Victory East — Restaurant in Austin

Victory East has been on my bucket list for a while. It is a historical place that has been around for a very long time and was part of the chitlin circuit. They have hosted some pretty popular music artists.

My birthday is on Juneteenth and I decided that this is where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner.

I was able to make reservations ahead of time for 5:00 p.m. which was a perfect time to get there as they opened at 5:00 and the tables filled up soon after. The location is near Tony's Jamaican food truck. We were able to find street parking next to the food truck park.

Upon entering the establishment I was impressed by the ambiance. It is a small establishment but it has a very inviting feel to it. I absolutely loved the murals painted on the wall of various music artists. We were greeted by the hostess and seated right away. It seems as if she was working all of the tables in the room but she still was very attentive, offered suggestions and answered questions with a pleasant attitude and demeanor. There was light music playing and the playlist was really good. I appreciated that you can hear the music, but it did not interfere with your table conversations.

On to the food.. eating 4/5

I ordered the jerk chicken platter which comes with either a half a chicken or a whole chicken. I ordered a half. It is served with cocoa bread with a honey butter spread. I wasn't certain if that would be enough for me. So I ordered a side of collard greens. The jerk chicken was seasoned very well. It had a nice spice to it but was not overwhelming. The cocoa bread was delicious with the honey butter spread. The collard greens, although I appreciate it they were cooked with turkey, weren't cooked down enough for me. However, I still enjoyed my meal and would rate it a 4 out of 5.

My son had the same meal as I did except he didn't order a side. He ate all his food. So I'm going to say he would rate it a 5 out of 5.

My husband ordered the lamb chop entree which comes with three lamb chops and two sides. For sides. He ordered collard greens and yams. His opinion of the lamb chops where they were a little chewy and based on the price maybe there should have been five instead of three because we all know lamb chops are pretty small. He enjoyed his yams as well as the collard greens. His overall rating was a 3 out of 5 because of the lamb chops.

Finally my friend ordered the crab cake platter. Which comes with 3 medium size crab cakes. That was enough for her. She said they were delicious and full of crab meat. I did taste them and I will have to agree. Her rating 5/5.

Ambiance: very nice atmosphere for date night or a night out with friends. I did notice that Thursday nights they also have karaoke but we left before that started. Near the bathroom of the restaurant there is an old school phone hanging from the wall and apparently that door leads to a speakeasy type place called Busy Signal. We were able to peek in just to give it a look and that place was absolutely adorable. There was a stage where I assume a band or some type of entertainer performs. It was pretty early so no one was really in that area, but I definitely would come back to give it a go. I'll include one of the photos I took while...

I came here based on great reviews, but my experience was deeply disappointing and disturbing.

Before ordering, I asked the bartender about the catfish. She told me it came as a large piece with an additional smaller piece, and recommended it. I asked specifically about the serving size because the meal was $25, and I wanted to understand what I’d be getting. She assured me the portion was large.

After waiting over 30 minutes, my food arrived in a small to-go bowl with only one small piece of catfish. When I asked the manager about it, she said the portion was that small because it was a to-go order and had to fit in the container and when fried the fish gets smaller. The bartender mentioned if I had dined in, the serving would’ve been larger. That’s unacceptable—whether I dine in or take out, I’m still paying full price and should receive the same portion. Not to mention no cutlery.

Meanwhile, my friend waited 40 minutes for just an appetizer and a side of mac and cheese. At that point, I calmly asked for a refund for my meal only, due to the misleading information and long wait. My friend never asked for a refund—our orders were separate.

What happened next was uncalled for: The manager, a middle-aged African-American woman with braids working Saturday night, walked over and snatched my friend’s food off the bar in front of everyone before even confirming anything. My friend was stunned. Guests sitting nearby looked shocked—we all locked eyes in disbelief.

When I asked the manager, “What is with the attitude?” she says "I heard you had an attitude with my staff.” That was simply not true. I had asked a polite question about the food portion and made a comment about the wait. That’s normal for any paying customer.

This restaurant clearly lacks basic customer service standards. The manager escalated the situation, made assumptions, and showed absolutely no professionalism. My issue was never personal—it was about being misled, overcharged, poor customer service, and then witnessing my friend’s food taken without reason.

To ownership: If this is how your management handles guests, especially when there’s a clear opportunity to resolve concerns respectfully, you are going to continue losing business. I will be filing a complaint with the BBB, and I hope you take this...

TLDR; They were out of most things we tried to order, including several drinks. They served tables who got there after we ordered before us, apps and everything (we ordered the same thing). Items were missing from our order and we saw things we were told were unavailable served to othwr tables after the fact. We were ignored and basically felt like a nuisance. We were so disappointed to be treated the way we were. Food 6/10

We made a reservation for 8:30 and when we arrive at the restaurant and there is no host stand so we wait to be approached to be seated. The space is small and we didn’t want to be in the way, but no one had come up to us or acknowledged us. We ask a waitress if we’re in the right spot and she says yes, but nothing more. After a few minutes someone comes up to us and checks their device for our reservation and we get seated.

When the waitress comes to take our drink order she lets us know our they are out of the first drinks we ask for. Then the second ones, so we ask for recommendations and go from there. We asked for wings and she let us know they were also out, so we ordered the cornbread.

Another table of two gets seated about 45 mins after we arrive and then a table of 6 follows right after. When we ordered they also let us know they were out of 2 sides we ordered, so we switxhed to different ones. We ordered our food when they were seated and BOTH parties got food before we did - the table of 2 got their cornbread before we do (we also didn’t get the toppings). We look over and see that the larger party has wings (which they were out of). They had said they ran out if everything we ordered earlier due to an event.

By the time we get our food we’ve been there for over an hour and we’re a bit confused as to why we were being treated that way. One entree was missing a side and we asked if it could be removed from the check after we ate since it never arrived. The table of 2 finished their entire experience at the restaurant before we did and they ordered the same thing we did..

Not sure if we offened them in some way but the way we were treated was unfortunate. We were so excited to visit the restaurant after we moved to the area because of its history, but this was such a let down. We were ignored and moved aside for other tables for...