Crafthouse Reston — Restaurant in Reston

I believe I've come here twice so far. First time, I had nachos and some Irish whiskey or some such that was discounted on St. Paddy's Day.

This is my second time, on this Friday evening. Next Monday is Juneteenth, just to put into context.

I attended a social event here. In terms of parking, I work in Reston so don't have too much issue with it. Otherwise, try any of the parking garages in the Town Center (RTC) and they should be free for up to 2 hours on evenings or weekends -- but don't quote me on that.

Our waiter who came around was some Asian dude who had a lot of swag and general know-how, and me being Asian myself I could definitely respect that.

Anyway he said the best items here were any of the Bowls (Fish or Steak in particular), the Burgers, or Pizza. Don't remember his exact words, but he seemed sure of that.

I felt hungry enough for a burger, but I settled for a Salmon Bowl. That seemed good enough, and fish is healthier and I didn't want to risk touching red meat too often.

Turns out, my Bowl was rather superlative. Lot of greens and veggies and healthy side, but even that aside, the fish and accompanying sauce was an outstanding combo. Fish was lightly salted and went fine by itself or with underlying rice. But when you mixed in the sauce it came with, it truly added to the flavor. I would try spooning the sauce, along with salmon and rice and maybe some greens -- that combo tastes very good, trust me.

Anyway, subtracting a star because one it's kinda expensive here, so be prepared to bust out the wallet and a 20-dollar bill (figuratively speaking) and that's just with me ordering one dish and a glass of complementary water. That, plus lot of the people are just chatting amongst themselves and it's real hard to talk to anyone or strangers or just try to pick someone up in a bar-style setting, just saying. I tried that once last time, it was a smaller crowd and bit easier somehow, but when it's packed it's pretty brutal to talk to strangers, but then again I guess that applies across the board in anyplace VA, so this is no exception to that rule.

All in all, good food but certainly on the pricier side. I guess it helps if you consider you're paying for the atmosphere too, but I didn't like the atmosphere too much myself either, so i guess it boils down to whatever floats your boat, captain.

Food: 4/5 Service: 3/5 Atmosphere: 2/5

All in all, I'd recommend eating here especially if you are hungry and have a (figurative) 20-dollar bill...

Where to begin...we have been here before and they are normally busy and our latest visit was no different on 5/15/25. However, in the past, the level of service was wonderful. Our large party was taken care of without issue. This latest trip was awful. It started with our Server who disappeared multiple times and would show up randomly with random drinks. I asked for ice water and received it 45 min later, after asking a 2nd time. While ordering dinner the server told us we needed to put a credit card down for everyone's order. When we questioned this as this had never been an issue and we explained, that everyone was paying their bill we were told he did not have time to separate our checks. At this time we asked to speak to the manager. The Server walked away. Food began to come out and we still had not seen the manager so we asked a random Server for the manager. He said he would go get him. Needless to say, we never saw the manager. Believing things would either get better or the manager would come to speak with us when they had time we continued. However, neither happened. Service was so bad several of our group opened tabs at the bar because they could get better service from the bar. At the end of the evening when it was time to settle up the server went around to each person getting payment. When it came down to us paying we ended up paying for extra food and drinks thinking one of our group had forgotten to pay their tab. However, when we went to those who left early they provided proof they paid for their food and we found we had been charged twice for food and drinks. In addition, our server was insistent that we provide cash for the tip. Several of our group did not have cash and were told to next time to bring cash. We get it we all work in customer service, but this server was rude, rarely found missed orders, and double charged us for items we did not receive. Then to demand cash was a bit unsettling along with his attitude. We never saw or spoke with...

Edit 2: 8/22/23 They've made some positive changes to their happy hour and daily deals menus, and things were looking up. However, most of their staff was gutted and replaced by new folks. Recently had possibly the worst interaction I've ever had with wait staff. I was given the wrong drink by a busser, which I returned (it was an unopened can). Our server returned and tried to convince me that the drink that was brought (a 12oz Paloma hard kombucha) was the same as what I ordered (16oz Paulaner Radler). When I declined, she became combative and said that they were the same "grapefruit light beers from New England" and that I kept ordering things on the menu that they didn't have. When I said I needed time to look at the menu again, she said I should be asking her instead, and then complained that my group shouldn't be sitting where we were sitting. The whole experience was so shocking that my group got up, talked to the manager and left.

Edit: management has now instituted a $20 per person minimum on trivia nights. Most likely will stop coming here if enforced. I guess they'd rather have $0 than the $12 I usually spend on a beer. It's fine. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here if they didn't host trivia every Tuesdays. Food+apps are expensive, and it's a crapshoot on whether or not the fried items come out overdone or underdone. Always leave stinking of old fry oil which is off-putting.

Beer variety is great, but prices are expensive, dissuasively so. Rare to find anything below 8$, common to see many in the $15+ range. For weird stuff it's palatable, but less so for local things. A can of Aslin will run you the cost of a 4-pack from the brewery about a mile away.

Service can be very slow. Have been here multiple times without being served for 30+ minutes. In one instance, I walked up to the bar to get a drink, and was told "to order from my server instead". Some waiters are much more attentive than others though, so sometimes...