Fine Dining at Vintage House in College Station - Excellent!
- Elliot F.
- Aug 2, 2023
- 3 min read
If you know anything about Texas A&M University, then you know about College Station, Texas. It's a busy little city of about 120,000 people that gravitates to the interest of the college itself. And as you can imagine, in a college town, there are lots of bars and night clubs but very few spots for fine dining. Well, there's one you must try when you're back in this city - The Vintage House at Messina Hof.
The Vintage House is an immersion of locally grown ingredients masterfully mixed with Texas wine. Messina Hof wines are used in every dish, and each dish is created to perfectly complement a style of wine, in what we call Vineyard Cuisine. The Vintage House Restaurant building was first opened in 1995 as an events center, and then was converted into the Vintage House Restaurant the next year in 1996.
My first experience with this spot was on a special day - Valentine's Day. My sweetie and I had dinner here while we were in town. Our server, Garrett, was exceptional. Attentive, personable, and very knowledgeable of the wine selection. The menu while limited because of Valentine’s Day was excellent and we both loved our entrees and the desserts were perfect. The ribeye was cooked to perfection and the pork chop my wife had was decadent. Honestly, it was slightly loud due to how many people were in the room but the ambiance was still top notch with complimentary roses on every table so that was very easily overlooked. After the entire meal was over, we both agreed that the overall our experience was fantastic and we would highly recommend the restaurant to our friends and family. My wife said to me - "We will be dining in again in the upcoming future the next time we are in town."
Sure enough, about 6 months later, we found ourselves back in College Station and booked another reservation. This time - brunch and brunch at the Vintage House is delightful. My wife had Eggs Benedict with a salad. I sampled a little of her order. The eggs were perfectly poached and the sauce was specially prepared by Chef Zeke.
The service was excellently provided by Julia. My wife had Sparking Rose and she said it was outstanding. I had a glass of Private Reserve Cabernet Franc and a glass of Sagrantino Reserva - perfect. Also, they pride themselves on their own Messina Hof Custom Blend Coffee and their pride is justified. It was Fantastic.
So, about a month after that, I had to attend a conference near College Station, in the area of Wixon Valley. And you better believe I made another dinner reservation for us. When we walked in, we noticed that the atmosphere was quiet, despite the busy dining area. Chatter was light, probably because most people were devouring a great dinner. I also took note of the great lighting, great decor, and a romantic atmosphere. I hadn't noticed it before during my first two visits.
And once again, the staff was attentive, courteous, and engaged us with smiling faces. Jacob was our waiter and he did an excellent job. He understood the menu, knew the wines well, and was able to answered all of our questions. I ordered the "Taste of Texas", which offered a 6oz filet grilled to perfection, and herb-roasted quail, and a seared lamb-chop as the current choice of game from a local farm. This was served over creamed potatoes with carrots and brussel sprouts and a wine demi-glaze. We also had the margarita pizza appetizer, and the bone-in seared rib eye. Everything was absolutely delicious, including the wine we ordered called "Resilient", a blend of wines.
And when dinner was over, we tried three of their dessert wines, a sherry, and two of their available port-style wines. The sherry was incredible and I would've purchased it if i didn't have a decanter of creamed sherry at home, but the empty decanter for port had to be filled at home, so I chose the delicious and more complex "Papa Paulo Port". Once again, we drove away very happy with our choice for dinner.
Paul and Merrill, the owners, are very engaging people and their passion for the food and wine business is very evident, I highly recommend you stop here when possible. We will be going back more often. When in College Station (or nearby), pay this spot a visit. I will continue to return to The Vintage House at Messina Hof.
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