Pacqs Kitchen — Restaurant in Richmond

This was the worst experience I’ve ever had going to A restaurant we were not greeted when we entering the restaurant had to wave my hand to be noticed by the owner that we didn’t even know he was the owner we set at the bar the waiter Access what we wanted to drink he was singing the whole time then he came and asked us were we ready to order we ordered My Friend. She ordered chicken and waffles with cheese eggs I ordered the hungry man. We thought the waiter put our food in to other guests come and sit at the bar, they get that food before we do Time goes by 45 minutes we have been sitting there still no food. So I asked another waiter About our food, she said let me check for you. She was very nice. She came back and said that somehow our ticket got pushed behind the big party at other people Like how? still no refills Then the owner comes around asking everybody where they OK My Friend say no we need a new waiter. He asked us what the problem was. She told him that we haven’t got our food yet. while and that other people came in after us and got the food before us, he tried to give us an excuse that the food is made to order the stuff that we got didn’t even take 20 minutes to make she got a waffle, chicken tenders, and eggs I got French toast sausage Eggs and potatoes, simple shit I also worked in a restaurant business for many many years so I know that those things don’t take That long to make so the owner said, What did you guys have? We told him what we had he said let me go and check and see what’s going on. He goes to the Comes back he goes to talk to the waiter. And tells him he doesn’t see a ticket for us. He didn’t think that I heard him, but I did. The way to say I put it in you couldn’t because there’s no way other people could’ve came in After us and got their food before us so we waited another 15 minutes before the food came out still no refills the way they’re going to check on on all the other tables, but he does not acknowledge that we need refills. We had to ask another girl to refill our drinks which I didn’t get a refill because I guess they didn’t hear me. The food was trash and that’s no lie. The potatoes were cold. The eggs were hot. They didn’t give us salt and pepper. They didn’t give us no syrup. French toast was OK The owner didn’t come back and apologize or anything to make the wrong right I asked him for salt and pepper. He told me he was gonna get me some never did and then find the way to come and access. Do we need anything my So I said no, I want none of that shit at this point I’m irritated because I feel like no one cared about the mishap that happened. It could’ve been corrected. It could’ve been But they dropped the ball so they lost two customers that I will never come back because of that it was the worst experience I’ve had in food service and I’ve been working for food service for a long time from a waiter, cook and Manager The customer is always right even if you feel they’re wrong, but I try to support, but I will not be...

I visited from Norfolk, VA with my partner to see my family for Easter. My Mom found this place after seeing raving reviews online and seeing that this is a black owned establishment. We were all so excited to try this out! Here were the cons:

You need a reservation. We were not aware of that until the last minute but luckily, we were able to get one or we would have had to pivot to another establishment.

The waitress did not inform us of the menu items they were out of prior to us ordering. My Mom has Lyme Disease and can only have certain meats, so she was looking forward to trying the turkey chops...only to order it to be told they were out of them, as well as the mashed potatoes.

The waitress did not check on us for water refills, eta on the food, or anything. We had to track her down just for an update. We waited 45min to order our food and another hour to get our food.

The food came out in portions. A taller black man with a beard came out with a few sides and just sat them down with an attitude. We were trying to figure out which side went to who, and he had an entire attitude with us as if we were the ones unorganized instead of assisting us with figuring it out.

The appetizers we ordered came out with our entrees.

Lastly, NOBODY informed us that gratuity is automatically included. When it came time to pay, the waitress used this machine for us to pay but never mentioned to us that gratuity is included, nor did she show us while we were paying as we never received a paper receipt. She was quick to take our payments via the machine. Luckily my mom asked for a digital receipt and noticed the added gratuity once we got home. So, she got a pretty hefty tip from all of us as we all tipped an additional 20% ON TOP of the added 20%. To say that was not deserved is an understatement. However, we know for next time and that is completely on the waitress and her karma moving forward for not communicating that to us.

Pros:

The food was delicious! The music was on point - although a bit loud, we enjoyed singing along to the music while we waited. There was a 2nd lady coming around assisted us and she was absolutely amazing! She gave us extra sides for the misunderstanding on some of the orders and made sure we were taken care of while we had our food! The drinks were great too!

Full disclosure, our combined time waiting before any food came out was 2 hours. We came on Easter Sunday, so that was just our experience. However, as other reviews have stated, please plan your day accordingly as you may have a similar waiting experience. And yes, we all agreed that we would absolutely come back to this establishment especially knowing the cons from before so we can...

Once again I try to support Black restaurants in RVA and again there is always something or disappointment. I made reservations online for 12:00 pm and texts confirmed the time. My party of 4 arrived and the doors were locked. A staff member came to the door and said that they opened at 12:30 pm. I doubled checked my texts to see indeed I had made and confirmed reservations at 12:00 and their door sign stated they opened at 12:00. The waitress did allow us to come in and sat us at a table and gave us plastic cups with ice water pitcher. I guess we had to wait until 12:30 for our 12:00 reservations for them to get ready for the day. The From the James seafood omelette was good and the peach pit drink was good but small for the price. The soul food rolls were okay. When it was time for the bill we had 3 separate tickets/bills. We paid on the waitress’s Toast machine. When asked about gratuity she said there was no gratuity. We paid by card on the machine and had the receipt texted. The waitress came back a few minutes later and said that the last two cards did not go through. So she had us pay again. The waitress was quick to tell us goodbye and have a good day before we even finished with the transactions and handing the Toast machine to my friend paying with her card for the second time. Within minutes my bank texts notified me that I had two charges to my card. Checked with my card company and indeed I was charged twice. My friend was also charged twice. I called my bank to dispute the second charge and file a claim. I tried calling the number online for Pacq’s and it could not be completed as dialed. Checked the phone number from their IG page, Google and website and both did not or do not work. One number is 804-322-7328 and another on the same Google page call button has 804-322-7327. Therefore I can’t even call to complain or speak with a manager (like my card company suggested) to fix the issue or make them aware that their waitress was impatient and did not let the first charge go through (more than likely because of their Toast machine and their internet service) and charged my card twice. I guess my card company will have to handle it and not be able to contact them to dispute the second charge. Update! After checking the two receipts, the waitress lied about the 20% gratuity when asked if there was. She said no there wasn’t a gratuity when we asked on the Toast machine and that it was going to her the extra 3, 4, 5 % tip option on the Toast machine. So, my question is, the 20% gratuity doesn’t go to her for her less than stellar food and drink service/delivery to our table? Now, I’m even more upset about the whole situation and experience at...