Gather & Hem Bar — Restaurant in Richmond

Was excited to try a new "cocktail lounge" for my birthday with 5 friends. We made reservations and came in at 5:15pm on a Monday in case there would be a rush.

First, the lounge is in a hotel and without a hotel key you are locked out until a front desk assistant opens the door for you. How weird. Minor inconvenience but not a big deal.

We came in to an empty lounge and the server laughed we had a reservation. We chose where we sat. The menu looked delicious. I ordered the Wagyu Poutine. OUT OF STOCK. I ordered the Box Office Brussels. OUT OF STOCK. I ordered the chocolate beignets. OUT OF STOCK. Okay, we'll just have drinks.

I ordered the No My Prob-Plum. OUT OF STOCK. I ordered the Don't Give a Dram. OUT OF STOCK. I ordered the Fashionably Late. Bing, 6th time is a charm. How embarrassing for a birthday with out of town guests. We all ordered the same thing since the menu was very fake (seeing they didn't have anything even though it just opened).

TWENTY MINUTES LATER even though the place was empty, the server came with our drinks. We chugged and left. I don't even think we finished because we knew the birthday needed to be had somewhere else.

Was excited for a special place. This is nothing more than a hotel bar that looks fancy but awful...

This is the hotel bar. I cannot emphasize this enough because my brother in law was hosting a engagement dinner and this was suggested to him because the number of people we were having. I saw that there was a second restaurant that was across the way in the hotel that was much better set up for a celebration dinner so I am not sure why this was the suggestion.

The food over all was good and our server went above and beyond. But again this is a bar. And as such has a different priority when it comes to service then an actual restaurant. It was made clear when the appetizers came out quickly enough and the alcoholic drinks also came out quickly but anything else was slow as molasses.

If I were staying in the hotel and that was the only option fine but honestly I would still go to the full fledge restaurant if I am spending that...

Overpriced for what it is with small portions…lamb chops were laughable in size for $38 with no actual sides. I got more goat cheese than anything. The charcuterie board was poorly executed, the meats tasted low quality and old…the pickled vegetables had a horrible vinegar brine ratio and the acidity was all you could taste while eating an almost still raw and under fermented veggie, the Dijon mustard was traditional style but the texture was what I imagine a small bird vomits up to feed its young. The best thing in the board was made by 🐝. Service was subpar, roughly 15 people and we waited 15 minutes for a coke and canned Guinness…server took order and didn’t see him but maybe two more times in the two hours we were there…. The Hilton should absolutely do better on everything...