Wine Garden

We stopped into Highlands spontaneously, taking a detour up the windy mountainous roads to find a special Highlands restaurant to indulge in. Note: if you haven’t been to Highlands before, try and drive to and from during the day. The roads can be unforgiving and unpredictable… but the gorgeous views are unlike anything else in the nation!
You know as soon as you are getting into city limits. The landscaping, homes and businesses aren’t just luxurious; they’re charming. It’s as if there’s a theme that all residents comply with: southern charm, cozy hospitality & lush greenery everywhere you look. Every time I get the chance to visit Highlands, I promise the next time I’ll make it a overnight trip. It’s just that much more relaxing when you don’t have to drive back down the mountain and then home thereafter.
The Wine Garden is part of Old Edwards Inn, and essentially a little sister to Madison’s restaurant (same kitchen and chefs…) The atmosphere is gorgeous. It’s nestled into the hotel so perfectly. There’s a waterfall leading to a small pond running beneath a bridge leading into Madison’s and a plethora of flowers, trees and detailed buildings all around you. They had heat lamps the night we were here, as it can be a bit chilly during fall. I would dine inside during the winter. It’s worth waiting for the warmer seasons to experience The Wine Garden’s charm and beauty.
We were there on a Sunday night. We had read on their website there would be live music, but when we arrived, it seemed like it was closing down, but the restaurant was to be open for another 3 hours. Our server took over 15 minutes (possibly even 20) to even come over to us. The manager or host of the restaurant came to our table about 10 minutes in asking if we’d like water. We weren’t sure if he knew she was MIA or just trying to be helpful. When our server did arrive, she seemed frazzled, tired and overworked. It made it impossible to be annoyed, even though throughout the evening she was never around and far from detail oriented. Everything we did ask took forever or simply never showed. I empathized with her fatigue, and felt rather bad for her. It did seem like every time she needed something she would have to hike up the little hill into Madison’s and into their kitchen… Throughout the meal, it was though we were trying to accommodate our server instead of vise versa. Example, we walked into the restaurant to get silverware ourselves as we couldn’t find her and because she didn’t hide very well how much she hated her job. She was from England and I know the hotel sponsors a good number of visas each year, and I don’t think these people know how much they’ll be working… The last time we dined here our server was Tomas from Bulgaria. He was eager to tell us he had worked 70 hours that week.
I had the Madison’s chicken salad and my date had the farm burger. He described the burger as «ordinary,» which surprised me because it’s obviously not your typical fast food burger. (I bet the veggie burger is great here!) The chicken salad wasn’t as I expected, but still yummy. Think actual chicken salad (scoop) sitting atop crisp, romaine lettuce & baby tomatoes. (See photos) We each get a glass of Riesling which paired well with the food and the evening.
Of course, The Wine Garden has stiff competition around town. There’s many, many excellent restaurants… but there’s something special about this one. The environment is so unique, so beautiful… it makes up for any service failure, any pretentious crowd & the over the top menu.
I leave three stars after a lot of thought and a few experiences here. Despite its beauty & prime location, the vibe just doesn’t make you feel welcome. It’s the perfect example of upper management outfitting the grounds with stunning designs and greenery, but if the staff isn’t invested or half as passionate, it doesn’t work.
Overall, despite this I would recommend trying The Wine Garden at least once. I would also select it over Madison’s if the weather accommodates.

Very nice find in Highlands. We were in town for a wedding and walk by and stopped in for lunch. The patio with bridge and waterfall are very nice to take in. Food was very good also. Would be a great place to kill and afternoon or early evening.

So cozy and quaint. Loved sitting outside on the veranda. We had already eaten lunch so stopped by for some afternoon tea and wine. It was so relaxing sitting by the waterfall and just vegging out. Great service and would also recommend for brunch or dinner… Also if you have time, check out the Old Edwards for a nice massage and spa time!

Wow! Are these reviews about the same place? Unilocal is screwing up because there should be entirely separate reviews for the Wine Garden and Madisons — both at the Old Edwards Inn. If the weather is right the Wine Garden is great. Go early for lunch. They open at 11:30. Many of the clientele are «old money» types or just old. It’s not cheap. Get over it! Several have mentioned the flatbread pizza. It changes by the day. I recently had it with barbecue and red onions. Sounds hideous right? Wrong. It was subtle, interesting AND delicious. I hesitated before ordering but I’m glad I did. Go!

If the real Gail and Tom had been here they would have told the chef to pack his knives and go. Devon O. and I came back for lunch a week after our first visit. This time we decided to explore past the appetizers and ordered entrees.
We started with another cheese plate. This week it was different, but I expected that because part of their concept is to serve fresh food from local farmers. The cheeses were similar and we got a lot of berries plus a flower. I assume the flower was edible even though neither of us wanted to eat it.
Our food was served and I was excited to try the chicken sandwich. I’m currently obsessed with portobello mushrooms and they were featured on the sandwich. I don’t know how they did it, but somehow my sandwich tasted like it was cooked in a campfire. It’s like they opened a bottle of smoke flavoring (I don’t even know if there is such a thing) and basted everything in it. My second favorite thing in the world is salt and pepper chips. They even managed to mess that up. They were bland and didn’t taste like anything.
I sent that back and got their daily flatbread. Chicken Cordon Bleu sounded good enough. It came out and I almost cried. It looked like something you’d make with your after school class in elementary school. Big chunks (kinda like you’d see on a salad bar) of ham and chicken on top of spinach. That was topped with melted pizza cheese on what looked like a flour tortilla.
Very disappointing. Looks like we’ll have to find a new lunch spot for our future adventures in Highlands.