Stillwater — Restaurant in Fairfax

One of the most memorable service experiences I've ever had.

I ate here for my friend's birthday a couple years ago. The waitress was kind and greeted us. The atmosphere was clean and friendly. Everything was going great until the food was brought to the table.

I had ordered the poke plate with wonton chips, but what was in front of me was poke with potato chips. I understand that these are similar, but part of why I chose that dish was for the flavor combo of the fish with the wontons. I'm not usually one to send back food, but I felt the dish was already a bit pricey for what it was so I spoke up. I let the server know that I was expecting wonton chips. Her response blew me away.

"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you that we are out of wonton chips, but I forgive myself. These potato chips are hand cut in-house."

I asked if I could get something else instead or at least a free appetizer but she denied my requests. I had to settle for a measly consolation of fries for the table at a 20% discount.

I've never witnessed a server blatantly deny a replacement for a mistake they made in my life. The 20% discount fries offer was laughable. I'll never forget this as the worst service experience...

I ordered the duck fries, they were good, I had never had duck fat fries before. I would have ordered an entrée instead, but I accidentally blew my budget. You see, my brother recommended that I get dinner there. I didn't have a lot of money, but I really wanted to try it. The issue I had was that I asked for a drink suggestion. Something like a cider. I was recommended an alcoholic grapefruit soda water. It sounded good. It was one of those that comes in a slim can. Later, I came to realise that said soda water was $16 dollars! I mean, yes, maybe I should have checked if I was that concerned. However, I was not expecting the soda water in a slim can to be $16. I didn't see it on the menu because it's listed as a spritz. It was too late by the time I realized it. It put a damper on the whole experience, and I felt stupid for accidentally ordering a $16 alcholic soda water. I would say that maybe the bartender should have pointed out the price or at least referred to it by its name, so I could have made the connection sooner. It just meant that I couldn't afford the entrée and got an...

David and Margaret, Annette and I attended a wedding at Deer Park Villa last year and said Fairfax looked like an inviting town and we made a note to drive back up and visit. This past Sunday we drove up, walked around, saw the shops and Restaurants and when we stopped at Stillwater, Joel was kind enough to explain how you sourced your food. Annette was happy with Joel's info and said we'd stop back after finishing our walk. We stopped back and honestly have to say our food choices were not only great BUT your staff was awesome. From our first greeter, then Nicki, then Joel , then the Bartender who came out to talk to us. For a Restaurant to succeed the food has to be good ( it was ) but your staff completely bowled us over with customer service and this was the icing on the cake for us. Kudos to your gang. I'm sure your place is known to the lucky Locals but for anyone traveling through Fairfax, stop by and enjoy the food and drink offerings at Stillwater. You may get a small history lesson on Stillwater and the Town of Fairfax from...