Whiskey & Water - Seafood and Bourbon Bar — Restaurant in Blue Ridge

We have been to this restaurant in the past, these time I had my family with me for a party of 6, the first issue we had was the hostess probably new to the position, there were a few tables open in the front and there was a table for six, but she said I'm sorry but there was nothing available, but the wait staff gave her suggestions of how to accommodate us, but that made her more confused, and one of the wait staff asked the manager to help her out, and we were sited on the table for 6. The waiter and his assistant appeared promptly to our table and informed us that today was the first day for the new menu. We browsed the menu and ordered the Crispy Pork Belly and the Crab Dip, both had a nice presentation and tasted very good. The waiter proceeded to take our dinner order and from this point on, was not a pleasant experience, after 1 hour our food made an appearance in shifts, and another waiter tried to deliver to us the wrong order. Braised Pork Shank, presentation beautiful on the plate, but instead of a hot steamy shanks like other tables our was warm. It was not bad tasting and after long wait did not to send back. Rock Fish Curry, Goan style coconut curry, with basmati rice, no taste of coconut, as we are fans of Thai curry, maybe they misspelled Goan and should have been coconut gone missing, the rice had some field peas in it, but sure did not have the consistency of basmati, Naan was very salty, we could scrape of the bread and used for the meal as needed, they do not provide salt or pepper for the table, by request only. We had 2 orders of Cioppino very nice presentation, broth was very good, they had a small appetizer fork stuck in a chunk of hard bread that comes with the meal for presentation, but the bread was so hard it would not absorb the broth, also no shell discard container was provided, the fish was over cooked, every thing else was very tasty. I was the lucky one that was not provided with a soup spoon for the broth, when I asked another waiter if the dish comes with a spoon, she said it did, I had to ask her if she could bring one, and she gave me a teaspoon and left in a hurry, I had to ask my waiter that finally came to the table with the correct spoon. Teriyaki Sword Fish, I normally stay away from sword fish because is difficult to cook, most of them are dry, but my daughter did not think that they could produce a dry fish, but she ate most it, the teriyaki covered the dryness. My grandson had charred octopus (spelled ocotpus) that he liked specially the charred section, but the potatoes that came with it Russet cut in quarters, did not look very appetizing. We planned on spending about 1 hour + for the dinner we ended with 2+ hours. Waiter shows up to see if we had room for dessert, we just wanted to leave the premises and asked for our check. Normally I like to compensate for good service, but at this restaurant party of 6 they add 20% tip. The other item on my bill a place to add additional tip. It was our last night in Blue Ridge and wanted to leave with a positive note, this restaurant was our worst experience for the week in town. I understand it is a new menu, that is why a staff practices internally instead on...

Have you ever watched the show “The Bear” and wondered what it looks like from the customer’s point of view?

To be fair, we went on a holiday weekend, which is always going to be tough in a vacation town. The waitress warned us that the kitchen was backed up and advised us to put in our order early, which we did.

Apps came out. Drinks came out. The chowder was good.

And then we sat, and sat, and sat.

After about an hour and a half, we asked about our food. The waitress said she would check. We stayed patient. We had been warned. But we had an evening planned with our friends and didn’t want to spend all of it sitting in a restaurant.

Soon after this, there was a huge CRASH from the kitchen. Not the sound of someone dropping a dish. The sound of someone losing their temper and sweeping dozens of dishes onto the floor.

The waitresses huddled together at the back of the room, whispering to each other. Not a good sign.

Our waitress came back and asked if we wanted to order more drinks. This was the only thing I faulted her for. By this point, they should have offered us a free drink or a small plate or something to keep people happy. The tables around us were also upset. The front of the house could have tried a bit harder, but they were probably screwed by the kitchen no matter what.

After waiting even longer, we again asked for an update. The waitress went away to check, then reported that it would be 20 more minutes. At this point, we were approaching the two-hour mark. We said no and asked for the manager.

The manager wasn’t apologetic or nice when we said the wait was unacceptable. She told us that every table was waiting for their food, which is not an excuse; it’s an admission that you have failed at the basic concept of being a restaurant, which is to give people food in exchange for money.

She comped our appetizers but not any drinks. We paid and we left, still hungry.

Too bad. The chowder was good. I wanted to...

I think this is the first time I have ever posted a negative review. We were really looking forward to dining here, especially with all of the positive reviews.

Our first disappointment was how long it took to get our food. We waited over an hour to receive our appetizer and it was almost inedible when it did arrive. The mussels in the Clam & Mussel Steamer Pot were overcooked, fishy, and tasted as though they were previously frozen. It was prepared so poorly we were honestly surprised that they felt comfortable serving this dish to patrons.

Our waitress apologized and explained they were short staffed in the kitchen.

We then waited an additional 30 min for our entrees. My husband ordered the cioppino. This dish was supposed to come with shrimp, calamari, mahi, scallops and clams. When the dish was served it only had calamari and clams... And more of the terrible mussels were added. We inquired about the missing mahi, shrimp and scallops. Our waitress apologized again. This dish was more like an appetizer than an entree and again all of the seafood was severely overcooked... chewy and fishy. I ordered the black miso cod. It was ok. The cod itself seemed like it was thrown under a broiler prior to serving which slightly burned the glaze on the top of the fish. The bok choy was also overcooked and looked extremely wilted. I did enjoy the cocktail Thats So Me... But it would have been nice if it was served with a fatter straw since it had boba in it which were impossible to drink with a narrow straw.

Our waitress was incredibly kind and apologetic. She was extremely busy so we did go long periods without seeing her or her checking in with us to provide updates.

And we were not charged for the appetizer and the cioppino... And we appreciate that. But it was not the experience we had hoped to have and would be reluctant to ever return.

I think the kitchen would benefit from some...