiter said they were out of it. So we went with a bottle of something that we did not really want. I realize that wine availability is somewhat fickle at a wine bar but management should have a way to tell the customers what wine on their wine list is available to order with dinner and what is not.
Third time, one of the menu items listed on the chalk board we ordered the waiter said «we just sold the last one.» This was at 6:00 pm on a Tuesday.
The fourth time, same thing happened but worse. They listed Sea Bass on the chalk board but again said they were out of it, again on a Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. But what is worse, our guest from California ordered the Yard Bird (roasted chicken) and asked if it comes with any sides. The waiter said no and she ordered a side vegetable. We also asked if our Halibut came with a side dish and he said no. So we ordered sides of creamed spinach. Guess what?
Our California friend never got her chicken because the waiter thought she had only ordered the side vegetable for her entire meal, the creamed spinach was cold, and the halibut entre came cooked in the bag with spinach and mushrooms. We sent back the cold creamed spinach and shared our halibut with our guest.
This restaurant will not make it. Fortunately for us, the residents at the Ritz will not have to subsidize the place when it goes under. This restaurant needs local management and not a management team from Atlanta. The waiters are not very experienced and we can tell their forte is not customer service. Our waiter this week should have repeated our order to make sure he got it right including our friend’s order for the Yard Bird. For us, it is not worth the 15% residence discount, it is not worth the aggravation. We will stick to dining at our other favorite places in Baltimore and forget about this one.

Pros
–there’s wine and food… Im sure its great
–lots of diverse meat choices
–artichoke fritters pretty good
Meh
-$ 10 valet when street parking is 50¢ per hour
Cons
–everything overpriced by about 1.5x
–given half salad at full salad price (same size as friend who ordered half salad)
–told salad comes out of a bag when inquired about salad sizes
–virtually no vegetarian choices, despite menu online suggesting otherwise
Summary
–other places throughout town have wine and far superior food choices with easy access and proximity to other things
–go to those places instead

I went here with a party of 12 to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We had a blast! You load up a card (like @ Dave & Buster’s) and you can sample ¹⁄₃ /​or 6oz pours of 70+ different types of wines and some scotch’s and whiskey’s. That concept alone makes this place a must-​try. The wine machines are in the lounge area which features dark leather sofas and chairs and a bar made of tin copper. A great place to get together for drinks. Our table was in the back (in a private room) and was great. We mostly ordered shared plates (sliders, calamari, shrimp/​grits, Charcuterie plate, etc) and the food was great. They also had a beautiful patio. The service was adequate: food came out fast and the server was friendly.
I didn’t give it 5 stars because they are still working out the typical kinks of being a «new» restaurant. It would have been great to get an introduction to the wine machines, but no one showed us this. IE: how the wines are organized, where to get fresh glasses, where to put used glasses, etc.
Can’t wait to try this place again and get an entrée!

Visited Sip Kitchen for Friday Happy Hour with my girlfriends. We are all wine drinkers so I thought this would be a great break from the norm so everyone could try something new.
We sat in the lounge area and ordered from their $ 5 HH menu and loaded up our cards to try the various wines.
Several times my party chose wines (6 oz) pour and received the smaller 3 oz pour. I think some of the machines need to be re calibrated or something.
Over all the Appetizers were pretty good. The wine and the sliders were great. The crab dip was just OK. I think it would be better with Pita chips or thicker bread. The bread it was served with seems like white bread grill on a pannini press.
Overall great friday night HH place.

I’m sad to see all of the negative reviews about the Sip Kitchen because I went there last evening with a friend, for the first time, and found this place to be one of my new favorite spots. I have nothing but great things to say from when I entered till the second I left.
The hostess that greeted me (Ivory) was so kind, she greeted me warmly, gave me a tour, told me how everything worked and. After that I couldn’t help but have fun.
I sat at the front bar while waiting for my friend, taking in the beautiful décor and atmosphere. When my friend arrived, we decided to enjoy the lovely spring weather out on their newly opened patio, it is still being developed, but it was attractive and inviting all the same!
Our server, Emanuel, was outstanding! So kind! He made an outstanding recommendation for every course, from the appetizer to the entrée along with a fabulous wine! We had the short rib Mac and cheese to start, which was to die for! It could have been a little warmer, but the texture, flavor and presentation was amazing! For our main course my friend and I ordered one of each of the days specials, the Chilean sea Bass on a bed of quinoa risotto and the pork chop with a lemon capper sauce, the food was cooked perfectly!!! And I have to say, outstanding! I loved the open kitchen concept and made it a point to tell the kitchen staff how much I loved my meal, and they were very humble and grateful to hear how amazing and special they made my evening.
We were approached several time to be checked on, by both our server and the manager, Tiffany, but not too many times that we were overwhelmed. It was such a lovely atmosphere, with some of the most friendly people I’ve met since moving to Baltimore five months ago.
I do believe that I will find myself frequenting this wonderful establishment in the future!

Cool concept but our food came out at all different times. Presentation ok.
Bathroom were so dirty. No TP and TP all over the floor and paper towels on sinks.
Server was good.

Love this place. It’s a hidden gem. The wine vending machine is awesome! I haven’t tried the food, but I look forward to going back!

I have no words for food and management…
I’ve been in the culinary business for 20+ years and this must be the worst place I’ve seen in Europe or the US…
Good riddance…
For more information go there and hate it yourself…
Wish I could give zero stars…

Went with a friend tonight for happy hour. When we got to the bar at 5:30 we were told that they used to do happy hour when they first opened, but the manager didn’t like the selections, so they are not doing happy hour anymore. Huh? I just saw Unilocal reviews from 6 days ago with hh. Confusing…
Anyway, we sat in comfy chairs in the bar/​lounge area by the wine dispensers. While there were 4 ppl at the hostess stand working, no one came over to see if we wanted to order anything so we went to the bar to order food, wine, etc. Since we were again told that there were no happy hour drink specials, we both put $ 15 on cards to get wine from the dispensers. I found the wine in the dispensers to be expensive and overpriced and they did not have as much as a selection as I would have liked to see. I wanted this to feel like a fancy place in the ritz, but it felt cheesy and sort of like they were not ready to open.
Then I had to go back to the bar and order food and waters. I noticed a chalkboard on the side wall of the bar that had two wine glass specials on it?! When I asked the bartender about that he said «o, those wines are not good and you can’t use your card towards those now.» Ugh. I then ordered the quinoa Mediterranean salad and the grilled cheese. The salad was supposed to have quinoa, kale, feta, chickpeas, cucumbers and carrots. The salad came out and it was a kale salad with some quinoa scooped on top, carrots and cucumbers. The dressing was missing, along with the feta and chickpeas. How could 3 out of 6 ingredients be missing from a salad?
I told someone that I saw walking by and they said they got a new chef yesterday and did offer to bring another one or remove it from our bill. We had it removed.
I gave two stars because the grilled cheese was delicious! But I will not be back. The concept was neat but the execution was poor.

Great potential but this place falls flat pretty quick… my husband described the whole experience as just clunky. If they dimmed the lights and put on some music would make a huge difference. We felt like we were in a Disney restaurant or a movie set off set hours.
The host stopped midway to our seat and looked confused. The manager, I assume, yelled to him «just throw ‘em in the 20s and tell her they are there.»
We went on a Wednesday night and although it wasn’t crowded to get around the wine dispensers was a challenge. They are right in the path of the servers for the bar area so we were constantly getting out of their way. Cool idea but the slow card system made us wonder what it would be like any busier.
Our waitress was good but… maybe comparable to an SNL character? Kinda funny. Here’s the low down…
Order it: chorizo and fig, kobe beef sliders, cheesecake
Mediocre: crab risotto, short rib mac n cheese
Wine: Gewürztraminer, vouvray, moscato… struggled to find a red we loved.
Oh… and the fire alarm went off for about 20 minutes during dinner. Fun.
Curious about happy hour but won’t rush back.

I went to Sip Kitchen & Wine Bar for happy hour on a Friday night with a friend and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. At first glance it was a little difficult to find as it kind of flows into the residences and hotel next to it. It was a pretty busy night so instead of waiting to be seated we grabbed two empty seats at the bar. Their wine tastings run from .90 to 4.00+ with a lot of them being around 1.50 I noticed. We were given two options to taste we could either purchase a pre loaded card and use the spouts on the walls or order from the bartender (since we were at the bar). We chose to order as we went and I like that option because I didn’t have to decide before hand on the amount I would drink. The bartender was pretty knowledgeable about the wines and helpful in picking our selections. I only tried around 5 types and settled on something to order a full glass of but I can see myself coming back for more.
Now on to the food. Everything that came it around us looked so good I wanted to try it all! However I settled on the Dips and the Short Rib Mac and Cheese. The dips were delicious, one was a little too spicy for my taste but it wasn’t bad by any means. The Mac and Cheese made me wish the portion was larger because I didn’t want the bowl to end! The meat was perfectly cooked and it had a crumble top that just melts in your mouth!

The concept is great, and décor is gorgeous! That is really where the accolades end. The layout of the restaurant is unfortunate — not nearly enough space for the wine tasting/​sampling machines, without constantly being in the way of someone.
I visited for brunch with 5 other girls. We arrived shortly after they had opened, and we were the only patrons at that point. They did not seem ready for guests, as they were still hustling around & prepping. We were excited for the Bloody Mary bar, but were informed that they were no longer offering it. They also only had one wine card available. I did take that wine card & had it loaded, thinking that if I didn’t use it that day that I would be back.
Some of us ordered Bloody Mary’s, and others Mimosas. The waiter came back several times — they didn’t have the specified vodka, then they didn’t even have Bloody Mary mix, then they were still freshly squeezing the Orange juice, then they were going to go get Bloody Mary mix. After 40 minutes, we still only had waters in front of us, and we were debating staying. We should have trusted our gut instinct… the waiter finally appeared with a tray of mimosas for the table, until the Bloody Mary’s could be made. The glasses were very sloppy and uneven in quantity — some were mostly full, some were filled halfway, and they were not cold. THEN, the waiter tripped or something, and a mimosa was dumped on top of my girlfriend! I’m talking in her hair, down her back, all over her coat, and barely an apology from the server! He was more mad at himself instead of apologetic. Eventually, another server brought us some towels and alerted the manager, who was very apologetic, and handled the situation appropriately by comping our meal, sending over trays of mimosas & bloodys, taking care of the dry cleaning, and switching our server.
Once our food was delivered, we were severely underwhelmed. The Crab Risotto was miserably bland, and the pork belly Benedict was chewy. The burger tasted great, but was ordered medium & was very med-​rare. I personally ordered the Mac & cheese, which was listed in the «shareable» section of the menu. As it was delivered, the server asked if it was going to be enough for my meal, as it was served in the smallest ramekin! It was good, but I don’t know how that could be considered shareable, whatsoever.
My girlfriend’s dry cleaning took a week, and she had to call to check on it. I thought it should have come back with a wine card or something.
I returned on a Friday night to use that wine card I had loaded. I was greeted by the hostess who told me if I didn’t have a reservation, I wasn’t eating there. The lounge /​wine tasting area was cramped & several bottles in the machines were empty. I saw the same mimosa-​dumping server running around, and knocking into standing guests.
Again, it’s a gorgeous spot, but management needs to review their practices and menu offerings if they want more than their 15 minutes of fame/​hotspot-​ness.

Why just three stars? Because i came in with a group of 9 girls and they told us they only had one wine card for the nine of us. When we looked around, tables of two people had one cared each– not ok. And it took three different people to come in to tell us that… again, not ok. When you see a group of girls coming in, you know they are going to be drinking– either make sure you can handle their order by providing more waiters/​waitresses, or give them more wine cards by crediting other tables and using THEIR wine cards for us.
I have to say that it really took away from the experience. That and at least two wine bottles in each machine was out…
But the rest of the experience was good. Our food came out on time and it was good (not great). Although, the french fries WERE amazing…
I mosied on over to the bar afterward to meet up with other friends afterward and the bartenders were wonderful. They knew the wine at the restaurant well and did a great job of letting me know what I would be interested in and letting me try different wines.
I would go back, but I’d probably stick to the bar– or go with someone who already has a wine card since I can’t guarantee the restaurant will have any in stock…