The Whiskey Jar — Restaurant in Charlottesville

My wife, daughter, and I were in town to tour the University of Virginia. We got into town a day ahead of time to see a little bit more of what Charlottesville had to offer. While staying at the Omni Hotel we decided to spend the late afternoon and early evening strolling along East Main Street in the Downtown Mall area.

Being the foodie that I am, I had scoped out some potential restaurants ahead of time and had my heart set on one: The Whiskey Jar. Located conveniently close to our hotel, their website looked amazing. Locally sourced bourbons, whiskeys, beers, ciders, proteins, and vegetables. All with proper credit to the proprietor. Needless to say, I was excited. On top of that, the weather was gorgeous, so taking advantage of their outdoor seating was going to be a must. Upon arrival, there was already a customer seated outside enjoying a nice big cigar. No big deal but with my wife and daughter’s sensitivity to smoke, we opted for inside seating next to the large open window, where the smoke was not an issue. We were greeted and told to pick a table of our choice. Upon first impressions of the outside, the inside was not what I expected based on the pictures that I had seen before arrival. Instead of what appeared to be a polished restaurant and pub was a less-than-polished common college bar.

We perused the menu and it was as I had seen on the website. So we proceeded with ordering drinks, some appetizers, and food. The drinks were sufficient. The BBQ Nachos and Hush puppies with Garlic Cheese Biscuits were good, although when we asked for some sour cream we were told they didn’t have any. I thought it was odd that a place that had nachos on the menu didn’t have any sour cream.

In an appropriate amount of time after we had finished our appetizers, our entrees arrived. The three of us split the Crunch Burger and Smokehouse Burger. Both were okay, although the pickles on the Crunch Burger were still too much on the crunch side of being a pickle, making them taste more like cucumbers. The fries were out of the bag but with sufficient salt which is half the battle when it comes to fries in my humble opinion.

Now comes the part that I couldn’t believe. I understand there being limited hours in any given day and that time is the only resource we can’t get back or make more of. But when a person (whom I assume is a front-of-house manager) brought out a ladder, a cordless drill, a set of screw bits, and a box of screws, to hang a banner for the upcoming St. Partick’s Day Holiday, I was flabbergasted. I mean…come in early or stay late after closing to hang the banner. Don’t interrupt your customers’ dining experience to hang it.

I had been looking forward to dessert - I had my heart set on either bourbon bread pudding or the bourbon apple pie cobbler. I was all for pushing through and getting to that point in the meal, thinking that could be the redeeming factor. Nope, nope, nope, not once my wife saw the man on the ladder’s belly button. That was it. Check, please! We were done.

If you have stayed with me this long, the moral of the story is: this was a short-term marketing win, but a long-term customer loss. Great website, great concept, okay execution, and mediocre final service. I should have trusted my gut at the first step, but I had been seduced by the marketing and...

I really wanted to like this place. They frequently have live music and have a great vibe for drinks and music. A lot if my friends love this place so I was excited to finally try it.

My experience has me never wanting to go back. I arrived with a party of 6 before the dinner rush. They had initially sat us in a tight space on the right side of the restaurant, but then offered us a larger table on the left side. We started off with a round of drinks. I asked our waitress what she would recommend and inquired about a specialty mule they had since my friend likes them. I told her mules tend to be too sweet for me, and if theirs was the same. She said it wasn’t. I ordered it. It ended up being fairly sweet, but not a person that sends things back. I later asked for some limes. I figured it could help cut the sweetness.

In a group of 6, I had initially ordered an appetizer to share when the rest of my party ordered their entrees. I was unsure what I wanted, so I asked for a couple minutes. She returned a couple minutes later, and I ordered my sandwich.

The wings came out with everyone else’s entrees. I asked for some small plates for the wings. We later ordered another round of drinks. About 30 minutes later, I asked about my sandwich. The rest of my table had finished their food at this point. She assured me it would be back out in a couple seconds and that it’s my fault I ordered it late, but “did you not get your wings?”

10 minutes later, still nothing. By this point, I had seen her talk to a guy at the host stand. I assumed he was was the manager. Her body language was expressive and it looked like she griping about something, looking over at our table. After that, they avoided our table even though we were near the kitchen with the exception of her quietly dropping the sandwich off in front of me when it was finally done. I was so baffled by the lack of customer service that I lost my appetite and couldn’t touch it.

This was by far the worst customer service I had ever had. Not sure if I just caught her on a bad day or if it was me asking for limes? Small plates? I wasn’t rude when I asked for them and thanked when she brought them. Never even complained, even about the drink. Her attitude isn’t appropriate for her field. I think the biggest disappointment is the the manager’s response and how he handled...

I reviewed this place 7 months ago and it hasn't changed after giving it another try recently.

This is the second visit in 7 days, and neither of them was mind-blowing. I had not planned on reviewing this spot since it is a local favorite. After the experience tonight I wanted to put my two cents in.

To begin, the drinks are great, as is the environment. There was a local group playing some music tonight, which I have heard before, and they are entertaining. No issues there. It was nice to see the folks dancing and having a good time. The drink selection is great too. I am writing this based on several visits and not a single visit.

The not-so-great. These last two times I have received glassware that was chipped and broken. Not a huge deal to some and I've been in food service before. I know first hand how this can become a big deal to some folks. I was honestly perturbed by the fact that it happened twice in a row. Sounds dumb, but I was not inspecting my glassware thoroughly when it was brought in; I did not notice that it was broken until I was already drinking from the glass. The first time I brought it up, the young man was very apologetic. This second time, the waiter (a different person) was sort of nonchalant and uncaring.

The food is mediocre and salty. I had a burger the first time that was made incorrectly. I notified the young man, who was apologetic but never came back with the condiments I requested. He didn't come back for a good 40 minutes, to be honest and I had decided to just eat my burger and go home by that time. This time I had the fried chicken. I won't make that mistake again hahaha. There was a breast and two other pieces which were unrecognizable because they were burnt and dried up. The breast was moist inside but the breading, potatoes, and gravy were all extremely salty.

I enjoyed my drink so I will just stay away from the food next time. Overall, my impression is that the location and live music is what makes the place great. definitely not the food nor the service. I want to say it was a one-off, but through the 3 or 4 past experiences, the service was never...