Fredericksburg Square by Dimas Downtown — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

The Cabaret is located at the same site as the popular wedding venue Inn at Fredericksburg Square, but the Cabaret is located upstairs and performances are sometimes held in the Washington Ballroom. This is a lovely place, and is probably the nicest and most upscale venue in Fredericksburg. It offers live music performances (such as jazz or big band) with couples dancing, along with dinner or hors d'oeuvres, drinks for purchase, etc. The way it works is you purchase a ticket through their website - cost is typically $35 - $45 for the performance alone; when optional hors d'oeuvres are offered it's an additional $15, or if they are including dinner with the performance the cost is typically around $70 all-inclusive of performance, dinner, and gratuity. If you purchase wine, beer, mixed drinks, etc., that is paid on a separate tab at the event. The food served in the past has been excellent.

Why do I give only two stars? I have attended several performances at Cabaret, and honestly this place is not ready for prime time. Most recently I attended the Doc Scantlin and Chou Chou performance on Saturday, Oct 1, 2016. The show started at 8:00 PM, and upon arrival at 7:30 we found the front entrance door locked! This was extremely puzzling and we looked around for another entrance but there was none. We went back to the main front entrance and actually had to knock on the door - they opened it and let us in.

The server we had was very nice and courteous, but not knowledgeable at all about the limited wine and beer selections that they offered. Twice she had to go and check for an answer about their wine and beer. We each ordered an alcoholic beverage and we knew we would be dancing so we asked for some water - she brought two $3.00 glass bottles of fancy spring water with glasses. I said, "Oh no, we just wanted regular tap water in a glass." She told us they don't serve that! I'm sorry, that is just RIDICULOUS that this establishment does not provide regular, complimentary ice water to its customers who have already purchased a ticket for the performance. In any case, we said we would keep the glass bottled water. However, about 10 minutes later when we wanted to pour the water into our glasses, we discovered that the bottle caps were not the twist-off type and required a bottle opener! So here we are in this fancy place that doesn't serve regular iced water and makes you purchase the fancy glass bottled water and I had to flag down our server and ask her to open our bottles. Along with the locked door I feel that this is simply tacky and not an acceptable level of service for this type of establishment.

Additionally, a friend that came with us on Oct 1st decided he wanted to partake in the optional hors d'oeuvres which we had not purchased tickets for and did not come early for. When he inquired if he could purchase the hors d'oeuvres buffet, Cabaret said yes and took his $15 but failed to mention that the buffet was ending in 20 minutes. So he ended up paying $15 for one small plate of hors d'oeuvres. Upon leaving the ballroom after the performance, the manager asked me how everything was and I mentioned this incident. No attempt was made by Cabaret to remedy the situation or offer a refund to my friend. Poor business practice, for sure.

In summary, this is a very nice venue that has a lot of potential, however for the ticket prices they charge I feel that the service level is severely lacking. (Carlyle Club in Alexandria is the same type of venue, yet they typically charge $25 - $30 per performance ticket.) I feel that Cabaret is not quite ready for prime time and has a lot of bugs to work out before it can...

I just had my wedding reception here and I cannot say enough wonderful things about Fredericksburg Square. From our initial visit to the actual reception itself, everything was stress-free and flowed beautifully. We had our ceremony off-site, but they still allowed my husband and I a quiet moment in the bridal suite once we arrived. I was told the food and drink service would be top-notch, but it far exceeded any expectation I could have ever imagined. All of our guests were from out of town and are still talking about how wonderful the reception was and how much fun was had.

It should also be mentioned that part of your package is the DJ; Victor is an absolute gem. Any question or concern I had was addressed and he always made me feel like we were the center of attention. He kept everything flowing at a steady pace and made sure no one got out of control, but also that people were having a good time.

If it wasn't for FS, I would have been one stressed-out bride who wouldn't have even know where to begin scheduling all those services that Fred Square took care of without so much as a blink of an eye. The whole team is an absolute steal and a complete joy...

The service on 5 Sept 2015, was great. The staff was attentive, bringing water, food, and, drinks, in a timely manner. The band was awesome and the food, the prime rib was excellent.

Now the service on 19 Sept 2015, was not the same. I guess because they had another event on the 1st floor, so the 2nd floor patrons were not given the same treatment, short on staff, food was slow (if you ordered off the menu after the band starts playing. I think they overbooked themselves on Sat, 19 Sept, without of enough staff to accommodate both events, then they bring my food and I have no utensils (then I get a fork but no knife). I will go back again and hope the service will be like it was on 5 Sept when we went.

Just a note to the owner or staff who reviews the comment, once a guest orders off the menu, bring the napkin/utensils then, not wait until the food arrives, then the food is getting cold until you walk and get the...