Ridge Room — Restaurant in Harrisonburg

I had a deeply disappointing and discriminatory experience at the on August 25, 2025.

After checking in at 4PM into the Hyatt, I went to the Ridge Room rooftop restaurant around 6:30PM. What followed made me feel unwelcome and targeted.

First, when I walked in, I received strange looks. I sat at the bar and waited, but no one acknowledged me until I waved at the bartender to see if I could sit outside. She pointed me to the hostess, who then directed me to a table but didn't offer a menu. Once seated, I waited while two staff members repeatedly walked past me without eye contact, acknowledgment, or service. After more than 15 minutes, I had to go inside and grab a menu myself from the unattended hostess stand. Even then, no one approached me, while staff were clearly serving other tables.

I eventually went inside to voice my concern. By that point, it was clear to me I was being bypassed in a way that made me feel racially profiled, as I was the only minority present in the entire restaurant. I went downstairs and reported this to the front desk supervisor, Bryan, explaining that I no longer felt comfortable staying at the hotel.

After that, I went back upstairs to record a video of the restaurant to document the environment and demographics of the patrons. The irony is that the first and only time the hostess directly approached me was when she noticed me holding my phone and demanded “are you recording?” which is on the video. Suddenly, I was noticed and confronted. As I left, I saw her rushing off, clearly looking for a manager--again, ironic given that no one could be bothered to acknowledge me when I was actually a customer trying to order food.

This entire experience left me feeling excluded and racially profiled. I left the property and stayed at the Marriott Courtyard next door instead, where I was treated with respect.

As someone who spends ~100 nights a year in hotels across multiple states, I do not casually use the word "racist."

I was refused service at this establishment due to my race. In my reviews I've never made...

The cabin decor, view and intimacy of the space were awesome and are what makes this place special thus far.

The couple cocktails I tasted were unfortunately unbalanced so they need to do a bit more work before I'd go there for a cocktail. That said, they have a decent selection of liquor, so I would be happy to order a Scotch or a highball!

The day we went was super slow, but curiously, it took quite a while for the food to arrive, and when it did, it was pretty hit and miss (the meatballs in a skillet were cold, the wings had almost no sauce on them, the potatoes in a skillet were good and hot, the pork belly was overcooked but the fixings around it were good, etc.). My best guess for the inconsistency is that they could be delivering it from downstairs? Or perhaps they were understaffed in the kitchen that day, so someone had to do too much of everything. Not really sure. But the dishes that were supposed to be cold were pretty good! Suffice to say, I like the vision, but not so much the execution yet.

The Ridge Room is also fairly new so perhaps they are still getting their feet under them and perfecting their dishes and cocktails. To that end, I'll definitely go back for some beer or wine, but probably wouldn't dive head-first into the food again (we kinda' went ham here on our first visit). I'll also give them another shot at a cocktail next time I'm there as maybe we just had a bad day.

I'd definitely recommend a few orders of those deviled eggs again though, and if they have them, get yourself some Santiago chocolates and a glass of Lodi wine! So cool to see them supporting a local food artist (because those chocolates are truly works of art).

All in all, that view is hard to beat for Harrisonburg, and for a weekend pregame or a weekday nightcap, I'd...

My husband and I visited the Ridge Room at the Hyatt Hotel a couple of weeks ago for date night.

The ambiance of the restaurant is unparalleled and makes it worth the visit itself. The tavern has a speakeasy vibe - You enter at the ground floor of the hotel in a beautifully decorated sitting room. Cute signage points the way to an elevator whisking you off to the next leg of your journey on the top floor - Nice touch. Indoor seating features a cozy lodge style room complete with a wall-length fireplace. Outdoor seating overlooks the city and affords diners a gorgeous view of the Allegheny Mountains and, depending on what time you visit, the sunset.

The service left something to be desired. Our server was a young flustered fellow who took about 10 minutes to get our drinks out (1 beer, 1 water, 1 soda). At least we had plenty of time to figure out what we wanted to order - silver lining.

The menu is unique and exciting, boasting local beef from Glendor Farms and others. Everything is artfully plated by the chef. We ordered the crispy Brussels sprouts, ricotta toast, street corn lettuce cups, wings, blue catfish tacos, and chicken/veggie kebabs over tricolor couscous.

The plates are sizable as far as "small plates" go; two selections should be plenty for one person. The Brussels sprouts were to die for - extra crispy with a tangy glaze - would definitely order again. The wings were good. They were tossed in a sweet chili sauce and served with an amazing mint dipping sauce. The ricotta toast, lettuce cups and fish tacos were underwhelming, and unfortunately the chicken kebab was super bland. However the couscous was delicious.

Next time we will order the cheese board, the tuna tartare and the lamb sliders - We both had food envy when we saw other folks'...