Lost In Taste — Restaurant in Christiansburg

I was in this establishment on January 27 at around 6 PM. I was picking up a order for a car share delivery service. Doing this job you learn there are certain restaurants that you can go to and pick up and there are certain ones that you can’t go to because they never get the order correct or ready in a reasonable time. On this occasion, I was picking up two orders one was ready and the other one was not. After 10 minutes of waiting I asked the server who was handling the order, how long will it be until it’s ready? She said sure and when she came back, she said “he won’t tell me”. Well, you can look at this a couple different ways. First, why does the cook think that he can talk to the servers that way and two, why is it taking so long? It took me 12 minutes to drive to this establishment. I get it was busy but why wouldn’t you tell a customer how long it’s gonna be when it’s already taken so long. Also, why wouldn’t the server go to the manager on duty and say “hey the cook isn’t giving us what we need right now.” But the server came to me and let me know that there is dysfunction in that kitchen. As a manager of different companies, this chef wouldn’t last long or he would change his tone real quick when it comes to telling our customers what is going on. I also talked to one of the servers the next day (while giving her a ride home) and she let me know that yeah there’s some problems and that I needed to do this review so that this chef can figure out that he might’ve not made it at a lot of other restaurants and there might’ve been a reason why he didn’t make it at a lot of other restaurants and he needs to change his attitude. I hope this review helps the owner take care of his business. I’m just a concerned individual who wants to see better out of what seems to be a cool establishment. PS I won’t be accepting delivery orders from here and I will let other locals know this issue. Get it together back of the house!

After that response I got from the owner, I see the problem lies with you. I was waiting next to a customer who was pissed off that the crew you had put his order Togo, when it was to be eaten at your bar. I am only speaking from two sources, me and that gentleman (who told me good luck getting my order in a reasonable time). I brought up a lot of points and your response was to say cooks are people too. What a joke you are as a leader. Your cook is going to read your response and feel embolden to act the same way if not worse. Hey Bud/owner I used to run a multi million dollars business for 3 years (as the COO) then helped the owner sell it for 5+ million dollars (ran it so good that he only sold the business and he still collects 4000+ thousand every month in rent). You need to settle down because no matter how good you quality is if you don’t take care of all your customers then you are coming up short. I’m impatient right, I have given over 7000 rides and have a 5.0 star rating on my last 600 rides/deliveries, hmmm I wonder if I’m the problem or just someone who knows quality when I see it. Also, where are you when “your” restaurant is considered busy, oh its Friday, your lost in space could never be busy and need your help to make sure all customers are being taken care of. Nope you are just making excuses and leading everyone reading this to truly know who you are and the customers come second behind the chef, publicly. I know that your people come first and should know that but in a review you should be putting the customer first. You must not know that I see 80 to 60 customers a day on the weekends, and they ask me where should I go to eat, hmmm what do you think I’m gonna say about you establishment hmmmm you are who you are and I hope you learn from this but hearing your response leads me to believe this is just how it is at “lost in space.”

Delivery drivers are in a rush because we only are guaranteed 2.50 for a delivery, and lucky if we get a tip when the order takes exceeding long or I can’t let the customer know how long its going to be so they are aware...

I never have written a review before, but I just had to after reading owner's rude response to my friend that left an earlier review with the below photo. I was with her and here are the facts... She ordered the Blackbean Burger and was told they were out of those and that they would substitute it with a plant based, Impossible Burger. She has eaten those many times before and know what they look like and how they taste...it was Impossible to even believe it was the brand "Impossible " because it didn't look or taste like the name brand...it had an orange tint and different texture...she was willing to overlook that...true, she only asked for avocado on top of the burger and nothing else because she loves avocado. True, she did tell them not to put on the other toppings that would normally come on the blackbean burger...that being said, you would think the establishment would at least cover the burger with avocado since that is all that would be on the burger and not JUST the 2 teeny, tiny, barely there, pieces they gave her. What you see is exactly the way it was positioned and given to her. Barely any at all!!! When it arrived, she lifted the bun excited to see the avocado covered burger and was so shocked and disappointed to see what was under the bun and took this picture to text to hubby to show him. And yes, she asked for the aoli on the side because she never had it before and didn't want to waste it if she didn't like it...but she DID like it!!! In fact, she liked it sooo much that she asked for more. You said, "Great! No problem!" AND THEN YOU NEVER BROUGHT HER MORE!!!! Yes, the sweet potato fries had a beautiful orange color...but for the price you charged, you would think there would be more than 6 of them. This was a dinner...not a lunch special. As for my meal...equally disappointing, but like I said...I never write reviews so I wasn't going to bother...but now that I'm writing this...here's the facts about my order... I ordered the "crash burger"...expecting the 1/2 lb of beef stated on the menu and what I got was 2 tiny slider size burgers and was told, "Sorry about the size...we only have a small frying pan." I really wished I took a picture...The bun was twice the size of the patties. And the meat was white and tasted weird! I've made and eaten beef burgers my entire life...I don't know what type of mystery meat that was! Honestly the size of them looked like 2 Swedish meatballs without the gravy that got flattened. Hardly the advertised 1/2 lbs!!! My friend tried to start off her review being positive by saying the name was great, due to the spaced themed restaurant...(although, I feel it is very missleading and should be called "Taste is Off" or "Taste is Lost"!) She also tried to be positive by saying we were seated right away unlike other places that have long wait times that are never fun when you are hungry...and your RUDE reply was to ask if she would have preferred to wait 10 minutes to be seated??? You can't even tell when you get a compliment!!!

We are not college kids...we are 2 happy go lucky people in our 50s who actually researched where to eat in Christianburg. We LOVE supporting local businesses and the reviews for your place sounded delicious and fun. TOTALLY NOT OUR EXPERIENCE!!! The food and lack of service was bad enough...but your rude response to my friend's HONEST review really shows just another reason to tell people not to waste their time or money by eating at LOST IN TASTE because you have also proven to also have LOST RESPECT from these 2 happy go lucky customers! SHAME ON YOU!!! You really must be from another planet!!!

*Adding the following after reading owner's reply... We had no ill intent when posting our reviews. We were being honest and shared our experiences. That is what a review is supposed to do. We said nothing false. The owner writes as if we are wrong instead of us being wronged. They ask for constructive criticism...well here's mine... They should eat some humble pie and apologize for our experience and take...

Yikes, imagine being that person who leaves a cruddy review on a newly opened up restaurant in a small town, during a pandemic… couldn’t be me so I’m here to praise.

Lost in taste has got to be one of my favorite places I have been to. The atmosphere, is fantastic. You are constantly greeted with a smile. The decorations, the theme, and the entire layout is perfect for Christiansburg. Although I have only been twice, each time was better than the last. My expectations were constantly met both times, to infinity & beyond (hopefully you understand the joke here.) I’m a beer drinker, so I haven’t had any of the cocktails, but they sound delicious. If I don’t get heartburn so bad, I would definitely try every single one lol. I ordered the wings and really enjoyed the Moonshine BBQ sauce. We also got these homemade chips? I think that’s what they were? I’m not sure, but they were delicious. 10 out of 10. I really like how there was lots of time and desire going into this restaurant. The design couldn’t have been better. The entire staff is following COVID-19 protocols, which is great. As a former waitress, I know how stressful the restaurant business is. But the entire staff, do their job and do it well. Although masks are in the way, I can still see people smiling behind them. I can’t imagine how busy they are. So yeah, I’m sure things are getting backed up and I’m sure the staff is overwhelmed, but cut them a break. I would like to see some of the people who complain to do a position in a restaurant. I highly doubt they could handle it. Basically through all of this, I think if you haven’t tried lost in taste, you need to. Don’t listen to what anybody says, just go and try it yourself.

There’s this great thing called, having an...