Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Chantilly

==== Jun 2024 ==== Frozen TV dinners (before and after pictures for fried chicken and BBQ meatloaf).

This update is a review only about frozen TV dinners. I never thought it would come to this but the frozen TV dinners are a geniuse offering. At $10 per and 2-3 times the size of a regular Hungry-Man's TV dinner, these are a fabulous option for weekly dinners. While not diet-friendly [which means it is delicious!], the full aluminum packaging, date of creation, and the reduction in food waste from all the leftover ingredients are practices I wish so many other restaurants follows. So happy about the frozen TV dinners.

Original review Feb 2020 ==== Pics are from soft opening in late Feb 2020 at Lazy Dog. This is not a final rating because I think I will need to eat at Lazy Dog again to see if ratings should go up or down. For now, it's 4-star for benefit of the doubt but it would have been 3-stars. So good and bad described below.

THE BAD === the decor and seating is nice but it is ABSOLUTELY DEAFENING and we got a headache at the end and pretty much had a hard time eating towards the end. We sat in the middle of the restaurant but my co-workers sat near the window on another day and we all agree. The wood decor is ok but they are trying too hard to make it feel like you are dining in Wyoming (yet, this is a So. Cal. concept based establishment); I didn't come to pay for this if I'm hungry. So it'll be hard to tell how or if they can decrease the noise pollution. I would ONLY eat in the large spacious patio with fireplace if they cannot reduce the noise.

GOOD and BAD about the food === The two memorable things were the Bison burger and squid appetizer. Generous portions of squid in appetizer [GOOD] but drizzled with what tastes like some nasty corn-syrup laden sauce [BAD] that burns your taste buds when eating too much of it. Bison burger cooked pink-perfect to order [GOOD] but it doesn't taste gourmet beefy/gamy or maybe my taste buds got burned from the crazy sweet or salt-laden sauces in the other dishes we ordered [BAD]. Bison meatloaf comes in generous portion [good] but can't tell if it's Bison or beef [BAD]. To be honest, the best part of meatloaf is the fresh, not frozen, veggies [GOOD]. The fried sweet potato tots comes with 50% crumpled paper [BAD] as filling to make it look like a big appetizer (see pic). Overall though, the beer flight tasted pretty good and stands out from all the local craft taste profile [GOOD]. Staff was really nice since it was soft opening but it was weird how we had "other staff" try to pick up our credit card to pay [GOOD & BAD??] and we only wanted our assigned waitress to pick it up.

Overall, it's kinda, sorta, slightly different from its competitors like Sweetwater, Dogfish Head Alehouse, Ford's Fish Shack. The food fare was simply Americanized craft with claims to its own beer brews. Will need to try again to see how they fine-tune the food and noise-levels after soft opening. One thing is for sure, there was a lot of salt ..... as usual for chains like this as we gulped down glasses of...

I'm going to start off with service because when something feels amiss right off the bat, you immediately lower your expectations for the rest of the meal. I had reservations on a Monday for a party of 8. I also made it known it was 7 adults and 1 child. I made it a week in advance with no problems and came to the day, I was met with an ill-prepared front house team.

We arrived promptly at 6 with much of the restaurant empty because again, it's a Monday. The host asked high top or low top and we said high top and were about to be seated when the hostess stopped midway as if contemplating the seating arrangement. There were more than enough tables with the booth seats. She literally stood there for 5 minutes and at one point, I told her even low tables are fine. Anywhere. Just give us a table. She has to converse with another hostess and then the manager came and I even told the manager, doesn't matter where we sit. Finally, they decided to give us the low tables and set our party aside while handful of customers behind us got seated. The hostess who has to arrange the tables worked at a snails pace in moving tables and setting down the rolled napkins and menus. The place setting should not have taken as long as she did. She also did not include a kids menu or a plate for the child.

I was greatly disappointed in the level of service at lazy dog as it seems the front end lives us to the restaurant name. As a person who made proper notice well ahead of time, the restaurant front house lacks the service in preparing for such a party and doesn't take notice to the small details.

Our food was met with lackluster response. The menu listing at lazy dog is substantial, comparable to the extensive list at cheesecake factory, but at least cheesecake factory excels in the flavor of many of their meals. Everything here just didn't have a wow factor. The deviled eggs were bland. The sauce for the ahi tuna bowl was nothing outstanding. It would've faired better if the tuna wasn't seared on the outside and left raw. The chili crunch lacked punch. It was all a bit dull and one-noted.

But where the front house and food was missing a key element, the wait staff were wonderful, kind, and attentive. They responded quickly to questions and recommendations. They got the plate quickly that was missing for my daughter.

Overall, while not the worst, it is definitely not the best and not good enough to return to again mainly due to how much the front house left such a sour taste...

This was my wife and I’s first visit to Lazy Dog, and I’m extremely happy we did! FYI, this is a from scratch kitchen, so they are extremely flexible on their menu dishes!

First, the location is in the Wegmans shopping area with several places to eat and choose from. The parking lot is open with plenty of space. They did have a covered outside area, although it was a bit breezy and chilly so we opted inside at the bar area. The hostesses were friendly and attentive.

We were quickly greeted by our server, Troy. Right away we were happy to have him as our server! He was incredibly positive, upbeat, and extremely helpful. This guy knows his Lazy Dog stuff! Being our first time, he recommended several drinks, one of which was the pineapple mojito, which I had, and it was amazing! My wife had the Mango Chile Margarita, which was also delicious and had a good mix of mango with a chile lined rim that complimented the drink. Both were fantastic, very well done, had great flavor, weren’t overloaded with ice, and the right balance.

For food, we also asked for recommendations. He immediately went to the Pot Roast French Dip, which I ordered. Even while I was ordering another server said it was a great choice. My wife was feeling a hamburger and saw they did Hatch Green Chile on the Baja California burger, which is what she ordered. Again, Troy was spot on with his recommendation. The pot roast dip was DELICOUS, the roast was tender and juicy, the cheese was gooey, the bread had the perfect crisp but soft on the inside, and the au jus complimented the entire sandwich. My wife REALLY enjoyed the flavor of the hamburger, the seasoning they put on there made it taste incredible! I highly recommend the Cajun fries (nice crisp to the outside), although the onion rings in my opinion were just OK…

Overall, this place is on point and I highly recommend it! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, the drinks, and the food. The service Troy provided absolutely made our visit! I spoke with the Manager Josh, and even he was very polite and friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in my input and ensuring we had a positive experience, and cares about his employees. If you’re in the area, it’s worth the stop and ask for Troy!

Also, they appear to be doing well with the social distancing and safety with COVID, no concerns or issues...