Goat & Vine Restaurant + Winery Opens in Allen

Goat & Vine opened in May in Allen, the third location in North Texas for this restaurant and winery. Owner Paul Marrin says he wants Goat & Vine to provide an upscale ambiance but a fun environment – the type of place where you can enjoy drinks after a round of golf at the bar or a nice date night or celebration with family and friends.

Marrin’s desire to create an upscale ambiance appears successful. It’s a beautiful setting you might not expect inside The Village at Allen, close to more casual establishments and retail stores. We were greeted immediately and noticed only a handful of smaller tables open on this busy Tuesday. There were mostly larger parties, which the restaurant easily accommodates.

The dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows, so the air conditioning was working hard on this summer day; fortunately, our drinks arrived quickly. Service was friendly and attentive.

In addition to a full bar, Goat & Vine serves its own brand of wine, listed in four tiers on the menu: white, black, premier and a cellar master label. Each tier offers reds, whites, blends and even some fruit wines. There’s a wine club if you find yourself a fan of the selections.

There were multiple items we wanted to try, but we took our server’s suggestions and started with the bruschetta and the baked goat cheese. Both were enjoyed by our party, although it was a bit unusual that the “for the table” appetizers came with two large uncut pieces of bread that we had to slice ourselves.

For entrees, we chose the gorgonzola gnocchi ($25), which is comfort food at its best. The dumplings were cooked al dente in a rich creamy sauce with toasted walnuts.

The lightly breaded eggplant Parmesan with creamy ricotta is served over a pool of robust pomodoro sauce.

Finally, we selected the cacio e pepe, which is prepared a bit differently from the traditional pasta dish. If you enjoy truffle oil, you will likely enjoy this variation.

We always order dessert, but because this was a special birthday occasion we went for both the tiramisu and the dessert tower – about as “extra” as you could hope for. Add the flaming sparkler to the experience and you have a memorable final course to end your evening.

Goat & Vine has a 4-6 p.m. happy hour with some bar bites – goat cheese bites, zucchini chips and others – for as little as $6 each, plus half-price glasses of wine from the white and black tiers, along with $10 signature cocktails. We look forward to coming back for weekend brunch described as a “2 hour multi-course experience including a generous selection of dishes all meant to be shared.”

Goat & Vine, 190 E. Stacy Road, Allen. Sunday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.