GRILL Colonial Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Colonial Heights

I am not one to ever do this, if I have a bad experience, I usually just chalk it up, give it a try another time and/or just don’t go back, but this one, oh boy, this one needs to be shed to light.

Over a month ago my sister and I reserved Colonial Italian Restaurant & Pizza’s back banquet room for my sister’s bridal shower. I normally would just have it at my house, but with two kids now, I didn’t want the hassle of trying to get everything done in between 3 nap times and trying to prepare food for 30 people, so I thought it would be a great idea to have it there and while supporting a small business, however, today was the most stressful day I’ve had in a while.

I arrive at CIR at 1:15 as we were told THIS MORNING we could get there at 1:15 that would be no problem to set up for her shower that started at 2:00pm. I get there and the entire parking lot was full. Front, side, rainbow christian next door, and the back besides 3 parking spots in the verrrrry back lot. So I had a feeling it was going to be packed.

I get inside and I can see the banquet room filled with people. I immediately start to panic. I walk to the back to take a peek in there and there was not a single table open in there. I am now fuming. I ask to speak to the owner and I see him across the restaurant. He tells the hostess that we have to wait until those tables get up before we can get in there. Doesn’t come over, completely avoids the confrontation and the hostess says that he is taking orders for tables and we would need to wait to speak to him. It is now almost 1:30.

Before I flipped out, I walked out and immediately had to think of a Plan B, because those tables didn’t even have their food yet, one table was getting their order taken and the others were getting drinks put down. I called Dante’s and asked if they had their banquet room open & by the Grace of God they did and were absolutely amazing. I had to have a guest that was already there early to help stay at CIR to redirect my sister’s guests to Dante’s up the road (we had guests come from VAB, etc…). Not only was this a MAJOR inconvenience, but also embarrassing and completely unprofessional.

I understand times are tough and they probably didn’t want to turn those tables away, but they had a prior engagement with us. We booked that over a month in advance and was told we would have the entire banquet room. To say I am very disappointed in the management and the extremely POOR customer service that was given today, would be an understatement.

HUGE thank you to Dante's Pizzeria and their amazing staff that welcomed us with open arms and had amazing customer service, you don’t know how much I...

I usually hate to give bad reviews on locally owned businesses but I have been here multiple times and every time I’ve been met with the same issues.. Today was no different.

The service was okay (the waitresses are very obviously not experienced which is okay, they were still able to get the job done.) The actual restaurant gives great vibes (low lighting/Tv’s/comfy seating) However, like many of the other negative comments for this establishment, the food quality was VERY disappointing. I ordered the pasta trio and the pasta had obviously been frozen and reheated, then piled with a pound of cheese and the wateriest (taste like it came straight out of a can) pasta sauce I’ve ever had. My partner ordered the steak and cheese and not only was the meat super low quality, it was also drenched in grease. I ordered 2 different sodas and both of them were flat. My partner also ordered a Bloody Mary that didn’t meet his expectations and he requested a different drink. When our waitress went back to tell the bartender, the bartender was very rude and yelling at our waitress saying we’d have to pay for both drinks (although they didn’t end up charging us for the BM)(years ago I picked up a DoorDash order from here and the bartender yelled in my face about being patient for the order)(also there’s been a lot of bad reviews about this same bartender so I’m curious how she still has a job). All of the positive reviews I’ve seen for this place come from their pizza, burgers, and steaks. I have tasted and seen very few good things for their pastas and actual real Italian food. I would recommend Vincenzo’s or Dante’s of Ironbridge if that’s what you’re looking for in an...

So, a coworker of mine was absolutely raving about how delicious the food was at CIR. I told my husband we should try it. Unfortunately, & I do mean unfortunately, we did. We ordered take out. Firstly, the lady at the bar where we picked up our food was very rude. As she was bringing the bags toward the counter she kept looking at the guys at the bar as if she was trying to capture their attention in an attempt to direct eyes on me & my husband. My husband & I couldn't help but notice her awkward behavior( and no, the look she gave wasn't to ensure everyone at the bar had what they needed), hate to race bait but some things are understood without even saying a word, my husband & I happen to be proudly melanated. She abruptly places our bags on the counter & walks off very rudely with no "thank you" or "have a good night". My husband & I laughed it off, we knew exactly what time it was. Next, the food was mediocre & definitely overpriced for the portion sizes. My husband's shrimp scampi was very dry with approximately 4 pieces of shrimp. My lasagna was simply "eh". The sauce was quite runny, the lasagna itself was thin as paper. We will never order out from this restaurant again & we are for certain NOT dining in. My coworker is young, 20 y/o, lol, still learning & experiencing life.....I'm definitely going to tell him he must get out more often to acclimatize & introduce his palate to what good food is...