Restaurant review: The Silly Grape

The Silly Grape is at 1720 Fennell St., between North Keller Road and Legacy Club Drive in Maitland. It’s open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Call 407-790-7999 or visit thesillygrape.com

The Silly Grape is the offspring that would be produced if your local, upscale wine bar got married to your favorite sports bar. It’s big, it’s welcoming and you immediately feel comfortable, whether you are there to celebrate a birthday or you just want to watch the game with your best friend.

The (literally) handmade creation of Cesar DaCosta — who came to America with his parents from Portugal 30 years ago — this restaurant and bar is DaCosta’s way to invite the Maitland community into his place. He is the epitome of the hands-on owner/proprietor. Whether he’s tending bar, serving at the tables or handling the lighting for the live music that adds to the welcoming atmosphere, he will find you at some point to be sure you have enough to eat and you’re having a good time. His personality is like meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in years.

And Mom and Dad DaCosta — nominally retired — are still in the kitchen every day making sure the food is as tasty and the portions as large as they once were in Portugal. And the food here is much better than good.

The stand-out appetizer is the hummus, loaded up with garlic, fresh cilantro and roasted bell peppers. It’s freaky good — so good that Cesar is currently in discussion with a distributor to potentially package and sell it, and good enough to make a healthy meal of it. The salsa is made fresh every day, and of the soup choices, the Portuguese kale soup is amazing. The combination of vegetables and chorizo sausage is perfect.

The menu has two important distinctions: First, there are no items on the menu over $10 (Yay!), and the offerings are made from fresh food that is good for you! What a concept.

The main course offerings are flatbreads, panini sandwiches (each served with a bountiful side salad) and huge salad choices. I had the rotisserie chicken flatbread, and it arrived at my table bubbling with jack cheese over the perfectly cut chunks of fresh-daily chicken. Each offering has a healthy (in every sense) dose of olive oil, which in the case of the flatbread gets added oomph from a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar for a Mediterranean blessing. I then tasted the roast beef panini, made with an abundance of sliced beef and served with pesto. I happily travel for good pasta with pesto, and now a bar/restaurant has given me yet another way to serve pesto, which makes me a happy man.

Admittedly, you have to find The Silly Grape, but the point is, it’s worth finding — especially for all those businesses on Keller Road. More bistro than bar, The Grape also offers a pool table and TVs all around the room. There’s a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a variety of drink offerings and live music on most days.

If you’ve read this far, Cesar wants to offer $1 drafts for the month of March when ordered with any menu item. Just tell your server (who could be the owner) that Josh sent you. And that is one $1 draft for each menu item. It’s a pleasure to highly recommend The Silly Grape.