Grandstaff & Stein — Restaurant in Richmond

Great place! It was pretty busy for a weeknight, we made a semi-last minute reservation for 7pm the day of and got in and seated right away. The dark wood tones everywhere and vintage tunes playing when we walked in through the bookshelf was just the perfect scene setter for the cool and cozy vibes of this place. The servers and bartenders were attentive and efficient despite the crowd. We were seated at a booth by our host and immediately given two glasses and a big bottle of water. Our server who I believe was named Ander greeted us shortly after, he was very friendly, welcoming and encouraged us to ask any questions about the food and drinks menus. We started off with a round of drinks and the crispy duck drumettes. For round 1 we did a Suntory Old Fashioned for myself and an Island Time mule for my partner, both were tasty and left a good first impression for thier extensive drink menu. Crispy duck came out and was indeed crispy and had a delicious glaze/sauce. For our entrees I got the pot pie, which our server did say was availible to add meat if I wanted, but I stuck with getting it as-is, which was a vegeterian option. Partner got the meatloaf- when reading the menu we both thought meatloaf was kind of a weird option for an upscale-ish restaurant to have, but our server said it's very popular and we were curious about the buffalo/beef meat blend. I was impressed with this entree. The buffalo added such an interesting flavor, the meat was juicy and the tomato gravy on top pulled the whole thing together. This is not your mom's meatloaf dinner. The pot pie was also so good, the puff-pastry crust on top kept its crispiness throughout the meal and the stew was so hearty and savory i actually had trouble believing this was the vegeterian option. Second round of drinks (had with the entrees) I went for a Bee's Knees which is not on the menu but the server confirmed could be made. My partner got the Blue Note also from their mule menu. Both were refreshing, the Bee's Knees was just a little more sour than I'm used to but overall for something that isn't listed on thier cocktail menu and was made by request I think it was decent. Last round of drinks with dessert I did the Jungle Boogie and partner did the Campfire mule, we had our last round of drinks with the Bread Pudding for dessert. The bread pudding was THICK and warm!!!! It was the perfect comfort dessert to end our comfort meal entree choices. The drinks paired well with the dessert. Overall I think our total came out to around $200 which is not bad at all for 3 rounds of drinks, an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert. Plus the vibe of the place alone is worth a visit especially if you are into the 1920s era Speakeasy. I was actually shocked at the price of the food being so reasonable for how high-quality all the dishes are, especially since we got some harder to find meat options like duck and...

Met some friends here for dinner. First, I should say that I am totally not a fan of the whole 'password' needed for access it's a cute gimmick but it's just not a game I like to play. That being said, I DO love the Speak Easy vibe and decor, and this place definitely fits the part inside, it's adorable and the adult beverages really give you the whole Speak Easy vibe.

Their food selection is pretty good. I had the Chicken Piccata and my GFs had salmon, filet, crab cakes, bruschetta, and a couple of salads. Everyone enjoyed their meals. I thought that my portion was plenty and the price was fair. I didn't check out all of the prices, but I did notice that the salads were a good size for the price that they charged (which I appreciate, because making a salad just isn't that hard or expensive - you can offer protein add-ons to increase the price).

My GFs ordered drinks seemed to like them. Everyone ordered desserts but me, as all of their desserts contain egg, so instead I asked if they could make me a chocolate martini. The waitress said that they don't have an official chocolate martini but they had liquor de cacau and can 'whip up something' (or said something similar to that). Knowing that they had a lot of booze options and they offered chocolate and likely had cream, I figured it'd be a safe order. I was wrong, I don't think that they made a drink at all - I think it was just plain chocolate bourbon of some sort. It was fine, had that been what I wanted I would have drank it, but honestly that tastes more like bourbon and NOTHING like chocolate so I returned it. I go to places all the time and they wing it and come up with something half decent, this is the first time I've been disappointed.

The front staff was friendly and helpful. Our waitress was polite and answered most of our questions with ease, the food part she had down but I'm not sure that she knew the liquor portion as well - questions were asked like 'is this drink sweet' and her responses were something similar to 'it's a good balance'. She did a great job of watching for folks as they meandered in, coming to make sure we had drinks and answer food questions as they came up, but we felt like she sort of dropped the ball on the follow up after the ordering was done.

There is plenty of seating indoors and it looks like they have a little patio area, it was raining when we got there so no one was sitting outside but I assume that little area is theirs.

I'd definitely go again. No matter the chocolate martini experience, had the waitress been a little more attentive and on her liquor-question game, I'd have given this 5 stars.

Thank you for...

I'm a former server so this will be through for those who care BUT Here's the bottom line up front:

WOULD I RECCOMEND: Yes from me and the wife! 7.5/10 stars Cool concept Good Food Awesome Drinks A bit price BUT you expect that from a place as niche as this We were happy!

Details are as follows...

Atmosphere: It was a bit hot in there, they could use

a couple strong, inside fans Bar atmosphere was perfect The dress code is NOT strict. I saw everything from jeans to baseball caps and tennis shoes to Polo shirts to Fedora hats. Sight smell of cigar smoke to set the mood. We would have LOVED someone playing piano or singing low in the background. It's a speak easy so my imagination runs wild.

Food: Food side of the house needs work My steak was AMAZING, get the steak guys My wife's Assa Bucco was decent The overall menu was great but a bit expensive You're there for the experience and the seasoned wait staff/Bartenders Sorry but you have to pay a certain price to get that quality of service! Flavors didnt pop

Drinks: Great quality Strong/Proper amount of alcohol Bartenders were OBVIOUSLY EXPERIENCED and very focused on the details The experience felt like it was catered more to drinks than food. (Which I didn't expect)

Food: The speak easy aspect is a cool, new idea. It gave us a nudge as a couple to remind us that we were in a special place.

Price & Service: Service was A1 (thanks Mike) Value for what we had was pretty good! We don't feel we overpaid based on what we got, the value was there!

Portions: Portions were great! Assa Bucco was a bit bland but SO TENDER Steak was amazing, with brussels Salad was VERY flavorful

Three Notes:

1. Parking may be scarce, we chose street parking but plan accordingly
2. Specify or call to Reserve the TYPE of table you want (we wanted a booth, got a bar table which changed the experience a bit"
3. KNOW THE PASSWORD TO ENTER...YES IM...