Village Grill — Restaurant in Burlington

My husband and I have lunch at Village Grill every Sunday. We get there right around 11:00 because it can get very busy and very hectic the closer you get to 12:00. They do have a rule that people will not be seated until their entire party arrives. My husband has worked in the restaurant business for 20+ years in Alamance county for a small business owner and we really appreciate this rule. The reason why is someone comes in and is seated quickly without their entire party. They hold the table for 20-30 minutes for everyone else to get there. In that 20-30 minute time frame they could have seated a party in it’s entirety ordered their drinks and food. In some cases had their food delivered to the table (if you’re like me and my husband and know exactly what they want). This allows them to get everyone a great meal in a timely fashion. I also commend the Village Grill for not making exceptions to this rule. At least 2-3 times a month they will have customers that gets upset about the rule and management always stand firm to it. I feel like this should become a common practice in all restaurants. What I realize is that everyone can get in and out in a reasonable amount of time if tables are not held waiting on the entire party to show up. It’s not fair that another party that is there and having to wait because a partial party is holding up a table waiting on everyone to arrive. Some may say that they come in and the restaurant is not busy. I have seen the Village Grill go from not busy to extremely busy in a blink. So using the volume of people in the restaurant as an excuse of why someone should be seated without their entire party is not a good enough excuse. There have been times when my husband dropped me off at the door and went to park the car. They did not seat me. I was okay with it I didn’t argue or make a big deal about it. Bottom line if you want to have a great meal with great service go to the Village Grill. But remember to be prepared and have everyone get there at the same time. If you have to wait on someone they do have a nice seating area to wait and be comfortable. Also understand that’s how they have such great service and a wonderful wait staff. Anytime you have a server that has a partial party seated and is waiting on others it hurts their bottom line. We have gotten to know many of the servers there and they are good people and I certainly would not want to take money out of their pockets. Thank you Village Grill for some many years of great meals and wonderful experiences. I look forward to many...

Let’s chat about the Village Grill from a local (25 years around Alamance County).

The decor is definitely from the 80’s. I call it paradise. The 1980’s was the last time some of my generation were genuinely happy, when we were kids. Times weren’t simpler, but we sure were. So please, Village Grill, don’t ever change that 1989 Miami Vice Key West decor. Our family loves it.

Get the bread and whipped butter. It’s just so comforting. Get another basket if you have a large group.

I love the fact they don’t have everything with chili peppers, like every place else does. If I want spicy, I will go to a restaurant that traditionally has lots of chili peppers in their cuisine. They do have wasabi, ginger, horseradish and hot sauce, so if you need pain with dinner to enhance the flavor, Village can accommodate.

Their classic dish is the Key West Chicken, with honey mustard on the side, and get the twice baked potato dish as your side. It’s classic Village Grill.

Get the strawberry shortcake for dessert. No, it is not traditional shortbread. Don’t complain, it’s good. It’s a sugar vanilla pineapple cake with masses of whipped cream and sugared strawberries. They do sell out of the shortcake frequently, so I would order it early on in your meal.

The slow service is part of Village Grill since the dawn of time. Village Grill is not for the overcaffeinated, anxious masses who need to be in and out of dinner in 45 minutes. You’re going to be here 2 hours at least. If you don’t enjoy or don’t want to focus on the company you’re with, you might need to consider somewhere fast casual, with lots of distractions. Village Grill is a place for leisurely meals and good conversation.

(I’m surprised how people understand how Jamaican restaurants make food fresh, and therefore take forever to serve you. The same folks will praise French restaurants for the leisurely dinner, but complain about how slow Village’s service is.)

I love Village Grill’s commitment to hiring diversely, the leisurely pace of dinner, and the Miami Vice decor. Great place to bring a family for dinner or a business partner for lunch.

PS: Village Grill used to have the lobby waiting seats, but now they have a DoorDash food carousel because restaurants are forced to change with the times to remain open. Diners decide to order on DoorDash instead of coming in. That’s not the restaurant’s fault. I guarantee if you really are hurting while standing, and ask for a chair to be brought to your location, they would do it. There's also a bar where you can sit...

As both my son and myself were off today, my son treated me to lunch. He said we were going to try The Village Grill. Always been wanting to try this spot, so today we did. Not the experience I was expecting. The 1st problem was our silverware linen had hair on it (pic). Once our waitress came to our table ( no name introduction) I brought the issue to her attention. She gave me a look that could turn you into stone. She left the table and returned 13 minutes later and dropped replacement linen napkins on the table ( pic). Not folded, no apology, just here. At this point, I should’ve excused ourselves and left the establishment; however, we stayed. I really wanted to try their food. The appetizer (crab dip w/pita bread was awesome! My son and I both ordered the shrimp and Grits which arrived in a decent time. Too bad the entrée was way too spicy with little to no flavor. When our waitress finally returned to check on us I informed her that the food was too spicy and I wouldn’t be able to eat it. Immediately attitude was given by her saying “ well what do you want to do”? I just looked at her as I held my composure , I said please comp the check. Seconds later, a man came to our table apologizing. He said sometimes the cook can get a little heavy on the spice and not to worry it will be comped from our bill. As I thanked him, I inquired about the waitress name. He told me her name was Shelly. Well thank you Mr. For sharing her name because Ms. Shelly failed to do so. The entire service Shelly provided was horrible. I’m glad I got to experience just what kind of service is provided at the village grill. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll go back. One encounter with Shelly was...