Neat Bird Chicken & Whiskey — Restaurant in Chesapeake

I am finally writing this review after several trips to Neat Bird Chicken & Whiskey.

Neat Bird is located in Chesapeake's new Summit Point urban lifestyle community. It's nestled among trendy coffee shops, breweries, and fine dining. The sign outside is warm, fun, and inviting.

Upon entering you find yourself in a foyer with a reception desk straight ahead and a rooster sitting on the cabinet behind it. Don't miss the golden horse head off to the right. Typically, in all the times I have been, there is no one here to greet you. This is ok. There is usually a sign that directs you to the bar for service. Upon entering the main dining area that leads to the bar, you encounter vibrant and flashy decor with lots of color pop including lime green booth seats, a large rooster mural, and a trio of mirrors with a vibrantly colored artwork of a woman enjoying a beverage and a chicken wing. The bar looks nice but doesn't wow. There is also an outdoor seating area.

Service here is great. While the bartender attended to his bar guests, he also gave his full attention to my party in the main dining area. There were 4 adults and 3 kids in our party. A lot of chaos to manage and we really gave it our all. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the menu. He had answers to all of our questions for every menu item. Drink orders came quick and food orders were timely. He played nice with our 3 kids and accommodated all their many questions.

We first ordered a round of craft cocktails. We went with the Scientific Chocolate Martini (a favorite of ours) and the Kentucky Jelly which lacked the taste of the grape jelly syrup that was used. I then went with the Nippon Club with Japanese whisky, px sherry, amaro, and lemon. This was my favorite drink of the night. Strong, but able to taste all of the different ingredients that meshed very well together.

At one point I thought we were going to order everything on the menu. For starters, we ordered deviled eggs, chicken fried cheese curds, hush puppies, and pork belly burnt ends. The deviled eggs and fried cheese curds were nothing extraordinary and fairly basic. The hush puppies, although just hush puppies, were very rich and tasty. The pork belly burnt ends have a unique Asian flare and taste to them. Tender and very good.

For entrees, some sandwiches were ordered, though I can't remember which ones. Mostly, we shared pounds o' nugs and fries. The sous vide method used to cook the nugs makes them very tender which makes for a unique experience between the texture of the crispy batter and tender chicken.

Neat Bird Chicken & Whiskey is a chicken and whisky kinda place, no doubt. They say what they do, and they do it well. The cocktails, though complex in one sense, pair ingredients and tastes well with quality spirits and ingredients and elevated flavor profiles. With a small but mighty food menu focusing primarily on chicken, they are able to focus on perfecting the dishes they serve, and it shows in the quality of food you receive at this...

After reading other reviews I didn’t not realize this restaurant has been open as long as it has. A lot of what I experienced would be expected from a restaurant open a month or 2.

First impressions: We came in on Sunday. No host at the front desk for a couple of minutes. Not a big deal, we were the only ones waiting. The restaurant is much bigger than expected but very bland compared to the vibe you expect. The restaurant was maybe half full but only had 2 waitresses and one runner. And all three were all over and not able to actually serve properly.

Service: they waitress was nice, but the minute she figured you were done talking she was off to another table. Questions weren’t really answered more of a breeze by. Food came out Mexican restaurant fast but the waitress was so busy she never had a chance to check on us to see if all was good. When she did finally come by we asked for extra dressing for a Cesar salad. Almost half finished before it came out and was charged 99cents for it. Only thing she focused on was making sure we knew how much our bill was and getting my card before I checked if everything was charged correctly. Food: overall descent but not anything stellar. If there was a wait to get in I definitely think I would just go to Zaxby’s. We started off with the deviled eggs. Not much taste. You can see either pickle or jalapeño in the mix but there is no texture or flavor. The best deal is the Cesar salad. We added the nuggets to it. It was large and plenty of chicken so over all a good deal. I had the hot honey chicken sandwich. Again not bad but not great. The texas toast was soggy and all you could taste if the chicken was the hot honey. I tried one of the nuggets off the salad and it had a lot of flavor. Unfortunately if mine did all I could taste was the honey. We did too it off with their Banana Pudding. This I will say was great. Good flavor. Real banana. Overall: this was our first visit. It felt like they had only been open a month and are working out their kinks. Knowing they have been open much longer has me worried that they are at their best. Being in “town center” you definitely expect a more expensive price point. The bill was very reasonable and on point with most fast food joints. I currently feel it’s a higher end Chick-fil-A or Zaxbys. I’m definitely willing to go back but if there is a wait Chick-fil-A is not far.

Final note: I don’t mind paying the credit card fee or even the extra sauce fee I just don’t remember seeing...

We chose to dine with you based on a glowing recommendation from my aunt, who had visited a few weeks prior and spoke highly of both the food and the service. However, our experience was markedly different.

Upon arrival, we were promptly seated near the kitchen. Although the restaurant was not busy, we observed only one waitress actively serving tables, aside from the gentleman who greeted us and occasionally assisted with food delivery. After approximately 20 minutes, our waitress approached to take our order. We requested the chicken cheese curds as an appetizer—which were delicious and truly the highlight of our meal. However, she did not take our drink orders at that time, and we had to flag her down to order drinks. When asked for unsweet tea we were told that they did not make their tea there it comes bottled therefore they do not have unsweet tea. Then had to flag her down to request refills even though our glasses were sitting on the edge of the table empty and she walked past us consistently to the kitchen. Throughout our hour and twenty-minute stay, she did not check in with us or ask if we needed anything unless we initiated the interaction.

When we asked questions about the menu, her responses felt curt and dismissive. For example, when I inquired whether the wings came with fries or celery, she simply said “no” without offering alternatives. I later learned from the bartender that celery could have been added upon request—something that would have been helpful to know when I asked.

We also had concerns about the food quality. The ranch dressing, which we were told was homemade, had a thin consistency and an unusual yogurt-like flavor. The pimento cheese was overly strong and unpleasant, and my aunt did not eat it (FYI: The pimento cheese comes with celery). She requested it be removed from the bill. We found the wings acceptable, though his mac and cheese was served cold (The mac and cheese cost $7 and came in one of those miniature bowls that you used to get peaches in at school).

Overall, while the chicken cheese curds were excellent, the rest of the experience—from inattentive service to inconsistent food quality—was disappointing. We had hoped for a repeat of the wonderful experience my aunt had previously, but unfortunately, we left feeling let down.

Thank you for taking the time to read this feedback. We hope it can be used constructively to improve future guest...