Todd Jurich's Bistro — Restaurant in Norfolk

TERRIBLE!!

Office holiday party gone VERY wrong! I have REALLY struggled with whether or not to post this review but at the end of the day I don't want someone to make the same mistake I did. I wish I had taken my office somewhere else for our annual holiday party.

THE FOOD: I wish I had read the reviews more carefully. I was charged $60 per person for an appetizer, salad or soup, and an entrée. They served two regular sized plates of meatballs and lumpia, for 13 people, as the appetizers. I knew immediately it wasn't enough for everyone so I opted not to eat them.

Once we ran out, our server asked if I would like more. I said yes. He came back and said "The chef said he would give you more meatballs (not lumpia)" as if I was begging for food that hadn't been paid for. The meatballs came out after I asked about them and after our 1st course was delivered.

The salad was comprised of mixed lettuce and shredded carrots. Nothing special. It came with a vinaigrette that I couldn't even tell was on the salad.

Dinner was a sad serving of 3 slices of steak, half a potato mashed, and a scoop of spinach.. again for $60

All of this is aside from the fact that the menu I approved before booking is not the menu that was presented when I arrived.

THE SERVICE: There was no one at the host stand all night. I stood there for 10 minutes before my server showed me to our private room. Every time one of my guests arrived they had to call me so I could come to the front and escort them back myself.

I made previous arrangements with the restaurant to offer beer and house wine, at my expense. I expected a select beverage menu to be printed for everyone (like the dinner menu). Instead, we were given ONE wine menu (all the wines) and ONE beer menu to SHARE. Our server loudly announced to everyone "You can choose any wine on the list as long as it's $8" making me seem like the cheap ass host for the evening!!!

Prior to ordering our food I asked for a Champaign toast. The served spilled a glass of Champaign on an empty seat and left it there for me to clean up. I swapped out the soaked menu for my menu so my guest would have a clean copy and had to ask for another napkin because mine was soaked.

At the end of the night, the server brought me my $1400 check and informed me he had calculated HIS tip on the TOTAL check which included $130 in taxes.. which means he squeezed out an extra $26 for himself for a total of a $228 tip, in 2 hours, after making me look cheap and spilling a glass of Champaign that I paid for and had to clean up myself.

SCHEDULING THE EVENT: I reached out to Debbie a week prior to get pricing, menus, date and time sorted out. She said she would email me all of that information but never did. I followed up a couple of days later at which time she sent me the info. I made some alterations to the menu which she needed a day to get approved (switching dessert for appetizers - I was told I couldn't choose the appetizers) and asked for beer/wine pricing. At the 11th hour, after a week of planning, she bumped our arrival time half an hour because "they were busy with other parties." Had I known this sooner I would have booked with someone else but time was up and I had no choice. We didn't get out of there until close to 10 o'clock.. still hungry no less!

OVERALL: Scheduling the event was difficult. I was humiliated by how the beer/wine situation was handled. The portions were SOOOOOO small, and not at all worth what I paid!!! The service was terrible, and I can honestly say I regret hosting my party here. Next year I will plan farther in advance so my back is not up against a wall..

THE GOOD: I am grateful for the time that I got to spend with my team!

The worst part is, not ONE person has reached out to apologize for the way we were treated.. it's that time of year again to book my holiday party and it WON'T be Todd...

Edited: 1/3/24: Every time I drive by Todd Jurich's Bistro I think about how bad this night was. Years later and still the worst "fine dining experience I have ever had. How is this place still open?

Edit: 9/24/2021 here I am three days later still mad I spent $150 on this meal. Seriously could have had a better meal at TGI Fridays. Just don't go save yourself the hassle.

We went to Tod Jurich's Bistro to celebrate my wife's birthday. I ordered the fillet (med rare) and lobster over mashed potatoes with salad. The plate arrived with a pool of a clear mystery liquid around its circumference. My guess is it was a biproduct of defrosting the frozen lobster. The beef was over cooked and the salad consisted of two leaves of spinach and half a leaf of romaine. The lobster was bad it was clearly frozen and served is shredded pieces. I was unable to identify claw or tail meat . The bread pudding was the only redeemable part of the meal and the only reason for the second star. This meal was not what I would expect for the price point.

To accompany the lackluster food we were treated to quite the show from our fellow dinners. A man named Greg spent the better part of a half hour shouting across the room to another table. He covered topics including how large his pentation was, how successful his property management business is, organizing his class reunion (Norview class of 1980), the private cook he uses who operates out of her basement in Ghent (she is a hustler always trying to sell you something) and his brothers success in the aviation industry. As Greg was shouting about having the inside track on where all the fruit flies were coming from (Tod told him they usually only are at the bar but they seem to really like the pumpkin decorations) and handing out business cards one of the dinners at the table next to ours vomited all over their table. Patrons scrambled to grab spare napkins for the dinner to clean up their vomit. I assume she was just reacting to the taste of the defrosted lobster. Despite being in the splash zone, no attempt was made to clean out table or replace any of out...

We had dinner last night at Todd Jurich's Bistro. I was disappointed. It was Restaurant Week so there was the fixed menu that we had researched on line in advance. But the menu changed when we got there. I was hoping to order Foie Gras but that was not on the menu. I had the Poke appetizer which was good. My wife had the "Signature" Pumpkin and Crab soup. It was also good, but there was almost no crab in it. There was only one lump that she was able to identify. My wife had the Osso Buco as a main and that was good. I had the Double Cut Pork Chop. I was very disappointed. It was NOT a double cut. It may have been 1" thick, not the 1.5 to 2" that would be a double cut. I commented on this and Todd came to the table later. He said that you could not cook a Double Cut Pork Chop and still have it tender. Then WHY put it on the menu? It was more of a Center Cut. Fine ... then put that on the menu. It came with Sharp Cheddar Mac. I thought it was cold; my wife said it was maybe room temperature. And it was NOT sharp Cheddar and not even that Cheesy. Dessert was OK. i had a Limoncello Pound cake with Berries. The pound cake was good but could not taste the Limoncello. Be careful when ordering the wine. I had researched the wine in advance and knew exactly when I was ordering. When the waitress brought the wine, it was a completely different wine. Usually I have forgotten what I ordered and would just accept it. But I knew specifically what wine I ordered and was able to catch it. Overall I was disappointed with the dinner, considering it is a Chef Owned Restaurant with his name on the marqueue. There needs to be better correlation between the food and the menu. Restaurant week is tough. The goal is to attract people to come back. From this experience, I will really have to...