The Lake House at Sylvan Beach — Local services in Town of Vienna

I have been eye balling this joint since we arrived at Slyvan Beach. It's a very bright venue right in front of our Vrbo. Who doesn't want to go to a joint that says food, slots and drinks in the very front of it? It just screams fun.

My daughter and I headed inside. We were stopped by a security guard. He carded us since it's an 18 and up only. The security was really nice! We got carded and made our way in. All the slots were bright and calling my name. They all looked so fun but we were here for food so we headed to the restaurant.

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. As beautiful as the weather is, of course we had to sit outside. The setting couldn't be more perfect. The sun was starting to set so the sky was shades of pink and blue. The clouds sprinkled the sky and the water was still. It couldn't have been more perfect view for us.

Anna came and greeted us. She has the prettiest smile. She asked us what we'd like to drink. We got our sodas ordered and since I had already looked at the menu, we asked if we can go ahead and order food as well. My daughter and I both got a bowl of clam chowder and some calamari to share.

Our clam chowder came out first. It was beautifully topped with bacon and green onion. The chowder was hot! I added the oyster crackers in it so they can sog up. Soggy oyster crackers are so good! The clam chowder was fantastic! It had chunky pieces of celery, potatoes and clams. It was hearty and thick. I ordered a bowl and the bowl was on the smaller side but it was actually the perfect amount.

The calamari was some of the best I have ever had! The calamari was so tender. It wasn't chewy or rubbery. They were perfectly breaded and fried. The breading wasn't thick, it was light and crunchy. There was also fried pieces of banana peppers. They were so good! You dip it all in the aioli, chef's kiss. You get a generous amount of calamari. We couldn't finish it so we boxed the rest of those babies for later.

The whole experience at the Lake House was phenomenal. From the setting to the service, it was all fantastic. This joint is the perfect setting for a date night. I enjoyed every minute sharing a meal with my daughter here. I'm happy my curiosity brought me to this joint. It's definitely one of my top 3 core memories from this trip. I look forward coming back, enjoying another meal and...

First time there and really unimpressed. Seated inside. The host seated us and it was a good 15 minutes until our waitress came to take our order. We ordered our food, 2 cocktails, a soft drink, and ice water. The water tasted horrible like briny and didn't drink it after one sip. We waited for our food...still no cocktails or soft drinks. We were near the kitchen service entrance and a server opened the door and something fell off the tray onto the floor. He backed into the kitchen with our waitress and emerged a few seconds later. I joked that I hoped it wasn't our food that fell off the tray. Well we realized quickly it was ours. Food looked just ok. Still no cocktails or soft drink. Two shrimp dishes and there were tails on the shrimp tacos and shrimp appetizer. These were items that you would normally have the tail off. One piece of shrimp wasn't even deveined. Calamari was ok, but dry. Truffle fries were good. By the way...still no cocktails or soft drink. Finally the waitress passed and realized we didn't have them. She didn't ask how the meal was. Another 15 minutes and one cocktail came out. Another 5-10 and the second came out. Still no soft drink. One cocktail was good, the other was so horrible we didn't drink it. The waitress came by and asked how they were and we were polite, but honest. She brought us the bill and didn't charge for the one cocktail, but did the soft drink we never received. Drinks were too pricey for the size.

Very nice looking restaurant, but the service needs a lot of work as does some of the food prep and presentation. I will say our waitress was nice, but seemed extremely overwhelmed although the place was not crowded.

I give it a 2. Not sure we will try again. Hopefully, they can...

It was our anniversary yesterday. We were looking for a nice restaurant to celebrate. When we arrived at the Lake House we were told there was a 45 minute wait. We looked at a dozen empty tables and ask why the long wait. We were told by the hostess they had some waiter staff not show up to work. We added our name to the wait list and went to look for another restaurant next door to see if they had a long wait. (It was a Monday night.) As we were considering driving to another area because of the long wait, we were surprised to get a text that our table was ready. The supervisor, Kristan, opened up a table and became our waiter. She saw a need and filled it. This shows me a leader that truely understands customer service. Instead of being upset and leaving, we stayed and had a great meal.

Just to be clear. It is great business sense to keep potential customers happy. The supervisor could have stood around and watch us be upset because "It was not her job," or she cound be proactive and make our anniversary special. Kristen made the right decision. I am sure being a waiter for a few minutes did not affect her managerial role.

Oh, by the way, a couple of years ago the same situation happened at the the Copper Top Tavern. We left instead of waiting and I wrote a negative review. Their manager just stood around talking to the supervisor while we waited. How do I know, because I asked. One of those two people could have sat us at a table, handed us a menu and taken our drink order. It is not rocket science! It is just bad business.

Thanks to Kristin for making our anniversary...