Vola’s Dockside Grill and Hi-Tide Lounge — Restaurant in Alexandria

Food/Drinks: Decent, but not exceptional. We got oysters that were pretty good and fresh. I got the fish tacos and my friend got a salad and soup. They put the same salsa on both my fish tacos and her salad. She and the lady at the table next to us commented that they thought the salsa had a bit too much spice, or more than expected for a salad. I found the spice level appropriate for the tacos. The fish was fried, not grilled, which surprised me, but it was tasty. I got it with the cilantro rice, which was basic, but good. We each got one of their speciality drinks, which are made with house made syrup. They were good, but not $10 good.

Location/ambience: It is located right near the water and has a lot of outdoor seating. It was too hot for us to sit outside, so we went indoors. Inside was clean and well-decorated. The bulk of the interior was a bar with rows of tables on the other side. Restrooms are individual unisex bathrooms and were pretty clean.

Service: Service was a mixed bag. Our waitress was nice, but had trouble giving us drink recommendations. She gave us a nice spiel about the history of the restaurant and who it was named after. She made a point of letting us know they are very dog friendly and even have a dog menu. The guy who brought out the oysters was really good - he named all of them for us and gave us the order slip to help us know what was what. The hostesses were lacking. On yelp this place is marked as “kid-friendly.” My friend and I came in with our kids who were in strollers and asleep. As I was coming in, a hostess walked past me and into the restaurant, letting the door close quickly in my face. I was hoping she’d hold it as I was pushing a stroller... and a customer. A guy (I think the bartender) opened it for me. The other hostess then gave us some grief about the strollers and how they aren’t allowed in the restaurant. It was after 1:00 PM and not busy at all. I explained that my son was asleep and I didn’t want to wake him up from his nap (pretty sure everyone in the restaurant would prefer that as well). She eventually conceded that we could push my stroller up against the table, but that my friend could put her car seat in one of their car seat slings and park the stroller at the front. She set up the sling and my friend (who had never seen one of these slings) asked if it needed to be strapped together (there were straps left dangling). The hostess reassured her that she wouldn’t “drop your baby.” It should be noted that the sling took up as much room as the stroller would have, and I’m not convinced the hostess knew how it worked. It was just much too much work for a quiet afternoon lunch. At the end of the day, I think they just need to decide if they are kid-friendly or not and commit to it the way they have committed to being...

I really wanted to rate this higher, but the service was really terrible. Even with patience and grace given to the server on a busy night. It took 30 mins for even lemonade and Coke to come out to the table, as the bar makes and pours everything apparently.

It's an interesting layout. There are outdoor patio tables, the main restaurant inside, and two separate glass and closed private rooms across the corridor/breezeway separate from the main restaurant.

We were a party of 11, and we booked our reservation 10 days in advance. They had one server working the whole table. She seemed nice on our side of the table, but the two other groups in our party both said how bristly, curt, and negative in attitude she was and not bc she seemed frazzled or overworked. I found it interesting that our foursome didn't receive that negativity. Maybe she took kindly upon our two boys with autism. Who knows!

For a cocktail, I ordered the spicy pineapple margarita. I ordered it with salt on the rim, and it arrived without salt. Given that it took 30 minutes to receive, I decided to just deal with the unsalted variety. It is a frozen drink, but it tasted decent. An appetizer, I ordered the oysters Rockefeller. That really wasn't anything to write home about. This place is supposed to be known for their oysters, and they really were so so in this particular appetizer. For a $20 appetizer, I was expecting better quantity and quality.

I ordered the pan seared rockfish (see photo) and it tasted fresh. The garnish/sides could have been fresher and less mushy, but the fish was good. My husband ordered the New York strip steak, and he asked what "esquites" where in the many description, and he was told it was peppercorn. It was actually Mexican corn as a side dish, which he was disappointed by. He said the steak was ok, but this is a restaurant known for its seafood, so I'm not sure what he expected there.

It took two hours for us to finish our meal, and it was not because we were lingering and having a great discussion. In fact, it was so loud that I had to read lips and resort to a pseudo-ASL to even exchange a few words with the person across from me. Again, not the best environment for two kids with autism but at least nobody was disturbed if they made any noise! After such super slow service with an attitude, we decided to skip dessert and head elsewhere for a post-dinner treat.

Prices were steep as you would expect for waterfront dining. Except the only waterfront we saw was upon entering and exiting the restaurant. The secondary room we were seated in had of view of only the pedestrian breezeway.

We've had better meals at two of the adjacent restaurants right there on the waterfront. I don't think we will make a...

Normally I am very apprehensive about going to places that seem like they might be too touristy for my taste. Admittedly, this was the case for Vola's and I was very happy to be proven wrong. My girlfriend and I went on a Saturday night and the place was absolutely packed.

It took a little bit for our server to get to us, which was initially frustrating, but the way our server handled it tuned into a positive and I really wanted to mention that. Our server, Ranfis, was an absolute professional. We had a 7:30 PM reservation, rush hour for restaurants. It took a little time to get to us and when he came over, he acknowledged that and apologized, which he didn't need to do. However, he immediately recognized that we had been waiting a few minutes, let us know he knew that, and sought to rectify it. And that set the tempo his service: helpful; kind; and attentive. As someone who works in the service industry, I really want to make sure its known that Ranfis was amazing and the way he approached us managed to turn a possibly negative situation into a positive one. He explained the menu and everything perfectly and after a minute of talking with him, I could not have cared less about waiting a few minutes.

And his suggestions were on point, especially guiding my girlfriend towards the Creole Shrimp and Grits. The food all around was very good. I was very impressed with the hush puppies and crab dip. Both had a ton of flavor. And the jalapeno cheddar bread that came with the dip was amazing. Ranfis sent some more out without us even having to ask and encouraged us to try it with the Shrimp and Grits. I was ready to fall asleep at the table with the itis.

The portions were a generous size and when we asked for it to go, Ranfis brought us more bread to finish the Gris with at home. Once again, without us asking. This was a really pleasant surprise. Also, as a history nerd, I wanted to just walk around and examine all the photos on the walls.

This is an obnoxiously long review, but I felt it was necessary because I was so wrong in being judgemental and I need it to be known why I was wrong (all the great stuff Vola's did above). Also because Ranfis was amazing and his approach with us was exactly the way I try to teach my own servers how to...