The Barrel Room — Restaurant in Chesapeake

I've eaten here on several occasions. The place is quite dark with dim lighting and a sort of mysterious cowboy theme going on. Clearly they want to highlight their alcohol selection. I've never been as a bar goer but I imagine it gets lively in the late evenings. I generally go around 4-6pm for dinner when the dining room is quieter and emptier. When it starts getting crowded and loud, it gets really annoying really quick because there's no separation between tables the way you would see in a cozier restaurant. I think that they could have set up more partitions because the decor feels cozy like you should be having an intimate dinner with your group but the openness of the place really ruins the atmosphere.

The staff is all female and they all dress very "pretty country girl" style while still remaining modest. Most of my interactions with the waitstaff have been pleasant. They are generally very attentive and exceedingly helpful when things are quiet but when the place starts to fill up, they start to get less friendly and lose their smiles and their cheery attitudes. I've worked in many restaurants before so I know how hectic the dinner rush can be but it was always impressed on us by management that customer service should never be forgotten so even if things take longer and stuff goes wrong, you should always be conscious of how you are representing the restaurant. Clearly the staff here needs more coaching.

The food and drinks are incredible. It is definitely worth the price. I've tried most of the dishes and custom cocktails and I would recommend every one of them wholeheartedly. You will pay about $50-75 per person depending on what you order which I know can be pricey for some people but I think it's quite worth it to go especially since there aren't many restaurants with this caliber of food in the immediate area. However, I do not recommend any desserts. They're below average and not worth the price. Please also note they are not vegetarian friendly as salads and the three cheese mac (which is amazing) are the only decent options. The menu is also very kid UN-friendly. DO NOT BRING YOUR KIDS HERE

Please also note that if you have any issues with sitting (hip/back/joint issues), that every single chair in this restaurant is extremely uncomfortable. I'd hope that for such a high end place that it would be able to invest in comfier chairs.

Overall, I would recommend trying this place out at least once but in my book, it's not really worth going back again. I've only been so often because of the...

Sometimes star ratings can be deceiving, recently had dinner here with my family (party of 5) (10/9/2018) and was NOT impressed. They were not busy at all (a table of 4 and 2 ppl at the bar). We were directed to a table and waited.....and waited. When our waiter arrived we informed him, it was our first time visiting and asked about the restaurant and what they were famous for; our waiter must have been new as he stammered and fumbled to find an answer to our question.

We were provided menus, and asked us if we wanted drinks, I asked for a drink menu, our waiter left and we waited....and waited while he took the order from another table. This was a bit irritating, but we pushed forward, ordered our drinks; our 1st round of drinks were nearly empty, before our waiter returned to take our food order. We ordered 3 burgers, a sandwich and bowl of mac & cheese as well as some additional beverages (2 martinis & a beer). Here's where things get interesting. Our food arrived before our drinks did (pretty sure our waiter forgot us). The burgers and sandwich arrived and were not cooked correctly; they switched the med-rare and the med-well, not a big deal, but just another strike. The fries provided with the burgers had clearly been under the heat lamp for quite some time. We were nearly finished with the burgers before the bowl of mac & cheese arrived. Seriously? It's mac & cheese. Our waiter did provide us with one glass of Prosseco for the guest who ordered the mac & cheese, but not apology or explanation of the extreme delay.

Honestly, the mac & cheese was by far the worst ever. I could have heated up pasta in the microwave and poured cheese whiz over it for the same price. Needless to say, at this point we were done. I asked for the check and upon review, I informed our waiter, I did not feel as though it was fair to pay for the mac & cheese as it had arrived when we were nearly finished with the meal, he acknowledged and agreed with our concern. He said he would talk to the manager; upon returned, he said the manager would take $5 off the cost. I was a bit irritated at this almost insulting gesture; told him that's fine, but we would not be returning here ever again. He then returned to the manager who agreed to removed the entree from the bill. Now mind you the mac & cheese was only $10 to begin with.

Maybe it was a bad night, or whatever, but we will not be returning to the...

I'm sorry but I DO NOT leave bad reviews, like rarely ever and certainly not a 1 star review but here is my reason.... You'd think a Restaurant & Bar called the Barrel Room would be serving some great drinks and you would be correct (flavor wise) but I came the first week they opened to the public and was spoiled I guess. I brought 6 friends and we ordered drinks and food and had a great experience and I found my favorite $13 drink but it was great! Then the 2nd time, 3rd visit, 4th....about 12 visits after I just became so disappointed with the drinks and honestly JUST the drinks. Their signature drinks should be just that "a signature drink" with consistency. I don't know about you but when you find something you like and are willing to pay good money for it you become even more disappointed when it gets slammed with ice and club soda/sprite and sometimes rarely ever tastes the same. We have turned about 7 families into coming here and we tip well and have fun with the staff...shoot I know 3 of the servers names, they are the sweetest. Tonight I happened to be standing by the bar talking to someone when I watched the bartender make my drink. She misjudged the amounts and only filled half way. She stood for a few seconds holding the shaker over for as many drops as she could get in, just a slow drip drip drip. Then with a puzzled look she reached for the mini club soda bottle and started to pour it in the fill THE OTHER HALF with club soda until I excused myself and asked her if it was my drink, then politely asked her NOT to do that please. The other drink she filled next to me with the same shaker made it to the top but not mine, I even asked if she could pour theirs into mine a least. NOPE. It's not this one thing that made me realize this place is not worth my time it's that it's the ONLY dang problem they seem to have on a very consistent basis. When you are referring many other families, staying loyal and being a good customer at a restaurant that should at this point be consistent with a good drink it becomes such a let down. Now if I was at Bad Habits, Buffalo Wild Wings or Applebees I'd expect this (places I do not like or want to spend money at) but not from this place. I just wish this one area could become better...