Brock's Riverside Grill — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

• WARNING * 2.99% surcharge for paying your meal with a credit card!!! No notice on the website but I am told there is something posted on their door. Where and how readable it is in the evening, when it is dark remains a mystery.

** we all had the runs today. I am downgrading my review to 1 star and sadly never return. Eat at your own peril. Business is tough but you have to put the health of customers first and quality food and drinks. Brock’s has a great location and space, it needs to have food and service be commensurate with the location. As we were leaving, the band was playing and lots of people at the bar. Perhaps that should be it a club. ** This is the very first restaurant where we had to pay a surcharge for using a credit card. Unfortunately I didn’t catch it until we returned to Courtyard Marriott. This because we were suppose to have a discount because of our stay @ Courtyard. So we thought why not call and politely ask for an adjustment to our bill. I spoke with a gentleman, and the conversation was insulting; and I am a first time paying guest I was told this was the way things are post COVID. The COVID pandemic was years ago. My family and I have had dinners in other restaurants in the area last night and many times since COVID because we are a military service family and our son is a Marine training in Quantico. We never had to pay a surcharge for using a credit card. AND IN SUCH A UNDERHANDED MANNER. This is something that should be reported to Consumer Affairs.

What was most insulting is that he said it was my fault for not checking the bill. I asked whether this is a policy because we are in a historic town of Fredericksburg and I was told that Brock Grill “chooses to pass along a Credit Card” surcharge…”. Most businesses account for these fees as the cost of doing business. If they can't manage, then they should at a minimum, be upfront when the bill is presented to the customer. This presents option to the customer, me, to opt and pay in cash. So I said I should post in my restaurant review and I was told I was malicious. I was told this information is was posted in the front door area. Who goes to a restaurant to look at a posting on the door to see if there is a surcharge? And in the evening, it is dark. Is this posting light up, in color.... This is ridiculous, just be upfront, and let the customer decide.

As to the discount, one of us in our party told one of the greeter/servers who showed us to the table. However, we did not reiterate again. That said, we called to ask for a courtesy consideration and he was not open to making an adjustment and when I question the credit card surcharge he accuse me of being malicious.

As the the martini, my husband had to send it back... I wanted to send back my warm Riesling but did not want to make a fuss with our 2 guests; the crab cakes were mediocre, bits of crab vs. lumps of crabs. The homemade dessert, only one was good. That said, 2 guests were famished after a long day at work so at least they were satiated. One guest had the creme brulee but it was not as good as that served at Riobilina's. The table overlooking the river was nice. Otherwise, I would give my money to restaurants such as Riobilina for authentic, quality Italian food with, fabulous homemade desserts and servers who are foodies.

We will not be ever returning to Brock Grill, I would rather...

Decided to give Brock's a try because it advertised water view. The view from on high, of the Rappahannock River and an arched cement railroad bridge, felt lacking in visual excitement. The river looked tired, the working RR bridge looked tired, and I half expected the birds gliding over the river to fall asleep in mid-air. We asked the hostess to select a table for two that she considered to have a nice view for first-time customers; and, we were seated at a four-top in the middle of the room nestled toward the windows between two occupied tables against the windows. Okay, I can live with that. This restaurant had linen tablecloths, heavy silverware and thick napkins, nice large menu with enough meatless offerings to please most non-hunters, and so far I'm digging it for the ambience if not for the view. The bar looks old and substantial and worldly enough to please Scotch drinkers as well as imbibers of Cosmopolitans. My mate and I got something akin to Cobb salads. I felt that some of the quarter inch cubes of chicken were tougher than I would like, plus there was something like a dried pepper or dried tomato skin that I couldn't masticate which had to be left on my bread plate. That being said, I felt healthy afterwards and declined dessert on the basis that I felt I was about to levitate. Brock's Riverside, you can tell, is an old Fredericksburg favorite. It reeks of old money. I would not hesitate to take a relative who is about to take me out of their will to this restaurant. The fact that there is a fireplace in one wing of the restaurant is a huge plus, for I constantly seek, and take note of, establishments with fireplaces for that sleety, wintry night, which I've termed "Tavern Night", to come and have a Hot Toddy and perhaps a serving of Bread Pudding with someone into whose eyes I might gaze while reciting a sonnet I've just written. I'm not sure, for I had no issues, but there is a possibility that parking, at certain hours, may try the patience of those accustomed to valet parking at The Olive Garden. An Uber might be justified in this instance. The staff was pleasant, helpful, and visually appealing. The bathrooms were centrally located for the GI impaired. I'm guessing that the bar is full on Friday and Saturday nights, for it looks like a fun place to go for a drink, although I have not vetted the bartender. In these days the restaurant business is incredibly competitive. This restaurant, in a former day, would have received higher marks from me; however, there are so many good restaurants that excite me with food, ambience, service, etc. that I am loathe to give any establishment some slack. I can recommend Brock's Riverside, but I can also state confidently that there are many other restaurants in and around Fredericksburg that will blow my socks off. I just have...

As a business owner and a FXBG resident for over 20 years, I clearly understand that not only the product or service is what makes a business to be a good one, but it is actually a combination of factors. In this case, a restaurant could have the best chef and menu, but if the "Management of the Customer Service" is questionable, then the restaurant is not 100% good.

On Saturday night (11/03/2023) a selected group (10 fine and recognized professional ladies of this area) we went to this restaurant (is not 1st time) to celebrate 2 friends' birthdays.

Two reservations were made (for 6 and 4) at the same time and same day. At arrival time, we requested to be together (in the area we were was 75% empty and some people were already leaving) Mr. Andrew Medellin (the night manager at the time) not just denied assisting us with our request, and his attitude was beyond the desired one by any client. We decided to leave the place.

His management abilities to take care of conflicts clearly expressed his lack of knowledge and inexperienced in cases like we had to witness saturday night, and he was not just unhelpful but arrogant, incompetent for the business, to the point that Mr. Medellin preferred that 10 guests leave the place rather than find a viable solution that could benefit both of us at the time. He even opened the salon door in a clear expression of "you are welcome to leave," but not enough, he yelled at us,"You ladies are going to pay your bills?" HOW RUDE as MANAGER and PERSON, who he believes were we?

Yes! it is his right as a manager to be sure the payment is made, but instead, he could have said: "ladies I'm sorry we couldn't come to an agreement and the waitress is right there to take your payments." The position for Mr. Andrew Medellin at the restaurant is too big for him, he need more years of customer service training, and his attitude and body language were more like night club security guards.

I don't believe he realized that 10 guests with a bad experience will multiple in 100 bad references.

Certainly, neither I nor my other 9 friends we intend to come back or do any business in this restaurant while Mr. ANDREW MEDELLIN still mismanagement the customer service of this business and corrects attention to customers to what i believe it was more linked to the fact that we were a group of ladies with a Latino/Hispanic background.

The attached picture from the business website clearly gives us the reason, and the situation could be easily resolved. That is the exact window we were seated at, and the only thing we were requesting was that both tables were together as is showing in...