Vaso's Mediterranean Bistro — Restaurant in Alexandria

During our Alexandria visit, we wanted to stop by Vaso's for a date night. Made a reservation knowing how busy the weekends get. After arriving, we noticed how packed it was. There wasn't even a place to stand inside to wait. Other people kept coming in saying they also had reservations so we all had to awkwardly stand shoulder-to-shoulder next to tables that were seated. We stayed because we thought most people were done with their food and were about to leave. (Looking back, it was probably people who were waiting on their food as well) We then were told to sit up stairs at the bar. A nice, very sweet waitress, made us a cocktail while we waited. After a while, we were seated at a table next to the bar. About 15 min passed after being seated, we had to stop someone to ask for waters and he took our order. Then another big group of people came and they were all crowded around the bar next to us waiting for a table to open up. People around the bar were so crowded that my boyfriend, who is seated, had to move a few times so he was out of their way. We tried moving our whole table so we weren't so close to them. Another 40 min passed, we assumed they may be backed up in the kitchen. At this point, it's been over 2 hours since we got there for our reservation. Didn't have any water refills, we asked about the appetizers but all they said was it'll be 5 min. 15 minutes goes by... we still had no water, no bread was given to us just to curb our hunger and everyone else in the restaurant is waiting on their food as well. The owner sounded very agitated with his wait staff, but I could tell they were doing their best to keep up. It was painful to watch how everyone seemed so stressed out. The problem was, there was too many people. Vaso's should have a CAPACITY in their restaurant, especially with how things are with this pandemic. Plus, they should have communicated that they are backed up from the start. It could of saved us the 3 hours wasted having such a terrible restaurant experience. We couldn't wait much longer, we had other obligations to take care of that we even voiced out to our waiter. We ended up leaving. We couldn't even find another place to eat because it was so late and everything else was closing for the night. Would not recommend coming to place knowing that it is super busy. The structure of the wait is not good at all. Maybe try it on...

Was really looking forward to our dinner at Vaso’s. With great reviews and dear friends with us, all four of us were excited. However, I’m sorry to say that it was not good. Vaso’s has an upstairs and a downstairs. Our table was upstairs where, upon our 6:00 arrival, there were maybe half the tables occupied. Our very nice waiter checked in and gave us a minute to make decisions. When he returned, we gave him our drink orders and were somewhat surprised that it took perhaps 15 minutes for those to arrive. At that time – about 6:30 - we also put in our food orders. A couple was seated next to us and were soon enjoying appetizers. We wished we had ordered some as our wait for food stretched out to 15-20 minutes. Then the neighboring couple’s food order arrived. Still nothing for us. We made an inquiry and were told by our waiter that there was some kind of problem with the back-and-forth on the computer or something. At about 7:15 the couple next to us got their check and left, the gentleman not especially complimentary about his food. We continued to wait. On my wife’s trip to the bathroom (there was only one for the upstairs and downstairs and a sizable wait), she told the manager of our situation. He promised free dessert. Finally, about an hour or more after we ordered, our food showed up. It was … fine… nothing special. My wife's Vaso's Shrimp came with just four shrimp in (and none of the promised artichokes). We made another drink order which was 15 minutes in delivery. The wait for the dessert was also 15 minutes or more. I’m not quite sure how “comping” customers for an outrageously long wait for their food with a dessert which necessitated further waiting was the proper solution. But thus was our experience with Vaso’s. We...

We celebrated my friends’s 40th birthday, and while the food we received was excellent the service and management are off the mark. We had a new waitress, which we were patient and understanding when our appetizer of a caprese salad never appeared, and our drinks and water sat empty. I ordered the branzino and requested it be filet, and when it came to the table, it was not. The waiter delivering realized the mistake and brought it back to the kitchen. The fish did not reappear for over 15 minutes, at which time my dining partner was mostly done her meal. I flagged the waiter down to let them know to please not bother bringing it. The owner stopped by the table to blame the situation on the waitress, which was unfair to her. As management, he should have just apologized, taken the item off the bill, and not blamed his new teammate. He also blamed a new kitchen and how he had instructed the staff not to offer filler branzino or oysters. He kept going and proceeded to mansplain the reasons why the kitchen could not fillet a branzino when it was busy; however, when I mentioned that filleting does not take 15 minutes, he became rude and raised his voice. Apparently pointing out poor management, leadership and facts is “condescending.” Several other tables noticed his raised voice and after he stormed off asked if everything was okay. Management and ownership are clearly lacking and do not understand customer service or proper staffing for a...