Virginia Kitchen — Restaurant in Herndon

My family and I went there on a Sunday morning. The restaurant was crowded. The front desk welcome us nicely and we were directed to the back room and sat at the last table. To be honest, their food quality is very good, and the portion is adequate. You have plenty of options to choose from, go to their website and you can see the list. The young servers were nice, though they did a couple of mistakes (with our orders), considering the time and number of guests it was completely OK for us. Other things, unlike IHOP and similar, they charged me every time I requested a coffee refill, again ok. Then why 2 stars? When we sat, I noticed a middle-aged lady (manager? Owner? ) was going to each table and talking with the guest, she didn't show up to our table. My family and I were the only guests there with a " different " look and color. I kept noticing, hoping I am wrong, maybe she knows those people ( more than 10 other tables, all the same race though except us) I don't want to misjudge other people, so I thought it might be better to stay a bit more to see how she reacted to other coming/leaving people. We stayed about 45 minutes, 15 minutes more than usual. Time passed, and several tables got empty and occupied by other people, At the same, she completely ignored us, while welcoming "other" guests. I didn't like her manner. Just want to remind people like her, Believe me or not, keeping this country "great", needs blood like me and similar immigrants, those with the highest level of education and professional level, those who spend late nights studying hard, instead of watching football games. Those who their big issue is not how to have fun at the weekends, but how to pass a tough professional exam. Don't believe me? Look at every big and reputable university, and search for the professors. Or, Look at the list of high-level and skilled employees of the big American companies, Ford, GM, Microsoft, Intel, etc. I know some people do not bother to search, Not a problem, just look at the other "visible" "others" signs: doctors, specialists, pharmacists so on, and see how they "look". Ask a couple of your friends in some areas to see how their officials desperately looking for some specialists, and they can't find anyone, since someone like my "color" doesn't want to work there, and there are no people like yours to work there! Hope...

I wanted to try a new place for breakfast and drove +30minutes to come to Herndon to try this place. I walked in and commented on how quaint it is, reminding me of the South. There were many elderly people dining in and seemingly enjoying themselves.

I ordered breakfast and my friend ordered a lunch sandwich. The silverware was different for both of us, mine weighing nothing and easily bending which was a bad sign. We were given a water refill out of a dingy plastic pitcher, that was dripping either sweet tea or coffee onto our table. Still, I didn't lose hope until the food arrived. The biscuit smelled and tasted like straight flour, with no other flavor. It was also soggy, and a part of it was hot while the other side was cold (microwaved?). The potatoes looked flavorful, but were the absolute opposite. They tasted plain and microwaved as well - a portion was warm while the others weren't. They weren't crispy, but gave the appearance that they were once crispy. The cherry on top was that the omelette had raw onions inside. This was an outrageous move by the chef (if there is one present?) as no place has ever served raw, crunchy onions in eggs. Besides for one bite of the eggs, biscuit, and potatoes, I did not touch my food. There was also a visible crockpot and a buffet warmer in the back that the waitresses would occasionally stir which I found quite alarming.

The waitress was peculiar and was clearly not fond of us for some unknown reason, but that doesn't affect my rating as the food was grotesque. The waitress asked if I wanted a box, but no comment on how clearly nothing was touched. At other diners and restaurants the wait staff isn't so dense as to ignore a problem like a full plate of food, but she did. Again, the waitress wasn't fond of us, but we tipped 20% and vowed...

I went to Virginia Kitchen based on reviews from Facebook and I was really disappointed due to the food quality, but especially with the poor service and our server.

I ordered a Belgian waffle and after bringing me a regular waffle, she became defensive and insisted immediately that I had ordered a regular waffle. Never mind that the two other people at the table mentioned I specifically said Belgian waffle, and she even repeated it back to me considering I ordered several other detailed items with my meal.

Mistakes happen but it was her nasty attitude that rubbed me the wrong way.

It didn't help that the wrong waffle she did bring out was tough as leather and stuck to my plate. I gave up even trying to eat it after two bites. And my biscuit was incredibly dry.

I was also surprised they didn't have real maple syrup available and only had the "syrup" made primarily with corn syrup, cellulose gum and artificial flavoring. My son just had to settle for that on his waffle. Oh well.

I'm not sure why Virginia Kitchen has gotten such high praise online. Maybe our server was just having a bad day and we happened to order items that weren't their specialty. Guess we'll never know.

I must say, the home fries and egg white omelette were pretty good. But I don't think I'll be back to VK due to the poor service and inconsistent menu items.

I don't recommend Virginia Kitchen. And I'm going to stick with Silver Diner...