Harry's at Hofheimer — Restaurant in Richmond

I wasn’t planning to write a review, but the Oreos convinced me otherwise.

We came in for dinner and grabbed seats at the bar. We ordered drinks and meals from the restaurant week menu. The drinks arrived promptly, but the appetizers took a very long time to come out. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience followed a similar pattern.

I hoped the slow appetizers were just a fluke, but the wait for the main courses was even longer. When my entrée finally arrived, it was cold and overly greasy, so much so that I couldn’t finish it.

While picking at the dish, I tried to order another drink, but that also took much longer than expected. To be fair, the bartender was doing her best, and it seemed like she was the only person making drinks. It really felt like she could have used a bit more support.

By this point we were about an hour and twenty to thirty minutes into the meal. The vibe was dying, my stomach wasn’t feeling great from the grease, and I was looking forward to leaving. But we still had dessert coming.

The bartender let us know that one of the items we had ordered was no longer available. At that point I was feeling pretty disappointed and said I’d skip a replacement, we’d just take the fried Oreos to go. The bartender comped one of our drinks because of the issue with dessert, which I appreciated.

One of the reasons I was fine skipping the other dessert was because the menu mentioned the fried Oreos came with seven which is more than enough to share.

We waited another ten to fifteen minutes for the Oreos before heading out. But when we got home we found there were only four in the box.

The issue wasn’t the number itself, but that the menu clearly said seven. After such a long wait and a disappointing meal, it felt like no one was really paying attention or cared enough to follow through on even the small details.

After roughly an hour and forty-five minutes I left feeling underwhelmed, a little queasy, and short a dessert and a half. Overall, it was a...

"Blended" rating from our table . . . FOOD -- Harry's chicken sandwich got rave reviews online, so we gave it a try. The meat was expertly cooked, yet blandly seasoned; the wet bun fell apart; red cabbage slaw topping lacked crispness and tang; frites had cooled and lost texture by the time they were served; portion size was more than generous. Maybe the chef was having an off night? My husband's gnocchi got high marks -- creamy, well-seasoned, and garnished with crispy prosciutto crumbles. Our server apologized for the beer's foamy pour, but it was cold and looked pretty. No problem at all! SERVICE -- Top marks for Elle, our server, who was professional, friendly, prompt, attentive, and accurate with our order. ATMOSPHERE -- Beautiful decor; art deco-inspired railings and trim; speakeasy vibe; rooftop bar with both high table and lounge seating, great city views; limited food and beverage availability; appealing music selection, but volume made two tables near the bar uninhabitable for those who wanted to talk and retain their hearing. Nevertheless, pretty good so far. But . . . we had to run the gauntlet to reach the rooftop. At 6:45 pm with the restaurant mostly empty, patrons (possibly regulars) at the downstairs bar were blocking access to the rooftop elevator; talking loudly/yelling; dropping frequent F-bombs; making it a challenge for others to relax with dinner and drink. We returned to our table after the rooftop tour to find these same patrons "leaving". Then they stopped to chat with the party seated next to us, continuing to be loud and profane. Staff did nothing to rein them in or urge them out. Our server even gave them a high five. CONCLUSION -- Harry's definitely has a few rough edges which need smoothing out. I'm okay dining in a boisterous atmosphere and love Scott's Addition, but our night at Harry's was a mixed bag at best. Sad to say we're in no hurry to come back. Harry's potential is definitely real, but...

My wife and I went here for restaurant week last Saturday, but unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst dining experiences we've had.

We were seated at a table right next to a speaker upstairs (first photo), and the loud music made it difficult for us to talk to each other. It was confusing why the host sat us there, given that several other open tables were available further from the speaker (photo included). When we asked if we could move, our waitress told us they were fully booked, which didn’t make sense since we could see multiple empty tables. She also mentioned that other customers had complained about the speaker in the past but didn’t seem concerned about it.

Unfortunately, the service didn’t improve from there. After taking our order, our waitress disappeared, and we didn’t see her again until the check arrived. To make things worse, the food was served out of order. First, we were brought entrees meant for another table. When our own food started coming, we got our appetizers, but then our dessert arrived before our main course. The disorganization made it hard to enjoy the meal.

The food itself was a letdown. My wife ordered mussels, but about a third of them didn’t open—something that should have been caught in the kitchen. Other dishes we tried were mediocre and poorly prepared.

We spent most of the evening feeling frustrated. Sitting next to that blaring speaker gave me a headache, and by the end of the meal, neither of us had much appetite left.

Overall, this experience was very disappointing. We won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant. If anyone does visit, make sure you ask not to sit at the table next to the...