The James — Restaurant in Geneva Township

We visited The James for the first time and had a truly fantastic experience! They have been open for under two weeks & are somehow performing like a well oiled machine. It is apparent from the moment you walk into the beautiful space that they invested a ton of time into training their excellent staff. Beth greeted us at the door, there was a small wait for a bar seat & we happily snagged two amazing & creative cocktails while we waited. I asked the bartender if they could make a lavender martini & the drink she whipped up was far better than the ones I had before. I watched her grind some lavender buds with a muddle & then dusted it over my martini. Are you kidding me? She whipped this thing out of thin air & it was amazing… put that drink on the menu! The music & lighting was perfect, the upbeat 90’s playlist had everyone singing along & reminiscing on this epic music selection, I hope they never change it! The bar had one tv with 90’s music videos playing, such a nice touch & blast from the past. We were quickly sat at our bar seats & got to meet Tracy & Pete, it was like watching a synchronized swim meet seeing them work so well together.. making each guest feel like they were the only people in the building. They both had an immense knowledge of the menu & quickly answered any questions we had. I requested a glass of Pinot noir & was told there were two options, which were explained but I was still confused as to which I wanted! Pete poured a taste of each & the highland might just be the best glass of wine I’ve ever ordered at a restaurant. Dinner time… we were blown away! How has this place been open for less than two weeks & executing food at this level?? That chef certainly knows what he’s doing & we cannot wait to try more of the menu on our next visit. We enjoyed / devoured: spicy Caesar (we ordered it not spicy, which was happily accommodated)- definitely the best Caesar dressing I’ve ever had. Perfect petite leaves of romaine, evenly dressed, and topped with the perfect amount of buttery crouton crumbles- you get that crunch we all love in every bite. It was also topped with a generous amount of lemon zest & a mountain of fluffy Parmesan cheese. This is just a salad, but my goodness it’s so good! We next had the tuna tartare- avocado, cucumber, and freshly shaved horseradish over the top, served with warm wonton chips- astonished the horseradish doesnt over power the tuna, and those wonton chips are perfection. I had the crab cake entree for my meal & my husband ordered the large prime rib. I am a crab cake fanatic & these are hands down the best I’ve ever had- Tracy told us this was her favorite entree & that each crab cake was 5oz & 4 of those ounces are 3 different sizes of lump crab meat, she wasn’t lying! This thing was loaded with sweet beautiful crab, flavors were balanced & not heavy at all. My husbands eyes lit up when that gorgeous plate of prime rib arrived. A soup cup of silky, decadent potato purée, a generous portion of flavorful au jus & a zesty horseradish cream sauce. The prime rib itself was on point medium rare, and it was seasoned to a level of excellence. You simply can’t find a good prime rib in Charleston until the James opened up. The portions were generous & we both left with a lunch we were looking forward to the next day. Pete even brought us takeout cups of au jus & horseradish sauce to have for our leftovers. They aren’t forgetting any details, and it’s showing. Perfect place for happy hour pop in, a casual meal or a place for a birthday or celebration. The bar does go on a wait once full, and is seated by the host stand. Beth was great & explained this to us in detail (as most bars are first come first serve & you have to be a shark trying to stalk for seats. This process is different, but fair & a smart move, we were grateful she explained this to us & it simply keeps the process fair &...

What a terrible dining experience. It started off fine, was a beautiful evening to sit on the patio. Service was slow and we had to ask to place our food order after probably half hour or more of being there. We weren’t in a huge rush though, so it wasn’t a big deal. I ordered a steak. I asked when I ordered if it had any seasoning and was told just salt and pepper. I also ordered a side of fries. When the food came, there was a really potent smell which I thought was from my friends swordfish and even made a comment about it, but turns out it was coming from my steak. Took a bite and it had a rancid pungent flavor that reminded me of blue cheese but much worse. I don’t like to be a complainer so I tried another bite but I just couldn’t do it. Had my friend try a bite without telling her why and she literally spit it out and said it had gone bad. I told the server and he tried to convince me that the cut of meat was supposed to taste like that but if I didn’t like it, I could get something different so I asked for a different steak to be brought out. No big deal, even though I was a little worried that I had taken a few bites of what was probably rotten meat. Then I waited while the other three people at my table very slowly ate their food because they felt awkward that I didn’t have mine. Kept waiting… asked, was told it was coming… 30 minutes went by and everyone had finished eating, so I asked again. Server apologized and said that when he placed the order the grill was full so that’s why it was taking so long. If they would have told me I’d be waiting 45 minutes for a steak to replace the bad one, I would have just gotten something else. And honestly, mine should have been rushed since it was their fault, but I think they deprioritized it because they assumed I just didn’t like it and didn’t believe me that it was bad. So I finally asked them to just make it to go, and my friend suggested they also bring me new fries since the ones I had ordered were now cold. The steak finally came but now we were waiting on the fries and a check, so I decided to eat a few bites of steak while I waited. I was done with the steak before the fries came out 15 minutes later and we reminded the server we needed the check. Then we waited 20 more minutes for the check. I was told my entire meal had been comped but when we got the check, only the steak had been comped, not the fries or my drink. (They did offer me a free dessert too.) At that point we just wanted to leave because we were paying for a babysitter and had been there for nearly 2.5 hours already. The manager gave us a $50 gift card to come back but even with the comped steak (which I ate out of a to-go container 30 minutes after my friends had finished their food), the check was still more than $200 for 4 of us and we didn’t even get that many drinks, so $50 doesn’t go far there. The evening was beautiful and the company was nice, but I would have much preferred going to a different restaurant that takes care of their customers immediately when they serve them bad meat.

Also, I realize this is an old house but there are only two single stall bathrooms for 100+ people so there was always a line of at least 3 people per bathroom.

There was also a band playing on the patio but it was so loud that we couldn’t have a conversation. I like live music at dinner but this was way too loud for a restaurant.

I’m giving 2 stars instead of 1 because besides the loud music, I do like the ambiance and the inside renovations...

I have dined here numerous times in the past and have always enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and service, until today. In the past, I have always made a reservation, but found that I did not necessarily need one in the middle of the day as there were always open tables, so I thought I might be okay to dine today without a reservation. When I arrived, I could see there was a large outdoor party, but the manager said that he could still seat us in about 10 minutes. I also overheard him telling a caller on the phone that "there was currently no wait to be seated inside", so again I didn't think there would be an issue. Then he tells me that they are getting a table ready for us in the wine cellar. I have NEVER seen the wine cellar, but I asked him if it was safe for my 84 year old mother who has bad arthritis and cataracts/low vision. He said we'd be fine. We waited 15 minutes to be taken to the basement and walked by several open tables in the dining room. The basement stairs were extremely long, steep, and dark with carpet which makes it very hard for elderly people to travel especially with low vision. We were the ONLY PEOPLE shoved into the cellar. No other diners ever came down, except to use the bathrooms. The cellar was very dark, dusty, and cold! Not at all comfortable for those with arthritis, and again not ideal for those with low vision. I had to use a flashlight just to see the menu. The food wasn't prepared as well as it usually is. The hashbrowns were super greasy, and the beignets were dripping in oil, hollow inside, and had French fries mixed in. We didn't even finish the beignets because they tasted like greasy fries. This was seriously one of the worst dining experiences I have had in a long time, and I don't understand why we were treated like this! Even the servers kept apologizing for us being shoved in the cellar. When we left, the same open tables that we passed by on the way down were still open. Management could have really handled this situation with more grace and taken into consideration that some members in our group couldn't make the travel to the basement and weren't comfortable sitting in the old, dark cellar. Not to mention we were left there alone. I would have rather just waited a bit longer for a table in the dining room, and as I mentioned many were open the entire time we were there. My advice is make sure you have a reservation so you aren't banished to the cellar and mistreated. I am really upset about how uncomfortable the experience was for my poor mother, when we were just trying to enjoy a nice lunch out. I have added photos so that others will have the opportunity to see what the room and stairs look like so you know ahead of time. Not ideal for those who may struggle with steep carpeted dark stairs and dark,...