It's About Thyme — Restaurant in Culpeper

I went to this restaurant for the first time and it will be my last time. Old guy was the rudest person I have ever met. I looked at the reviews of people giving it 5 stars. Are you kidding me??? It doesn’t even deserve a single star. I had to give one star to write a review.

Waiters: very rude, pushy, coming and standing on top of our heads and interrupting us again and again. They brought the food and after about 10 minutes when the food was clearly still on our plates, the old guy came to ask if we were done. No I’m not done, the least I would like to do is enjoy my overpriced meal for more than 10 minutes. He kept coming over and over again to ask if we were done so he could finally take our plates away. I felt like we were rushed to eat our food quickly otherwise they would take it away.

Food: The worst food I have ever eaten. Overpriced with small serving size. The prices are not even written on the menu so you don’t know what your food will cost. I ordered the Rockfish, which was small (2 x 4 cm) with mashed potatoes and broccoli, guess how much the price was??? $28???? For a small plate of fish that was not even tasty? The only explanation for the price is that the fish could have been made out of gold. Otherwise not even worth $5.

I had two friends with me for dinner. For our appetizer we ordered shrimp that cost $20 for only two shrimp on a plate with some tomatoes.

One friend ordered the steak, which was not even cooked properly and cost $ 38 ?????? The other friend ordered ravioli which was not special.

Then at the end they brought the bill. For three people it cost us more than $160. I would have much rather enjoyed subs for just $20 and I would enjoy that soooooo much.

I was not even satisfied from their service or food but still added a tip. The old rude guy came back, made a bad face and was asking to increase it. Are you kidding me?????

I have never had this kind of bad experience in my life. I would never recommend this restaurant to even my enemies. Please, don't get fooled by the 5 stars from other folks, who knows if they are fake and made by restaurant people. Save yourself the trouble and eat at home, your homemade meal will be more delicious and...

For those who do not live in Northern Virginia, or if you do, do not like to go out for dinner, please pass this message up.

My wife may not be pleased as I am putting a restaurant on report that was recommended by some of her clients. I mean no disrespect to them, but I feel it necessary to get the word out.

Last night we wrapped up a wonderful day at Luray Caverns by traveling to Culpeper for supper. We stopped at “It’s About Thyme”. Our overall experience was marginal. Here’s why:

The following points were minor, understandable, and excusable. -They had no walleye left on their specials menu, found out only after one in our party ordered it. -They had no carrots of any kind for my service dog. They had not separated the salad dressing from a Caesar salad as requested. But it turned out to be a tasty salad anyway. These points were objectionable. -The halibut portion was very small given the $34 pricetag. And the price did not reduce given that the meal was ordered with just French fries (okay, truffle French fries, whatever) vice the fancier side. -Some of the food did not live up to the French-trained-chef expectations that the wait staff touted when we came in. The rotisserie chicken had little commendable taste. One particular salad (not the Caesar) had an overwhelming spicy or tangy flavor. The rest was fresh and good, particularly the duck pate. BIGGEST GRIPE. Some senior and all the junior folks were nicely attentive. But the two senior wait staff helping us had attitudes that were fake, distant, and disinterested. Examples: --Pulling a wine glass from the table before it was emptied. --Failing to do anything to honor the two folks with us who had an anniversary, despite (1) doing something nice, candles in two desserts, for folks next to us, and (2) me getting up, walking over, and asking the two senior staff for the same treatment. I didn’t ask for a freebie, just the...

Worst food I’ve ever had. I don’t understand the positive reviews and I feel so strongly about this. European restaurant, my foot.

First, it’s so dark and crammed in there. I really think this an actual fire hazard not to mention you can’t move without bumping into someone or a table.

Second, the prices are insulting — $25 for a salad made with canned peaches? $10 for a CUP of soup. The chutney tasted like a cigarette. Why is a plate of pasta the same price as pork roast? The service was non existent — no one asked how my food was or if I needed anything else … probably for the best.

Third, the menu is completely lacking in seasonality or imagination. No self respecting Italian or chef would serve hard, pale tomatoes out of season or blue cheese in their ravioli or packaged butter with stale focaccia. That’s a joke. And everything comes on top of mixed greens. Mixed greens mixed greens mixed greens. It’s like they own stock in a bagged salad company.

Maybe they don’t love what they do anymore — front and back of house. It comes through in the food. It’s a very mediocre restaurant trying to be gourmet and charging you for it but the food & service is quantity over quality. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for fancy, just a little creativity and authenticity.

Culpeper has so much to offer with its agricultural heritage in the Piedmont: livestock, orchards, vegetable farms… there’s a rich source of food, people and ideas to pull from but it’s legacy restaurants like this that stagnate and completely ignore it and serve you sad food. It’s...