Natalie's — Restaurant in Richmond

First, I will quickly justify my rating:

One star is solely for our AMAZING server, Chloe. If we could rate her service as an individual, she’d receive 10 stars. She was on point every time with her food/drink recommendations and ability to execute requests (like refrigerating our cake and bringing out a coloring sheet for a small child, both of which she suggested). Chloe very much rescued the night.

The second star is for the food itself! I enjoyed the cheese rolls and braised short rib. Everyone seemed to enjoy their cocktails as well (once we finally got them). The birthday boy really liked the “Apple of my Pie”.

Google has a character limit so I had to cut around some details.

Our reservation (which I made 4 weeks in advance) was at 6. My fiancé and I arrived at 5:45. We entered and his mother and father walked in not too long behind us. I was holding a huge Sam’s Club cake. I held it…for quite a while. The family in front of us at the hosting station was seated. I stepped up, and nobody regarded us for at least 5 minutes. Very awkward, making eye contact with staff but never being spoken to. Even the young man who engaged in polite small talk when I was there by myself seemed to shy away every time I smiled at him. It got to the point that the birthday boy had to take the cake from me, for he could see the weight of it was becoming too much for me, and he is a gentleman. I thought he should not hold his own birthday cake…

We were eventually seated. Some members of our large party ran late. Chloe was kind enough to let us peruse the menu until everyone got there. The first thing we ordered were beverages. The drinks took forever to come out. Makes sense. They only had one bartender for the evening! Unfortunate considering they knew they had a large party coming, but staffing issues happen. The drinks came out slowly…and in weird intervals. A couple people would get theirs. Then a few more people….with 20-30 minutes in between. I was one of the last of my party to receive a cocktail OVER AN HOUR after we ordered. Chloe took all of our drink orders at one time. I understand the speed, as only one person can be but so fast. But I did not understand why the bartender did not just make all of our beverages at once? The fountain drinks came first, then the neat/on the rocks drinks. Cocktails were last.

Here’s the major issue with this: My brother-in-law got up and took a roll call of everyone still waiting for a drink. He walked to the bar and managed to get our drinks, brining them out himself. This was completely unacceptable particularly because patrons in the main dining area who were not even there after we ordered drinks (I can confirm from walking to the bathroom a couple of times) had their beverages and appetizers well before we got ours. There’s really no way around it. This wasn’t just a matter of lack of staff. This was a prioritization issue.

The appetizers took quite a while too. But again, I understand there were only “3 cooks” in the kitchen. They were tasty and cheered up my guests! The wings in particular were a big hit. Everyone enjoyed the entrees as well; taking home plenty of to-go boxes.

My brother-in-law spoke to the manager, and a fixed discount was agreed upon for our meals. I see this as the restaurant taking SOME accountability. I would give a half star solely for this, BUT the manager never once came to our room to apologize for delays or check on us to see how we were doing or simply to say “hello!” the entire time we were there. Seriously folks, for the amount of dough we were bringing in, we were left feeling a bit cold.

It’s such a shame, really. We all came to Natalie’s ready to pay FULL PRICE for everything we ordered. Mind you, there were 17 of us.

I hope this review was helpful to potential customers and constructive to the restaurant. Be...

Ohhh Natalie's... I really wanted to like you!!! But alas, you fell short....way short..

When we walked into the restaurant, we were delighted by the decor....it is a beautifully decorated establishment. My boyfriend turned to me and said "I think we may have found our Lebanese restaurant in RVA." I was hoping so also, but this is a classic lesson of don't judge a book by its cover.

Appetizers- cheese pies, Kibbeh, falafel, baba ghannooj. Mixed grill Total bill $140 which was laughable for the food quality we got....

The cheese pies were good. Kibbeh were 4 TINY kibbeh that were decent but underwhelming in flavor. Falafel were crispy on the outside and had good flavor (but really...how hard is it to make falafel) Baba ghannooj decent...creamy and smoky....worth $5? Hardly! Apps were overall ok.

Now on to the mixed grill... Yellow squash, zucchini, unpeeled pearl onions, overcooked mushrooms, tomatoes... all way overcooked and WAY over seasoned!!! By over seasoned I don't mean with yummy seasoning, I mean with salt and pepper and garlic salt or whatever their boring proprietary blend consists of. 4 super thin, dry, and amazingly UNDERSEASONED beef kefta kabob, a pile of dry, overcooked chicken, about 1/2 lb of well cooked, yet underseasoned shrimp. This was all heaped onto a dinner plate. The plating was underwhelming with some pickle and beet garnishes.

The complimentary bread was not even slightly browned and apparently was supposed to come with zataar seasoning to dip into but did not. The tiny souffle cups of Tahini and whipped garlic were decent but for a $140 meal should have been in cute dishes.

Now for the kicker Mixed grill would have been an OK (not great) main dish for the $55 the waitresses pointed out as the price. However when we received the bill it stated "mixed grill $55" then right below this it said "4 people $40." Total bill.$140... no alcohol,, no drinks. Had the food been great, this would not have been an issue. My boyfriend paid the bill and we left completely confused as to what the "4 people $40" meant.

We called the restaurant and it was explained that the mixed grill for 4 was $95!!!! When we looked back at the menu it does state that in a super confusing way, however it was WAYYYY overpriced and we thought they were bringing mixed grill for 2 since our 2 dining companions were 11 and 6 year old girls.

This was last night... and this morning thusfar, I've used the bathroom with an upset stomach 5 times- the first woke me up at 4 am. Thanks for the $140 food poisoning! I'll NEVER be back and will have nothing good to say about this food to...

I really wanted to like Natalie's because really love what they're doing to employ disabled people; however, I was let down by the experience.

I spend a significant amount of time in Lebanon, so my review is constructive and hope that they can improve to make these tastes of Lebanon better. The restaurant was completely empty for the entire one and a half hours I was there on a Thursday peak dinner service.

FOOD / PRICES: Ordered the Mixed Platter for 2 for $65 - included Shish Tawouk (Chicken), Kofta Kebab, Lamb, and Short Rib. It was ultimately a hit or miss with the tastes here - the chicken was juicy but lacked flavor, the kofta was rubbery, but the short rib was flavorful and tender. Meze was the highlight - the hummus and baba gannoush were flavorful and the highlight of the night. The pita was inconsistent as the first batch was undercooked and didn't puff or brown, but the last batch was exactly what you'd want in pita. There was no Manakish on the menu, nor Chankleesh

PRICES: $65 for 4 small skewers on the Mixed Platter is extremely pricey even compared to upscale NYC/DC Lebanese restaurants. Every single item on the Menu is priced for ultra fine-dining. There are no budget options, even the vegetarian options are at least $26 for crispy cauliflower. This is not a fine dining experience, but priced like one. Other restaurants in RVA that are fine dining have far more competitive prices for food because they make up their margin on drinks.

SERVICE: We didn't feel welcomed by any means - we walked in to a completely empty restaurant and thought it was closed. It felt like there was no hospitality the whole time, and we had to ask the waitress a few times for refills.

Overall, their pricing is completely off point and makes the restaurant inaccessible to the people they're trying to serve. The food itself has a good foundation and I'm confident they're capable of doing far better. The service lacked warmth.

While the food has potential, it doesn't fully capture the essence of Lebanese cuisine. I hope they improve so we can have a place in Richmond that we can confidently take...