Grass Rootes — Restaurant in Culpeper

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐣𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐱𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧. 𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐀 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐡𝐨, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐱-𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦-𝐭𝐨-𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐢𝐧-𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐈’𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨. 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒, 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰. 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞? 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧. 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬? 𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐬. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟'𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬: 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫𝐳𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐲. 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝. 𝐍𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐛: 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐨𝐛𝐬, 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬. 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬...

Good-I appreciate how the restaurant was set up, nice dark vibe. Very calm atmosphere. The salad was tasty, steak was mediocre, cheese cake was dense & small.

Bad-We (party of 9) had reservations for 6:30. Arrived at 6:15 and were not acknowledged until 6:47. Seated 10 mins after that. The waiters were attentive but the place as a whole was very understaffed. Waited for refills the whole time. The food came out 30 mins after we ordered. Most of it was room temperature. After we finished our dessert we sat there for 20+ mins before we had to ask someone for a check. They didn’t ask if we’d like our table of 9 split, and when we got the check it was for our whole table. After we had explained that we wanted it split, a couple handed their card and said they wanted to pay for their meals. They came back with a 400$ bill on their card. The owner gave us an attitude after we asked that they be refunded for the bill that wasn’t theirs. The owner was sarcastically saying “thanks, have a goodnight” as we left.

My thoughts (to each his own)- Owner seems A little off. Told waiters to run multiple times and seems like a **. I always thought this was a very high class restaurant because of the prices. I was wrong. I don’t write reviews very often because I’m very easy to please. This place will never see business from myself/friends/family again.

Tips- Over staff for special events. Better to have more than less. Refills, refills, refills. Hire a host(or at least have him/her working). Greet people, don’t make them find you. After dessert is finished, ask about the check. Don’t assume you know how the check needs to be split. NEVER have an attitude...

We didn't realize that we needed reservations but they seated us anyway. Anytime Anthony Bourdain is even referenced my boyfriend is in love but seeing that Bourdain had an entire wall AND was quoted... I knew that we picked the right place, especially for my boyfriend.

Dinner was delicious. The brussel sprouts were to die for. And even though my boyfriend's steak was the most mouth watering thing that I put into my mouth (he didn't even need the steak knife), I wanted to ask the Chef for the risotto recipe... or to marry me, in front of my boyfriend, so that I could eat it forever.

Drinks were very good and, while I usually pass on dessert, I couldn't resist it this time.

The night was brilliant. My only qualm, and trust me it doesn't effect how much we will return, I wish we were offered outdoor seating. It was perfect outside for such and if I had realized that were an option, I'd have taken it.

Oh, and live music!? I didn't want to leave because the guys set was amazing. Over the Rainbow, Horse with no name, Sitting on the dock of the bay... I wish we could replay the whole experience.

At the end of it all, dinner was "expensive" but the experience wasn't. If you're just a person who just wants to chew and swallow, go to Ruby Tuesday. Grass Rootes is for those who want to savor, indulge, and experience more than just...