My husband and I booked a cabin at Hidden Lake Winery for our anniversary at the recommendation of family who raved about their experiences there (although it had been a few years since they'd been). After reading some concerning negative reviews, especially with a very rainy weekend forecast, we worried about a lackluster atmosphere and being confined indoors. We even agreed to cut our losses on the cabin and leave early if the experience was truly as bad as some reviews suggested. Thankfully, our stay was the complete opposite--a delightful surprise that exceeded all of our expectations! The cabin was spotless, cozy, and beautifully maintained, with no bugs inside (despite plenty outside, as you'd expect with any cabin in the woods). The jacuzzi was clean and relaxing, and we enjoyed complimentary breakfasts of bottled water, orange juice, and delicious muffins. We were even charmed by playful and curious baby foxes outside the cabin one morning. One of which came right up and peeked through our door window! The winery itself was a highlight. The food and wine were phenomenal. Quick and good service as well. We didn't do a wine flight, but requested to taste different wines at the bar before buying a glass and there was no deposit charge for the glasses as some reviews mentioned. There was plenty of covered outdoor seating that let us enjoy the views and atmosphere, despite the rain. Indoors, the upstairs offered board games and stunning views. Bartender Jeremy and owner Steve were friendly, attentive, and went above and beyond to accommodate us with anything we needed, and even offered some great conversation! Steve's 3 dogs often accompany him to the winery and they are so gentle and sweet! You'll also find pictures of them throughout the inside of the winery! While heavy rain prevented us from hiking around the lake or to the waterfall, we had an amazing weekend. We can only imagine how amazing of an atmosphere it must be on a sunny day with live music! We left feeling grateful for such a wonderful anniversary and eager to return. I truly don't understand the negative reviews. Give this place a shot! read more

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Absolutely beautiful location with nice areas to sit, relax and enjoy the outdoor atmosphere. Definitely recommend it for a venue or a place to relax and enjoy the afternoon. Unfortunately, all of the wines were slightly less than just OK. Definitely don't recommend any of them which was disappointing. The biggest negative was the fact they charge a five dollar glass fee for every glass to ensure you return it when you do a tasting. I've never seen this at a winery before. Frankly, most vineyards encourage you to take their glass so they have the enduring advertising. The highlight of our visit was the patriotic theme and sincere appreciation for our service members. Thank you for that. read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

We have come here twice for our anniversary. Once in 2021, and in 2023. Sadly we weren't able to make it in 2022 but absolutely would have come then as well. We had heard rumors that the service wasn't as good as it used to be but I absolutely disagree. The service is outstanding. Every time we are welcomed so warmly. The room is clean and the food is delicious. The wine recommendations are top notch. The kitchen/tasting staff is so kind and makes you feel so at home. When we shared that it was our anniversary, Lily immediately offered to bring us a chilled bottle of champagne (with flutes!) that we had selected, rather than have us bring it back ourselves, unchilled. Truly so confused about the bad reviews, we've just never had a bad experience and can't wait to come back. Give this place a chance and don't let the bad reviews sway you! read more

Hidden Lake Winery - a large jacuzzi tub - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

The staff are really personable and responsive. I'll be honest. The wine was not great. It was also a little pricey ($24 for 4 3 oz pours). However, the food is great and you should go just for the gorgeous patio and scenery. And the incredibly friendly wine cat. Share some of your nummies with her and she's your friend for life. read more

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Beautiful setting indoor and out! Decent Midwest wines: Ruby Rosè, Traminette, Chardonel, Seyval, Syrah we the flight we selected. Wine is an acquired taste, Midwest wines are good, but not great. We also enjoyed the Italian hot sand wispy and small charcuterie board. Both were really good! read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Wine Flight - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

Quant winery on small lake in the country. They have a decent sized event space. A number of wines to choose from plus a full bar. Looks like it would be a good place to check out in the warmer months. They have a full menu of food, but we just had one wine flight, $20, plus a deposit on the wine glasses. read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Wine flight - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

Terrible experience.... Won't ever go back- The owner is unpleasant and avoids customers. This place has been going down for years. read more

Great service and We enjoy their wine The location is great and it is convenient for us but still out from any crowds.

Copied from a friend... DO NOT GET MARRIED HERE!! Well I was going to try to keep this off social media, but Hidden Lake Winery didn't give me much choice because they will not contact me back. Back in October of 2021, Alex and I went to look at Hidden Lake Winery as a place to get married. We loved the way it looked out there. We toured house that is located out there and the spot where we ultimately ended up getting married. It looked great. I chose to use their bridal suite to get ready in, out of convenience for my bridesmaids and myself. When we originally looked at the home where the bridal suite is located, the wedding coordinator, at the time, told us that we would be able to get ready there, if it were to rain the wedding would be inside the home. We could pay to have food from the winery brought in, but no outside food. There was also a "honey moon" suite inside the house that was for rent if we so choose to stay out there for the night. The parking lot would be cleaned up as it was full of weeds. Sounds great right? Fast forward to October 12th, 2024. My bridesmaids and myself show up at the house, to get ready at, at 7AM. This is the time I paid for the house to be opened at so there was enough time for us to get ready before the 1:30PM ceremony. My amazing makeup artist showed up shortly before us to have a strange man outside in his pajamas letting dogs out of the house. As she was setting up, this man (who is Steve the property manager) proceeded to use the restroom in the bridal suite as she was setting up. So the room in the house that was told to Alex and myself is a honeymoon suite actually had the property manager LIVING inside of it. There was a ring camera placed right outside the bridal suite that we could hear go off in that room each time we walked past it. This man, Steve, was casually walking in and out of the house and that room as all of us were in the house getting ready. When we entered this house to get ready in, it wasn't short of a DISGUSTING nightmare. Looking around the bridal suite, there was so much dog hair on the carpet. Literally every inch of it was covered in thick white dog hair. The couch in the bridal suite was covered in dog hair, thankfully my bridesmaid had a blanket to lay down so my daughter had somewhere to sit. There was dried dog feces on the carpet. There was a table that had mouse feces all over it. The bathroom is the bridal suite was absolutely disgusting. There was dried food left on the floor of the bridal suite along with old Bobby pins, crumbs, and dead bugs. We walk out to the kitchen, where they placed the food I paid for, to more dog feces in the kitchen. There was puppy pads full of pee in the trash can sitting next to the food. The kitchen looked like someone cooked a 8 course meal and didn't clean up, ever. The sink had mold in it. There again, were dead bugs everywhere. As we were getting ready, all we heard for the first hour of the morning were dogs barking. When my maid of honor contacted the wedding coordinator to try to make things right, we were told to contact Steve. Steve didn't do a thing about the issue besides vacuum the hallway leading to where our food was in the kitchen and plug in an air freshener because the house smelt HORRIBLE. Not one person checked on us throughout the day to make sure everything was okay, going good. This is just a very short snippet of everything that was in this house. I was told by multiple people that day compensation would be made, yet I have reached out multiple times and no one has answered. So I am bringing it to social media in hopes no one has to go through what I did on my wedding day and I would NEVER recommend this place to get married at. Here are some pictures for reference. Sorry they are gross and we cleaned up most of the dog feces in the bridal suite before I could get a picture. read more

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Love Hidden Lake Winery!!! The owners are awesome and deliver on good wine and a laid back atmosphere. This was our fourth time visiting and we will continue to be regulars, especially on nice weather days. We love the Black Vino, Off Duty, and Old Hippie and the flatbreads are amazing. Definitely worth a stop, or two, or three! read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Black Vino - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

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It's always so unfortunate when places with such great potential like this one just refuse to listen to constructive criticism from anyone and let their business and "business values" just go totally down due to their "opinions" instead of taking advice from others to heart and try making positive changes. Instead, it's nothing but fighting with every single people who offers a suggestion or help, and nothing positive has happened since it all started going downhill. Wishful thinking this changes one day. read more

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Awful service. Owner could not care less. Wine is mediocre and the food is tasteless. Told the owner about the issues and just shrugged his shoulders. There are a lot of wineries in that area. Don't bother stopping here. read more

Wine and food is delicious. We enjoy sitting by the lake eating our meal. Every now and then we rent a cabin when available.

Miserable service. Our family ordered 4 burgers and it took over 2 hours. They said their kitchen was backed up but we were one of only two tables that had food orders in. If you want to enjoy good food in a timely manner, go somewhere else. read more

I really enjoyed my time at this winery. They have great outdoor space overlooking a small lake. There was ample seating and suitable spacing. The facilities seemed clean. The service was good. We ordered inside and our food was brought out to us in the outdoor seating area. They could use a bit more help but the staff seem to take everything in stride. We ordered lunch and a glass of wine. I had a mix of wine and Ski. If you are not familiar with Ski, it's a local soft drink and a rare treat for me. I couldn't resist wine mixed with Ski. Who knew!!?? I would be happy to return to this nice, little winery! read more

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As many other people said the grounds are nice but the food and wine are atrocious. But I wanted to write a review on the cabins, as you can see, also 1 star. We came here for a wedding. Grounds are nice. The wine tastes like it was made in a bathtub. The food is bland. We stayed in the cabins on site. At first it wasn't terrible. When we returned after the wedding we heard a very loud noise as we approached which was the hvac screaming. It was also pouring water into the floor. We called them and they provided no solution and literally said "well there's probably nothing we can do right now". Needless to say we had no air conditioning on an 80 degree day so we had to sleep with the windows open in a strange place on a hot day. We paid 200 for this. We should have just brought a tent and found a field. I wouldn't go back to this place if it was free. read more

Not a Pristine winery anymore. Still a gem, but need TLC. The food took a long time to be served, French fries were cold and the fish filet had no flavor. Used to be a wonderful place, not anymore. read more

Hard to enjoy our visit with starving cats and kittens begging for food. Left with a broken heart. Facility needs some care and attention as well. read more

Great little country winery in Illinois that is a great venue or small outside weddings. They offer a great area for staging the wedding in front of a beautiful waterfall cascading over a stone wall. The waterfall is man made, so once the service has begun the water can be turned off so the guest may hear the service more clearly. The beauty of natural nature and the man made waterfall provide endless opportunities for beautiful photographs. They also offer a banquet center that is close enough to the waterfall that guest can stroll down a gravel road to the reception. If the bridal couple wants, they also have private cabins and one of them in a Honeymoon cabin with a heart shaped whirlpool tub. If you are looking for a unique venue for a small outdoor wedding - check out Hidden Lake. read more

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Unorganized mess as we waited for 15 plus minutes to get noticed and this rude crowd of heifers just sat in the way of letting us in the counter area as well. The world doesn't revolve around you just because you're having a "ladies night".... Hmm, meanwhile when we got through to have a place to for in ourselves, the lady that helped us was awesome and have some good suggestions on which type of wine I might like since I'm not the real wine expert. Thanks for that! read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

I will begin by listing the positive features of Hidden Lake Winery: beautiful scenery overlooking the lake with a spacious indoor venue offering many seating options, a stage for a live band, and a dance floor.  The food was satisfactory however, the kitchen was backed up with food orders. I had absolutely no problem with that and I appreciated that prior to placing my order I was given a heads up that it would take 2 HOURS to receive my food. Again, that wasn't an issue for me and I understood. I was with a large party and my husband and I were the last of the group to arrive, everyone in my group already placed their food and drink orders, we all also bought many bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages.  When my friend's order arrived, she was missing part of her order.  She notified the server of this immediately and instead of checking to see what happened and how soon she would get the rest of her food, the waitress rudely walked away from our table while we were still speaking and simply asking about what was missing.  She never came back to our table. We ignored her poor customer service and resumed having a good time.  Nearly 2 hours after I placed my order, my friend still had not received the other portion of her meal.  She and I went up to the bar where orders were being taken and was approached by the female owner, Angela.  We simply asked her about the status of our orders and explained that we understood the wait would be 2 hours for my order, we just wanted to know how much longer my friend should wait for the other part of her order because by this time it was an hour or more after she received part of her food order which was already cold by this time. Angela immediately displayed frustration, irritation and disrespect. She turned away from us, looked at her husband Steve (the other owner), rolled her eyes, and held her hand up in a dismissive manner. While my friend remained calm and polite in the beginning, Angela continued to be disrespectful which began to aggravate my friend, so I calmed her down and luckily, Steve stepped in, apologized on behalf of his wife and treated us with the respect and courtesy we deserved. It is important that I explain that our large group of people were the only African Americans there and  this is the only reason we could come up with as to why Angela behaved in such a condescending way towards us. I am grateful for Steve's empathetic customer service as he offered to refund what I paid for my food and still ensured that we received our orders anyway. Even though Steve saved the day, I would forewarn any person of color, especially African Americans, to avoid Hidden Lake Winery due to the prejudiced treatment we received from Angela and advise you to spend your time and money at a different winery where everyone will treat you with dignity and respect.  As for me, that was my first and last time going there and it's a shame because if it had not been for Angela's overtly prejudice behavior, I would have loved to visit again.  BE WARNED!  #BLACKLIVESMATTER read more

Okay, so we tried the brunch last Sunday. I had a complimentary Bloody Mary that was VERY tasty and well dressed (LOTS of fixin's!). Hubby had a Cranberry Mimosa that was excellent too. The food on the other hand was only mediocre as far as I'm concerned. Nothing was bad. It just wasn't all that great. Maybe it was because it was buffet style, so it's harder to set yourself apart... I'd be willing to go back for another try if they switched to a menu style. Service was good and of course, the setting is to die for. read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

We stayed in a cabin here last night. Over priced and dirty. No muffin basket as promised. No wine bottle opener. For being a winery and touting these cabins we were disappointed in the shape of things versus the cost. Only two coffee pods as well as no food for breakfast. No complimentary anything and from the other reviews I've read they used to provide something in the rooms. Our friends are also staying here in another cabin and have the same experience. No breakfast. Dirty cabin. We will not stay here again. read more

Good: Beautiful scenery nice location Bad: Food took at least 30 mins & my food was cold! read more

We are 2 years after covid, it isn't an excuse anymore for bad service, and unorganized staff. small mom and pops and big businesses have adapted to less people and more customers, this place sure hasn't. I'm very unsure as to how this place stays open? very rude staff, the owners seem to have a "not my problem attitude", with standing by at tables or private tables of there own than worrying about customers, strict wedding guideline for my family that was there in the last year. families beware in my personal opinion. the property is beautiful, but slow service, bad attitude, food worth a few bucks under what the resturant charges, I've been a guest here many times with monthly large groups and I have never been impressed. In fact less and less impressed over the last few months. Which what lead to this review. I hope you have more than a few hours in your day free when you come here because that's how long it will take to be a priority as a consumer. After my last visit my large group and I can't return. Thank you for memories read more

We had a pleasant experience with Hidden Lake Winery! My sons wedding was held here and everything was wonderful. Our event coordinator, Lilly was fantastic. She checked on us numerous times throughout the day and evening to make sure everything went smoothly. It was nice to have the cabins on site to allow for lodging accommodations also. We couldn't have asked for better service read more

Disappointed in Sunday brunch. Ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes and my husband ordered the same with eggs and bacon. After 30 minutes, the couple next to us said their order was forgotten so they were served within 10 minutes of asking. We waited another 30 minutes for our food (after I asked, too). Food was very average as pancakes were overcooked and just spread with a lemon curd in between thin layers. Plus, a hair was found on my plate which is unacceptable. So wanted to check out this pretty place (even in December) but we won't be back and will not recommend. read more

I emailed the winery on Thursday about my mom and her crew of 15+ coming to the winery to celebrate my mothers 70th birthday. When we arrived they set us up in a separate area away from the music so we could talk and socialize. It was perfect. We ordered wine, beer, soda, charcuterie and all of their varieties of flatbread (Sicilian was my fave) They checked on us and brought several rounds of water. Everyone was treated well and really appreciated the attention their event coordinator, bartenders and servers paid to our family and friends. We will definitely be back read more

Very disappointing. Came from Sonoma county to visit family and decided to try out a Midwest winery. Walked in, not greeted and just had the menus basically thrown at us and said "tastings are one dollar each." No information at all about the wines and the pours were just a sip. Tried some different wines, not to my liking so decided to have a beer. Asked what style of beer was on tap and just got a "don't know". Didn't even try to find out what it was or if I wanted a taste. She was rude, short tempered and treated us like we were wasting her time. Not just to us, but we witnessed her being rude to the other customers that were there before us. Unfortunately, we decided to stay and enjoy the view with some wine, beer and food. Everything required a deposit before we went outside......Wine glasses, beer glasses and the ice bucket. I was told to "come over here if you're paying with a card." Just very rude. We really should have moved on to another winery after being treated the way we were. Sorry, but definitely will not recommend this winery to anyone. Nice view but mediocre wine and horrible service. read more

We went to a wedding here of roughly 100 people last weekend. They booked the pavilion out close to the water that you cannot get to without chains on your tires if it has been raining. Parking is limited to roughly 10 cars by the pavilion on the water. It is obvious that this pavilion used to be open and have a firepit in the center as the "dance floor" had chunks of old concrete still attached to the floor. Major tripping hazard. The bartenders were supposed to come back down with wine, tea, etc. It was a cash bar, with ONLY "sweet and semi sweet" wines...that were Welch's grape juice'esque. The boys headed up the muddy pathway to get a Chambourcin. There was nothing less sweet. Though the Chambourcin is indeed very good. I bought a bottle of the Silent Forest Reserve - dry - and I have yet to open it. The crew was going back and forth in a large truck, running wires... at 1:55 when the wedding was set to walk down the "aisle" at 2. The wedding planner was stressed, furious, and very upset. She was trying to hide her disgust so that the bride and wedding party didn't get frustrated. I understood completely. My big concern was the wedding...... the "aisle" was a very uneven rocky stairwell that the girls were really concerned about falling. It had rained earlier that day and instead of using large brooms or squeegee's of some kind, to clear and potentially dry the stone walkway. They left it covered in mud and water. Chairs were literally sitting, on the right side closest to the pavilion door, in mud. They had been placed into said mud and water hastily. We arrived early to watch this fiasco as we were responsible for bringing the wedding cake, setting up, and decorating the cake table with the wedding planner. We are very aware that this particular spot was chosen as it was the cheapest option on the grounds of Hidden Lake, but it still means something to these people to have something beautiful...not a mud covered "aisle" and bartenders literally RUSHING moments before the wedding and scurrying about inside to make up for lost time due to their poor planning. They brought tea, but no sugar - had to send someone back in the truck (Yes.........it was on a muddy rock covered one way wooded driveway) to get sugar. When the food arrived, we were really excited about the artichoke spinach goat cheese dip. Smelled great and it was the only hot food that was served. Leave it. Everyone at my table who ate it was violently ill later that evening. Not sure if it was puddle of grease it was sitting in or if it was the greasy chips... but it was simply the worst bought of food-related stomach distress that I have ever had. The tasting room is quite lovely though, the service was very friendly, and the bartender was over the top about my desire to try the more dry reds and had some great suggestions. I was pleased enough with that little space to be willing to give it a chance, however, I won't ever have an event here or attend an event in which I will be eating the food. I will eat before hand and show my face --- but no cash bar "sweet and semi sweet only" and NO food. Hidden Lake, please refocus your care on your grounds and your service team. This was a wedding. One of the most important days of someone's life... Don't let your service crew, or your food and poor grounds maintenance, ruin that... read more

Hidden Lake Winery in Aviston, IL is a cool new destination winery that opened 4 years ago. This wooded haven is nestled lakeside on acres of beautiful hills and forest and is less than an hour from St. Louis!! They have a restaurant, a waterfall, several banquet halls, a lake fountain, cabins, and a beautiful outdoor area that is lit up with special lights at night. On nice weather weekends they have live music on the patio and they are open until midnight. They have quite a large following. I would have never expected such a crowd to be enjoying the patio and nightlife in the middle of farm country! In addition to wine, they have a full bar with beer and spirits. Even though they have a restaurant on premises, they do allow food to be brought in to enjoy on the patio. This is a truly spectacular hideaway that St. Louis peeps need to tap into. I was very impressed by the beauty and atmosphere. I have not had the food, but I hear it is wonderful and they do have a Sunday brunch for only $12.95 ($6.50 for kids 12 and under). Drinks are pretty reasonable too ($3.50 for Bacardi & diet). Definitely worth a short drive to rural Illinois!!! And definitely worth considering as a wedding location!!! read more

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This property and venue is beautiful! The wine is nice, and the staff is friendly. The snacks are pretty good too. Live music and board games increase the fun. Regarding COVID-19, they unfortunately advertise that mask wearing is optional, so no big deal if you choose not to wear one inside, despite the statewide mandate to wear one in public spaces. Not following the rules = not cool. None of the staff or patrons were wearing them when I stopped by. Why not encourage simple measures to protect your customers? Probably won't go back during pandemic times. read more

My family of ladies went to this establishment fir Mother's Day, we arrived at the 1145 am , The were seats available in the inside, none outside...we had to get up and order our drinks and food....Okay..it's okay we call prior as they were not taking reservations weeks prior..so okay, it's Mother's Day. We were told at 12pm that it could possibly be 2 before we get the food..okay we are tasting wine. Not flights. Or waiter or waitress to advise what the special are for the day, someone brought menu to the table. When the brought out the meat &cheese ..no extra plates..we ask for utensils when the first person got their food at 3pm ..we were told that the had noone....at 345 , still no food or service! The wine wasn't bad though but I believe I was the wrong race only people wait .. read more

Beautiful vibes and great wine and food. The staff is so friendly and it's kid friendly too :)

It was just plain disappointing. It was a 1st anniversary overnight trip for my boyfriend and I. He didn't know we were going. Neither of us had been here, and it was their Winestock weekend so, I figured it should be a fun event and worth the trip. I rented one of their cabins for Saturday night and purchased 2 tickets to Winestock. The only real reason for even the 1 star given is, the location is beautiful and really does have a lot of potential in my opinion. That was really the only positive. I'm not even sure where to start..... Winestock-the ticket prices, in hind sight were absolutely ridiculous and I think that's why there were hardly any people there. For Saturday, it was $30 a head and, other than 3 bands throughout the day and night, you got nothing for that $$. Actually, the more I think about it, the more frustrated it makes me. I believe they would have drawn a much bigger crowd if they either didn't charge anything or maybe $5/$10 a head. They'd have made up the $$ in the additional amount of wine and maybe food they would have sold. Lesson learned, for us anyway. The food-They had a very limited menu for the day. You had the choice of tacos, nachos with choice of meat, or just chips, salsa and guac. My boyfriend and I got the steak nachos and a chips and guac (he was not given or offered the pico or salsa that was supposed to come with it). The steak nachos, honest to God were more like beef jerky nachos and the portions were very small (probably a good thing since it wasn't good). They'd have done themselves a huge favor to have maybe box lunches with a sandwich and some chips and a soda, or meat and cheese trays or something else. What they offered wasn't good, it was overpriced and again, a very, very small menu. There is also a sign saying you're not allowed to bring in any outside food or beverages. The beverages I get, except maybe a bottle or 2 of water but, I've never been to a winery where you weren't allowed to bring your own food. Last but not least, we'll talk about the cabins. The theory of them is great but, they need to be rehabbed. The floors in the bathroom were clearly water damaged, the floor in the main room was the same way. The a/c unit had been visibly leaking which may have been the source of the water leak. I get the perceived bonus of the cabins right on the property but at $199 including taxes and everything, I expected a higher quality. They need some serious love. The 2 nice things about the cabin was, you got a complimentary bottle of wine with your room and they also had juice, a couple muffins and a plate with a little cheese, sausage and fruit on it in the mini fridge. I know these are new owners (a year or less from what we were told) and I hope they take this review as constructive criticism because I think this place has a lot of potential. read more

Wedding review: I absolutely do not recommend having your wedding here. The coordinator was extremely unprofessional in the way she spoke to and treated the bridal party on the day of the wedding. It made for some upsetting moments for everyone, specifically the bride who was brought to tears multiple times on a day that is supposed to be exciting and joyful. It's important to note that the winery was purchased in 2017, so any reviews before then are for totally different people and owners. The current owners also own Bella Vista Winery in Maryville. She also appears to try to dispute every negative review with even more negativity, so I hope that that alone will speak for itself when you are looking into booking somewhere for your wedding. read more

Love the wine and the atmosphere! The food was good but had a couple disappointments: steak was not even a little pink ordered medium and for $52 I would like real silverware not plastic. read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Sirloin pinwheels - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

Customer service is essential in all businesses. This winery is just another winery in this area that lacks the basic skills of customer service. When taking care of people it is very important to continue to take care of them and not leave them to take care of others or even do dishes. You want people to buy your wine or anything at all, then show them respect. The one thing this place has is its beauty. It is a hidden gem, but the lack of service is what gives it one star. This winery has a lot of potential if they can be more attentive to its people. read more

Stopped in for lunch and was greeted promptly by the bar tender with "What can I do for you folks?" I'm sure he didn't mean ill but I had to look around and ask myself if we just came in while they were closed?? I felt like we were intruding. We ordered the Charcuterie plate and the definition of Charcuterie is: "Making a Charcuterie Plate. harcuterie (shahr-cute-uh-ree) is a French word for any smoked, dry-cured or cooked meat. This category includes favorites like bacon, ham, pâté and sausages. More esoteric items like terrines, rillettes, galantines and duck confit are also considered charcuterie." It took a really long time to get despite it being pretty quiet and not busy. The plate came out and looked ok but the "salami and sausage" was almost nonexistent. Five little circles. The fruit was great and the plating was excellent but there is a lack of attention to detail here. I appreciate the random pita bread and other types but they could use something to dip them in or something else to put on them. Maybe hummus or butter? Something other than just mustard. So slim pickens on the meat, cheese was not sized well to go on the crackers or bread, and the board was filled in with cheap filler. We thought about ordering a burger to split but it took so long just to get an appetizer we decided to just leave. I am disappointed and spent 16 bucks on not much. On top of the slow service, there were several unbussed tables full of plates, guns and roses was blaring from a PA speaker and the windows to that beautiful lake view were dirty. Cmon guys, hire some staff, clean up the atmosphere and look at what you are plating for your paying customers. read more

Hidden Lake Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Aviston, Illinois

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We will never go back. The winery itself was beautiful and the wine was good. Unfortunately the owner is an unprofessional psycho. As we were sitting outside by the fire pit that a staff member had lit for us, the owner came outside literally yelling and cussing at us because he thought the flame was too high. He didn't even give us a chance to speak. We were in shock. He then stormed inside and returned with a rod of some sort as he continued to yell and cuss and threw all of the wood out of the fire, then stormed off back inside. It was as if he was on drugs. We had already rented the cabin for the weekend, at $300 plus fees and only spent an hour at the winery. The cabin was freezing, the tv was tiny and we couldn't even get fresh towels. Definitely wouldn't recommend anyone I know to visit this place and give this guy your business. On top of it all there is nothing to do in the small town so we drove 40 minutes to St. Louis to spend our money there. Horrible experience. And from other reviews, it seems the female owner isn't any better. read more