Local Chop & Grill House — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

Seven people, including the bride and groom, attended a reception dinner here following the small wedding of my youngest daughter to her delightful husband. Do not rely on a GPS to find your way here if you are not familiar with the area. It would be very helpful to look at some pictures of the building in which it is located because signs for the restaurant are among many larger signs. The building is a former farm market with original guides to still painted on the white brick: FRESH MILK, CHICKENS 🐔 , FRESH EGGS, etc. The ambiance carries into the on painting. Interestingly, the rest of the building is condos with a few boutique shops and craft shops. Once you enter the Local Chop and Grill House the ambiance takes a sharp turn. Half has an American Pioneer/Western theme with a long wood and brass bar. The wall behind it is mirrored, which makes the already well-stocked bar appear even more flush with all the booze I could imagine. The side of the restaurant where we were seated was more elegant with ancient Roman and Greek replicas, linen table cloths and napkins, and food served on fine China. Three guests had 12 ounce boneless ribeye steak and mashed redskin potatoes with potato leek soup. All declared their steak cooked perfectly as ordered, tender and perfectly seasoned. Three other guests had 10 ounce boneless sirloin steak with mashed red potatoes and potato leek soup. Again everyone declared their steak cooked perfectly as ordered, tender and delicious. Unfortunately, everyone was disappointed in the soup; despite a very nice taste, the broth was as thin as water. The young brother of the groom ordered roasted duck. This elicited a strong reaction from the elder members of the group. One person guessed he must have had much experience eating the ducks he killed while hunting. This biased opinion was based upon where he lived and the fact that there was knowledge of guns from military service by another. I haven't said this was the first time for me family of the groom and family of the bride to meet. I was pleased that this young man sat tall in his seat as he said he shot only targets, not the animals, so he could defend his family and his home. Can't forget desserts: the caramel creme brulee appeared initially to be over-flamed on top. I was wrong. It was buttery and thin and the bit of crunch when chewed enhanced the overall quality. The custard was very smooth and buttery with the perfect touch of vanilla. The Triple Berry Cobbler was a great hit for everyone who had it. The berries were fresh from the garden and the pastry was buttery and crumbling. The final choice of dessert among our group was the chocolate caramel brownie topped with smoked ice. The brownie was enjoyed by all. However, the smoked ice cream was a toss up. Two people dislike it and thought it tasted too much like smoke. Another person thought it tasted like bourbon and didn't like it; he dislikes the taste of bourbon. The groom's mother had a large chicken dish, which she said she enjoyed. I was at the opposite end of the table so the only other thing I observed was that we both want grandchildren 😂. She told the newlyweds as we were saying farewell. I have to be kind to her. She has no grandchildren yet; I have 3: two by marriage and one by birth. Love them all the same. That was sweeter than dessert in...

The food was OK, but not outstanding. We had a reservation for 3 which we made about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It was parents weekend. Yesterday my son asked if we could increase the number in our party from 3 to 5 so a couple of his friends could join us. We called yesterday and left a voicemail asking if it was possible to increase the size of our party. Apparently they don’t open until 5:00. They never called us back to let us know whether it was possible. So we called back and spoke with someone at 5:30. They told us it was not possible. That is fine, no big deal. I was disappointed to see that they easily could have accommodated a larger party as the table for two directly behind us was never occupied while we were there.

I would have ordered the imperial stout, but they didn’t have it. We ordered the cheese board. The focaccia and homemade butter were good, but the cheese selections were uninspiring. There was a goat cheese Brie which was a miss in my opinion. The blue cheese was ok, and there was a cheddar which was also just ok.

We ordered the feta Cesar salad and this was very misleading. I think it is a big stretch to call this a Cesar salad. I did not get the sardine flavor that is the trademark of a Cesar. Also, for a salad making feta the feature, it lacked feta too.

Next, I ordered the local farm steak, New York strip which was supposed to be aged for 45 days. I can’t tell you that it wasn’t dry aged, but it was a really thin cut for a dry-aged steak. I ordered it with the Demi glacé sauce. I can definitely say that this was not a Demi glacé. I have taken the time to make a Demi glacé before and I would refer you to chef John on YouTube for his Demi glacé. The thing you look for in the sauce is that it is thick enough so that when you run a spoon through it, it remains separate for a moment and has a dark caramel, glossy color. This sauce was about the color and consistency of tea. As a side I ordered ratatouille. What I got instead were vegetables which were whole and grilled. They were not sliced and layered as a ratatouille preparation would required and I did not get the tomato base.

By this point I was so disappointed with the food I skipped dessert. My wife and son ordered some. My wife ordered the white chocolate cheesecake which came out as 3 small dallops of something, but I gotta tell you, maybe it vaguely tasted like cheesecake. My sone had the triple chocolate cake, and said that it was basically just a devils food cake.

We paid $206 for the meal and I was very disappointed in the overall meal. On this one, I would have to say both the front of the house and the back of the house were to blame, but I think the kitchen needs to really focus on quality. Maybe these issues will pass by some people, but ratatouille is pretty distinctive, and that wasn’t even close.

I didn’t give them zeros for this, but they are not performing...

We had to eat in the lounge (bar area) because we took our 15 year old son with us and he wanted a burger. You can only get their specialty burgers in the lounge.

The lounge has no windows, one emergency exit, and one way in or out for patrons. It's a little like a cave, especially since the area was not very large. The tables were a little dinged up and seemed very poor quality. The bar area was separated from the rest of the room by a wooden plank on the floor that was only about a foot wide and sloped. You had to walk down this plank to go around the tables and I almost lost my balance a couple of times as we were entering and leaving. I assume the actual dining room was much more elegant but we didn't get to see it.

The menu is of course pricey but not ridiculously so. It was my birthday so I got the Ribeye, which just happened to be the most expensive item on the menu at $33. It came with two sides and I chose the golden mashed potatoes and greens. The potatoes arrived lukewarm and were just like the mashed potatoes from Applebees. Meh. The greens were okay but I am not a fan of adding vinegar to greens and these definitely had vinegar added. It wasn't too strong so they were edible but still, especially since the menu's description did not state vinegar. My husband also ordered the mashed potatoes but for his second side he opted for asparagus. They too arrived cold. Additionally, my food arrived with his asparagus and his arrived with my greens. We had to swap sides.

My son's $13 burger was an bison burger that he very much enjoyed. It came with a short metal cup containing duck-fat battered fries and peach ketchup. The fries just tasted like fries but he said the peach ketchup was good.

Overall it seemed like the food was trying too hard to be fancy. I had to ask for salt and pepper for the table and was given a mismatched set that looked like it came off my grandma's table from 1974. My ribeye came with a creamy horseradish dip, which was really good but weird. The bill for all 3 dishes and a diet coke came to $79.00. Costco has $100 giftcards to Chophouse for $80, but we failed to take advantage of that deal when we were there the day before.

Might go back someday to try some appetizers but now that I can say I've been to the Chophouse I probably won't go back for a full meal. They do offer free valet parking since parking is quite limited. However, be prepared to tip. Not quite worth 3 stars but not bad enough for 2. Solid 2.5. Waitress was very attentive...