The Hard Shell Bellgrade — Restaurant in Midlothian

11/29/20 Special occasion dinner went awry. Searching for specials on line several weeks ago, I found exactly what I was looking for at The Hard Shell. We drove to the other side of the city specifically on Sunday night (Saturday night was preferred, but the special was for Sunday). When we ordered, we were told the special was no longer being offered. I pulled it up on their website, and the manager pointed out that she could not navigate to it from their main menu. I demonstrated that it was a page on their site, and a simple Google search brought it up. I was told that it was a mistake, and they were choosing not to honor the special. I asked what else they could do, and I was told they would not do anything. To me, the ethical choice would have been to honor the special, correct their own website error, and identify how to prevent reoccurrence. Our waitress was great. Everybody was nice. Our soup was good, the Hard Shell Pasta dish was good, except the pasta itself was way overcooked. No longer in the mood for seafood, I chose a sandwich, and it was only OK. Since dinner was a bust, we chose not to get dessert and coffee. Had we gotten the special, and desserts for the special occasion, the bill would have come to approximately 75% higher. Better for the restaurant, and much better for our waitress. 12/19/20 Update: The manager and owners reached out several times to demonstrate their concern for what occurred. Their effort felt genuine and well intentioned. They also made an offer to make things right, that I believe went above and beyond what I thought was reasonable. We will return to take them up on their offer, as I feel we now owe it to them to see this through. Even without having been there the 2nd time yet, their commitment alone turned this into a 4 star experience. 6/20/21 Update: We returned for our 2nd visit, and everything went much more smoothly. Just as the first time, all of the wait staff were great. The restaurant was packed inside and out with guests. The King Crab legs, She Crab Soup, potatoes, asparagus, key lime pie, and crème brulee were all quite good. I only had two quibbles: the steak was a tad chewy (it tasted great though), and the crab meat soup topping had bits of shell in it. A friend indicated that when they went to this restaurant a while back, the wait staff went out of their way to help out with a problem that my friend caused. I like Hard Shell Belgrade and look forward...

I’m sorry but my experience here tonight was awful. I attended for my birthday gathering. Apparently 2 weeks ago they changed their way of doing business and you can no longer make substitutions (also they don’t do separate checks which was never explained to us - still no big deal but you should tell your patrons this). Weird but not the end of the world. So I just order she crab soup now that I can’t order my favorite pasta and it was on the warm-cold side and tasteless. I literally thought something was wrong with my taste buds - no bc a friend got a bowl as well and she said the same thing. The waitress Rachel proceeds to tell us they don’t season the soup. I’m sorry … what? My daughter who also couldn’t order her favorite pasta ordered a kids pasta (which had the white sauce she wanted with her favorite pasta) and also said it was bland. Rachel again proceeds to say it’s a kids meal, we don’t put seasoning on it. 2 strikes for Rachel and certainly for the chef. From that point anything we said Rachel became hostile. Even asking for a manager - made Rachel become combative. I literally wanted to get up and leave at one point because the service she provided became unbearable and I didn’t want to lose my cool. However, others had ordered and I didn’t think it would be fair. My niece didn’t like her food. My friend was upset the appetizer she ordered came with the food AND AGAIN Rachel said this is how it’s done, you didn’t specify. I don’t know but it was awful. I’ve come to the restaurant for years - yeeeeaaaaaaarrrrsssss and I’ve never experienced the bad food and horrendous service that I have tonight. The manager never stepped in. I had to ask for the highest manager information. I lost my cool at the end when Rachel continued to be sarcastic. The experience honestly ruined...

Please let me start off by saying the food was wonderful the remodel beautiful. (Though I do miss seeing the open kitchen). Our table ordered a combination of Crab Cakes, Roasted Oysters, Rack of Lamb and King Crab legs with additional sides. You have on your menu a sweet potato with roasted corn side that we thought sounded interesting so two were ordered with meals. My mother wasn’t sure so she ordered a side salad, and sautéed spinach. My entree’ and sides arrive first and my mother tasted the sweet potatoes and roasted corn. She decided that she would prefer to have that instead of the side salad. We asked the server that was assisting Rachel to change her salad to the sweet potatoes and roasted corn side. Rachel returns to our table and states that we cannot change one for the other. (As I think back she was a little demeaning with a smile in a couple of things she said to us). Now I’m shocked! first because it’s salad that she has decided against. Not the entree, not one of the other cooked sides but a salad that we/wanted to refuse and reselect on . Where is the emotional connection with the patron? Certainly not with Rachel and not with this table. Apparently I am unclear on the rules of such a request. Customer engagement is everything for a thriving business in this day and age. Believe me I deal with it constantly on a daily basis. So in the end we went ahead and ordered an additional side of the sweet potatoes and roasted corn because my mother should want for nothing no matter how large or small. In retrospect I should have requested to see management but I had, had a long week with business meetings/travel and little sleep and I was just too tired for a any type of confrontation, be it good or bad. I’m truly disappointed with the way Rachel handled...