Ox Yoke Inn — Restaurant in Fairfax

We went to the ox yoke yesterday to celebrate my son's confirmation. We had a large party, and I asked for a private room so we would not be distrubed. We were put into an room in the basement of the resturant which was fine.

However I specifically asked for a large room to be given to us to allow our small children in the group to run around. To not have a divider in the room, I was told by the group reservation manager, that it would be an extra $200, I was okay with this too, and paid the fee.

The group reservation manager asked how many was expected in our party and I told her approx 25....I signed the contract.

When we showed up on Sunday, there was a curtain divider in the middle of the room, I mentioned to the waiter we were suppossed to have access to the full room, and our waiter seemed to not know what was going on, apparently this was not communicated to him.

The Downstairs room seemed dirty and outdated. We had full view of the kitchen downstairs, (Gross) & no access to the beer stub, etc.

The bathrooms were not available for us either, we had to hunt to find out where the lightswitch was at, outside of the bathroom door. All of this should have been prepared for us ahead of time. Have the entire room open as I paid for, have a clean room downstairs. Why was the downstairs kitchen door wide open for us to view inside? Why wasn't the bathrooms prepared and ready for us...It seemed like everything was rushed and no attn to detail...& no communcation to the waiter.

We were told that they could handle our party, we had (one) waiter for our entire party....He worked really hard, and I think he was doing the best job he could do, but he needed help...If the Ox Yoke was not able to provide adequate staff to support our size of party, they should not have took our reservation.

The food served was sub par at best, I remember the quality of food at the ox yoke to have been so much better. My rule is, If I can cook better than the resturant we are eating at, than I don't want to go back...and this was the case with this food...it wasn't horrible, but NOT worth the $30/Plate we paid for it.

After the meal was over we went to pay...We had 5 guests that could not attend, and we got charged for the no shows...I WAS NEVER told this by the group sales manager I booked this reservation with....I was told in a rather curt manner by the front desk clerk, that it was in my contract and I should have known that....Which it may have been, but good business practice would be for the manager to review this to make sure this is known by the customer, and to make sure we definately have the correct head count to prevent increased costs...

If we ever have a family event again I will not be going back to the Ox Yoke...This resturant has really gone down hill, and not nearly the same as I remember it...The food was Okay, service was sub par, I paid extra for room accomdations I did not get, and paid extra for members of our party that could not make it.

If you plan to have a group event at the ox yoke, make sure you read the contract in detail, so you don't get taken...

From my most recent experience here: My husband and I decided to go here for a nice time to eat while visiting the Amanas. We knew from past times that we needed to reserve our spot due to how busy it can get. So, I tried to make reservations for 2 online, but I got no response as time went on. I made a phone call, asking and explaining what happened, then got told that no one is in the office to acknowledge reservations on weekends. I got on the list, my husband and I showed up 20 minutes before our reserve time and our table was ready. At first impression, it was nice, but you get that hint of vintage-y smell. It's not hard to miss. Knowing that the day was Mother's Day, we thought it would be a lot busier than we expected but to our surprise, it wasn't. We don't get attended to right away when we got sat down at our table for a bit, as our waitress was attending to the much bigger table to the right of my husband and I. Waitress finally notices us and hands us our menus, then asks what we'd like to drink. It took forever to get even just a glass of water. We looked through the menu and it was pretty limited, and to our surprise, it was their holiday menu! From past times of being at this place, we remembered their menu had much more options. As we look through the menu for quite a while to decide what want, we get the feeling that we're being passed up on service, as the bigger table was supposedly more of a priority to them? My husband and I were already done with our waters before we get asked what we would like to order. We had a difficult time deciding what would be reasonably priced and tasty to our liking. Much more time passes, no one stops by to ask if we'd like refills on waters when they were refilling glasses at the bigger table. As I looked around, I saw many other people being passed up as well with frowned faces, which didn't please us at all. Finally we get our food, which was ok. Our waitress didn't bother coming by our table at all, didn't ask us a darn thing, and was a bit rude. We just ate what we got, paid, and left. I don't recommend going here when they serve their holiday menu due to so little options to choose from. Was highly disappointed with the service and the menu, however from past experiences here, their menu, food, and service was great! That was two or three years ago to my knowledge. Anyways, it is duly noted to my husband and I for next time we visit the Amanas, to just go...

The food, as always was most delicious and tasty! Family style service is the way to go, so that everyone can try everything, but still choose their own protein! Things start with a basket of fresh baked bread with homemade strawberry preserves. Notice I did not say jam or jelly because this stuff is better! You could eat it plain, on ice cream, over short cake or with just whipped cream. Then they bring cottage cheese, Cole slaw and another cold salad, today it was apple salad. The slaw is ALWAYS great and I'm not a big fan of slaw. If you've never had fresh cottage cheese, you'll definitely be able to taste and feel the difference. Today was the first time I've had the apple salad. It was REALLY good! Several varieties of apples that were all crunchy and fresh but still tender, mixed with red grapes celery, pecans and walnuts, topped with dressing. I with I knew what was in the dressing! Probably heavy cream and sour cream, maybe mayonnaise, but I don't think yogurt. Anyway it was REALLY good! Usually we don't all order the same protein, but today we all had the 4 piece fried chicken. We all got a huge thigh, ginormous breast and a leg and wing. The sides were mashed potatoes, with some skin, whipped until smooth. Your choice of corn or green beans, we had the beans, but they are not special in any way and from pasta visits we know the corn is even less special. Brown gravy for the potatoes is served separate in a pretty silver gravy boat. Then there's the sauerkraut, which in my personal opinion should never see the light of day. BUT my mother thinks Amana sauerkraut is the best. The dessert choices change from day to day, hour to hour. Today was mostly cream pies, along with cheese cake, German chocolate cake and apple strudel. When the food is this good you can overlook a few things like the waitress that's been there for years, that's not quite rude, but certainly not pleasant and doesn't realize that she's always being watched, even when rolls her eyes at a customer's request for something. You can also overlook that they serve Coke and not Pepsi. Or the dirty wall near the floor next to the service station. Because once you've enjoyed your food and have a happy tummy it's easy to forget! I came here with my grandparents, my parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends and my son. Maybe someday I'll take my...