The entrance to the Grapevine Cafe is through the Greektown Casino, so I was a little hesitant, thinking it would be too smoky for me to be able to taste my food. But, once inside, the air was fine, and so was the food.
Everything but the pasta was fried in some way, so we went all out and ordered the fried chicken dinner. Thirteen dollars and ninety-five cents bought you a whole side of chicken, a starch (I had the yummy mashed potatoes) and some veggies, with soup or salad. The soup was a rich tomato basil ravioli soup. Pour on those oyster crackers, and it's quite the treat. The whole dinner was very good, but I made sure to save just a bit for dessert.
The apple pie a la mode came warm and topped with Haagen Daaz vanilla ice cream. The crust had these sugar granuals baked into it, which gave it a crunchy texture and a little sweeter-than-normal flavor. It was good--not stellar--but good.
For two people, the bill came to about $46. The service was mixed. The hostess seemed not excited at all to be seating us, and seemed a bit put out when I requested a booth rather than a cramped table by the wall. Our server, however, was a good waiter. The refils were 'a plenty, and the check arrived without us having to ask for it.
The cafe was interesting in that there are brightly painted murals on the wall, depicting what I can only guess to be Detroit scenes. It was a cozy cafe, and filled up quickly for the dinner rush.
On a scale of 1-10, I'd give the food an 8, the service a 7, and the atmosphere a 7. I thought for what the food was, it was also reasonably priced.