Crossroads Tabletop Tavern — Restaurant in Manassas

My wife and I stopped in after the Annual Santa Train with our 2 year old daughter. We just wanted somewhere to sit and have lunch, but also somewhere we could entertain our toddler for an hour or so.

I'm going to be very honest, we almost got up and walked out after being seated. We were 'warned' that they were short staffed that day and literally one guy back there in the kitchen cranking out everyone's orders. But I'm glad we stayed (rather, my wife pushed me to stay as our toddler was content).

They were busy, they were 'very' busy and I can't hold that against the staff. I'm not sure if maybe some employees called in sick that day or the owner just needs to open a few spots and hire more staff, but they were most definitely slammed!

The beer list was reasonably extensive and we had no issue finding something to enjoy, even if the wait time was a bit longer than ideal.

All of my frustrations and temporary annoyances however were very quickly shattered as soon as I took one bite of my meal... The Queen's Poutine.

The fries are seasoned well, and the cheese curds are both moderately chewy while maintaining a satisfactory creamy texture. This is not my first dish of Poutine. It's actually my go to for bar food to soak up alcohol.

The star of the dish is why I'm writing this review and it's the reason I'm so glad we ended up staying. The gravy... I genuinely hope the poor soul back there in the kitchen cranking out all of this food sees this message. I'm not sure if it's a man or a woman back there cooking, but Jesus Tap Dancing Christ... they are a culinary God!

That's the best GD gravy I've ever had on any meal in my entire life. This is no exaggeration. I don't know if it's a house recipe that a chef is following or if it's the chef's own concoction, but holy sht is that gravy amazing. I'm guessing there's thyme and rosemary in it along with some other spices. Whatever the recipe is, lock that sht up and don't sell it! It's special!!

With that said, because of the gravy alone,... that's the best poutine I've ever had.

My wife and I would definitely come back, on account the owner helps their current staff out by getting...

We recently moved to Manassas and were really hoping that we had found a great spot to hang out and bring friends. The first time we had a really nice server, food was okay, and beers were good. This was the 2nd time, we’ve gone and it was a huge flop. The drinks all sound amazing in theory, but are executed extremely poorly. All 3 of the drinks we had were not good and we only asked for 1 to be removed bc it was just sickeningly sweet. The glass had maybe an inch off the top, mind you the glass was not brought completely full to the brim and had only been tasted and they said too much had been drank. We even had told the server immediately and asked for a ginger ale instead. I would think you would care more about customer service and satisfaction. Food was subpar as well this time. Perhaps the young servers were just overwhelmed, but service wasn’t that great either. I’d only recommend this place if you want to take advantage of the wide array of games, which is awesome and just stick to beers.

EDIT

Attached photo of the supposed half finished drink that had a taste from only two people at the table — both determining it was far too sweet. Immediately asked for ginger ale instead and that took a while to come out. We had also been told that a manager would come out and take a look, but only the server came back and said no. We just wanted to leave at that point so didn’t press. The servers started out great, but we ended up having to set our plates on an empty chair bc we hadn’t seen anyone for quite sometime and were trying to play a game, which is why I tried to give the benefit of the doubt that they may have just gotten overwhelmed. We did let the person who did our check know that we weren’t very happy. It speaks volumes when looking at some of the responses to dissatisfied reviews… not what you typically expect from a restaurant trying to make...

Many great reviews have been provided that encompasses some of what I wanted to share so I will say this: Crossroads is a great fun place for everyone, games for all ages (from the youngest toddler to the oldest), with games ranging from the least complicated to the most, quick/easy games to the more complex/time-involved, spanning many genres.

Incredibly kind-hearted and knowledgeable staff (ex. Devon, John) to help you quickly find the type of game you seek in the neatly organized area (be it the pace or complexity, or if it's a co-op or free-for-all, etc) as well as get you on your feet if you struggle with getting the game started. Thoughtful approaches to enhancing the gaming experience - such as cards, in all games that have cards, being encased in their own protective sleeves, so that you don't have to worry so much about the risk of damaging them with food or dealing with anything that could have been previously dirtied, though part of the culture this establishment attracts seems to be the more mindful and self-healing in taking care of such issues as they're played with.

The first floor is designated for families, and the second floor is for the adult crowd - with a more quiet (by compare at worst) atmosphere and a staffed full bar.

Also, my initial concerns of finding out the hard way if/what the threshold was for being able to continue playing after having finished the meal was unwarranted after having spoken with the awesome owner, John (they're all his games!), who is definitely not beyond reproach. They are working to develop a balanced and fair policy for everyone to have time to game while not creating a 2+ hour wait, and after speaking with John further, I am astonishingly optimistic that this will continue to grow into an even better place. I look forward to returning with my...