Varia — Restaurant in Norfolk

I took my mother to this restaurant for her birthday yesterday 09/11/2019. I went to this restaurant on 09/10/2019 to make reservations with the hostage to make sure my mother's birthday was going to be a success, my mother wanted prime rib and the hostess assured me that this restaurant offer prime rib on the menu, Monday thru Thursday. I confirmed with her several times are you sure because I want my mother's birthday dinner to be special and she said yes I'm sure. I then spoke with one of the supervisor's that was on duty on 09/10/2019 to see if they could accommodate my mother in anyway on her birthday with a candle or something and she told me she will be off on 09/11/2019 and told me to reach out to Rachel or Matt. I contacted the restaurant manager Matt several times and also left a message for him to contact me pertaining to the reservation that I made for my mother. He never contacted me. I then reached out to the supervisor Rachel, I was finally able to reach her after several attempts. she assured me that they couldn't do anything but put a candle on her desert. In which they didn't do because they were all out of candles said the waiter. Mind you when we got to the restaurant on my mother's birthday and saw the menu, we immediately said we don't see prime rib on the menu. It was a total disaster, I saw the supervisor Rachel several times walking around acknowledging other guests in the restaurant but didn't at all acknowledge our table which made us fill unwelcome. We will never go to this restaurant again. They gave small portions of food and it tasted very bland. Also my total for 3 people was $167.00. Thanks a lot for making my mother's birthday a disaster Varia.

PS: As I go thru the reviews of this restaurant, I wish I would have done that before talking to the hostage and making reservations at this restaurant, especially for my 83 year old mother. Take heed and beware.

PS: Rachel, why would I contact you when I spoke with you on the phone on 09/11/2019 and you didn't keep your Word. I've noticed you leave the same response on everyone's negative review. What are you going to do different now that you...

I will start with a statement that my review is about the experience and not just the food. I’m not a fan of writing negative reviews but if I call another restaurant to see if they are open so we can at least have a decent desert tha5 is an issue. I made a reservation two days in advance and reconfirmed it a day before. We arrived there few minutes prior to our reservation time, stood there for several miniutes until the hostes arrived only to tell us that they are overbooked and we need to wait 15 to 20 minutes. I’m okay with delay but the professional thing to do is call and advise the customer,same way I will call if I am delayed. We waited and 10 minutes later we were shown to our table. In addition, they were still taken bookings on Open Table for that time. The server was nice and we put our order. We started with a charcuterie board- it had two types of cheese and two types of meet blueberries and one strawberry. The server just put it on the side of the table and left, it was a shareable dish, peopled way is to put it in the middle. The table had a small bread plate with butter knife, a salad fork and main fork yet no plate was set for us to eat our starters, we used the bread plate as a dish plate. A bread and a plate of olive oil were brought to table, so why the butter knife? In addition One of the cheese was served with the plastic wrap on its rind. This treat was $25. Skip it. Main course came yet our server didn’t clear our appetizer nor the used cutlery , he looked at me waited for me to move my plate!really? I ordered the bone in pork chop and after the server put it on the table he noticed there is no steak knife so he advised he will bring me one. He went, came back to pour us water but no knife, after few minutes he came back with the knife. The main course was decent yet spicy , I liked it but it may not be for all. We looked at the desert menu, this is an Italian restaurant yet the menu had Carrot Cake, creme brule, cheese cake and chocolate cake. Why not make some Italian dishes? We took the check and moved to Todd Jurich’s to have a decent desert. It might be a one night issue but there were too...

Honestly, this place does not even deserve 1 ⭐️. Last night was my 30th birthday dinner. I’m sure many know that to be a big milestone. This was a well planned event. Calls were made prior, leading to the day off. Double confirming that they would be able to account for up to 15 people and can make the reservation. Arriving, my friend who organized was told they would not be seated until more than half the party was there, and proceeded to say we also cannot split checks. After seating, the waiter that we had for the night (tall, African American, long dreads, and glasses) I did not get his name because right from the moment we sat down he was already sarcastic, rude and seemed like he hated his job. I was asking questions about the menu, along with my group and at one point he mumbled loud enough for us all to hear after asking for something “Jesus christ” aggressively and annoyed. I wasn’t going to say anything since one of my friends chose to speak up for me which by the way was kind enough to talk to him privately to the side.. BUT now waking up and realizing my 30th birthday dinner I spent 3 hours of feeling unwelcome and like I did not belong in that restaurant without even an apology after the fact that my friend talked to said waiter and I believe his manager (Caucasian lady with medium/long black hair) it’s completely and utterly unprofessional. As a business owner myself the least that could have been done was a proper apology for even experiencing the most unprofessional experience on my own birthday. Mind you, in the beginning we were told we would not be allowed to split checks, my husband and I paid 1,211.00 and had our friends go through the check to calculate their tabs afterwards because in the beginning of sitting down the waiter said you can split checks but it’s more convenient for me if you didn’t. So after being rude the entire night, we. The customers still accommodated you more than they did us. I would never go again. The food was great, the drinks were great. But for me the attitudes, the tone, the energy was just completely unprofessional for me to go back and just be...