vogue bistro and bar

service was very slow. come here only if you have plenty oftimeto spend and are willing to be very patient. food was good but quite overpriced.

8 happy customers. finally the east valley has a decent restaurant. the service was excellent withtimeto enjoy your friends and appetizers. all 8 of us had different entree's from chicken to lasagna and meatloaf. we would recommend as this chef controlled restaurant will become more popular with word of mouth make a reservation.

a hidden treasure. my wife and i have been in need of a date night for some time. our 9 month old son has been ruling the roost for too long, so you can imagine our joy when visiting family insisted that we take ourselves off for the evening and leave the childcare to them!

my wife researched where our date should take place, asking me for some general input. with freshly polished shoes and the promise of good food we made our way to vogue... and i am so pleased we did!

firstly, this restaurant is pretty hidden away in the corner of a shopping mall parking lot. i was really apprehensive as we arrived, i had read the menu... twice (the secondtimewith drool running down my chin!), but the approach to the restaurant seems to be adorned with boards advertising vogue burgers! oh no! had we made a mistake? should we head to the keg for a steak instead?

once inside we were greeted and shown to a lovely table. the ambience is almost perfect with subdued lighting and music... but conversation with my wife was difficult at times because of the huge tv screen that i could see directly behind her above the bar. several times my eyes wandered to the classic movie and i had to make a determined effort to keep my attention on the table... of course my wife makes that easy, but i struggle to understand why a nice meal needs to be accompanied by a john wayne movie.

the wait staff were exceptional, offering us a brief history of the restaurant and taking our drink orders very quickly. we sought advice on the wine and food menu from the front of house staff and were pleasantly surprised at the recommendations they gave us.

the food was very good, but not without frustration. i started with foie gras, and i was expecting a tender, melt in the mouth pan fried goose liver... what i received was pate de foie gras - 2 triangular slices of pate. i felt slightly cheated, but i guess the clue in the menu was that it was served with brioche toast, so i gave the chef the benefit of doubt. it was a delicious pate none-the-less.

my main course was a rabbit stew... i would not hesitate to recommend this dish to anyone who is visiting this restaurant. i would rank this as one of the best dishes i have eaten in the last 2 years. a sumptuous bowl of comfort... rustic, warm, flavorful - this dish has it all!

and then to finish, a chilled chocolate custard that was creamy and rich.

i have to be honest, i have no idea what my wife was eating! despite the intrusive tv my eyes were either on my plate or closed in ecstasy with the pleasure of each bite.

my birthday is in a couple of daystimeand i had to make a decision where to celebrate... this place won out (with binkleys a close second)... i can't wait to taste that rabbit stew again!

truly a great restaurant and bar. easily competes with trendy scottsdale joints, except i feel much more welcome and relaxed here, plus i don't have to see every 22 year old dude who wears bedazzled jeans try to pick up girls and get drunk on bud light. the wine list is great and changing all, thetimeas the owner (who is also the sommelier) finds more delicious wines to offer. the drinks from the bar are always top notch; they only have one bartender and she is great, so you know the drinks will be consistently good. i go there quite often just for drinks because of the nice atmosphere and quality liquor. as far as the food, i have never had a single bad dish there. everything from the appetizers through the salads, entrees, and especially the desserts, are wonderful. the chef is a genius who uses her knowledge of french cuisine to influence all kinds of dishes, but still serve american-size portions. everything from the steaks and duck to something as simple as the french fries are excellent. a great restaurant for a nice quiet date. i also like that they have a tv behind the bar, but instead of the usual sportscenter crap, they play classic french movies with english subtitles (no sound from the movie, so it doesn't interfere with the music). a nice touch to keep it classy. i would say the ambience is somewhat of a relaxed classiness; a nice pair of shorts and a nice polo would fit in, but a button down shirt tucked into non-denim pants and a nice cocktail dress for the ladies would look even more appropriate. easily my favorite restaurant in the west valley, and in the top 5 for the phoenix area.

our favorite restaurant. we love this quaint restaurant in surprise. we've been to vogue bistro several times in the past and enjoyed great ambiance, exceptional food and warm reception that owners and servers always offered to us. even though we moved to glendale last year we still try to visit vogue as often as we can. coming from new york and having traveled throughout the europe i can say with certainty that there isn't a better food than chef aurore's. she is a diamond in the rough. we always start with fresh oysters on half shell. lasttimewe both ordered chef aurore's specials. i had a chilean seabass with razor clams, farro, organic vegetables and champagne sauce and my husband had a giant bone-in ribeye with mushrooms, a very tasty savory tart and malbec wine sauce. our dessert was an assorted array of freshly made chocolate truffles, gelatos and crème brullees that the owner, aurore's husband treated us to for our anniversary. the food was simply exceptional. our server was attentive and eager to please. he suggested a wonderful pinot noir for us. the couple who sat next to us came all the way from cave creek because nobody in the valley prepares a better duck than chef aurore. after dinner we spent sometimeat the bar enjoying andrea bocelli concert in tuscuny and shared a fabulous chocolate martini. i'm so jealous of everyone, who lives in surprise, to have such a treasure right in the neighborhood. we can't wait to go back.


-----21 aug, 2009-----

extraordinary restaurant. we love this small family owned place. we've been coming here for the past 5 months after reading a great review in az republic. on our last visit we had an amazing rack of lamb, a salad and the best tiramisu i've ever tasted, a three course dinner for $29, which we thought was very reasonable. the portion was large and sever was nice enough to give us a heads up so we shared the entire meal. we both have days off on mondays and in our neck of the woods there aren't any good restaurants open on mondays except for chain places. for years we've been going to arrowhead and past couple of years to the westgate, and now we can have a martini (or two) and drive only 5 min to our house. thank you vogue for coming to surprise! a couple of money saving tips for those of you who frequently visits vogue. go to their website and sign up for vip program: you'll get $25 gift cert for every $300 spent; also they will email you all their promo dinners and specials, as well as invitations to wine dinners planned in the future (can't wait for those). download all current specials and coupons from their website's events page. on one of our visits we've printed out a coupon for a free martini with a purchase of an entrée. nexttimei'm bringing my girl-friends for lunch to try their famed panini sandwiches, which they offer, unfortunately, only at lunch time. we definitely will be coming back. i hope this is helpful for those looking for a great local spot.

a nice non-chain restaurant in the west valley. nice to see a non-chain restaurant in the west valley. had a reservation for 6:30pm on a saturday night and glad we did, the place was packed! vogue bistro is very small and intimate. you can see what the people next to you ordered and listen in on their conversation. our waitress was nice, however she went on and on and on about the menu, specials, drinks, etc. then, she would disappear for long amounts of time. very strange. we decided to order the calamari appetizer, beet salad and eggplant parmesan entree. the calamari appetizer was more fried carrots than calamari. you really had to poke around to find the calamari. i didn't care for the sauce they served it with either. the beet salad was pretty decent. it had a huge chunk of goat cheese, which i love. the salad could have used a little more dressing, however. the eggplant parmesan was delicious. it came out baked in a fluffy pastry-like bread. it was total comfort food and i would definitely recommend it, especially to vegetarians. despite our waitress being mia, especially toward the end of the night when we wanted to pay our bill and leave and forgetting to bring out our warm bread we requested, vogue bistro is a cute, little restaurant. perfect for a date night. make sure you like your date though, because you can expect to spend a lot oftimethere. also, try and sit on the patio. it's nicer, quieter and a litte more spacious. weather permitting, of course.

cozy and quaint. i recently visited vogue for the firsttimeafter passing by it all the time. i stopped in just to check it out as the name sounded interesting to me. the place is small but nicely decorated. the hostess was friendly and so was the bartender. i ordered a signature designer peach martini "escada". it was flavorful and worth the price (don't remember either 8 or 9 dollars). the calamari was ok, the tempura carrot bed seemed to be a bit much for the few calamari but still very tasty and a good selection for an appetizer. i definately want to visit again and plan on inviting my girlfriends for martinis and dinner.