Rappahannock Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

So- I checked on OpenTable for availability at rappahannock.. online it states there were tables available at 8:30, 8:45, and 9:00pm. With that knowledge I headed to the restaurant for an impromptu date night with my partner. At 8:40 I arrived and was told they had no tables. So I went back online and booked a 9pm reservation. (Already a red flag but I continued in hopes of a decent meal). After we walk around for ten minutes, we came back to the restaurant to check in for our reservation. We were told we could sit at the bar while we waited for our table to be set. After 20 minutes, we realize they had forgotten about us- so my partner walks up to the host to inquire about our table. The host clearly forgot and tried to sit us at a table near the door and next to a crying baby. We asked to sit by the windows and the host obliged, only to sit us at a table with no silverware. After we decided on our order, we were informed they were out of bread and could not fulfill the items we wanted to order. After we revised our order, we received some food that was really good- and some food that seemed rushed. The paella has little to no rice- and the dessert was raw. We had to hunt down silverware on our own before being able to eat of course... We also had a hard time ordering drinks as our server was very kind but very busy. The dessert came out in a dish that was piping hot and burning my partners hand because no one told us it was hot. However the food itself was raw.. we did not eat the dessert and ordered two shots of rail whiskey and the check. We were brought two shots of makers mark. I highly doubt that is the rail liquor but at this point I just wanted to leave so I could get home. Overall I he staff tried, I guess.. but they did not care- it took multiple levels of negligence to achieve a meal this mediocre.. so now here I am at home eating tuna melts, after spending over $200 tonight- trying to forget about the time I had tonight. Trying not to feel ripped off because left rappahannock feeling unsatisfied and...

I was so excited to try Rappahannock. My expectations were high after hearing so many great things. Unfortunately, we were wildly disappointed. We arrived at precisely our reservation time and walked past a dozen empty tables beautifully lit by natural sunlight only to be sat in the rear where there was no lighting. The dark and dreary ambiance pretty much defined our whole experience.

We started with a half-dozen oysters. Given they were fresh and ice cold, they were the only nice part of the meal.

We then ordered the pork and pickles. We enjoyed the pickle salad on the side but the pork was okay in flavor.

Disaster came in the form of a beet salad. I love beets and especially love beet salads. Now, imagine pulling beets and greens from a garden and eating them without even rinsing. That’s the flavor of Rappahannock’s beet salad - DIRT. The beets were just cooked - there was no flavor. The sautéed greens on the bottom were an unpalatable earth "flavor" (if you can call dirt flavor). The horseradish dressing lightly drizzled around the plate could do nothing to save the salad. Those poor beets and greens wasted. We're usually polite and push a bad dish to the side but this one we sent back. The chef and owner have to know this is a bad dish. How can they not!?

To complete the meal we ordered the paella. I get that paella is a difficult dish. But if you're going to have it on your menu, especially with a $32 price tag, then I'm going to assume it's a great dish. It was wholly underwhelming. The shrimp was fishy and the rice mush.

I've never been so disappointed with a Richmond restaurant. We paid a pretty penny for our meal (it's not often as new parents we splurge for date night) and still tipped generously. Needless to say, I feel like our much needed date night was ruined. After leaving the restaurant we went to Cinebistro to see a movie. My husband, having given me a chin-up cheer throughout the disappointing meal only proved his distaste as well when he ordered a cheeseburger...

I had been wanting to try this place for a while. A friend was in town and suggested we go so I made a reservation. We arrived a few minutes early and our table for two was not ready. The super friendly host and hostess asked if we could wait at the bar. The bar was quite busy but we found seats and were given glasses of water immediately. Our drink orders took a few minutes, understandable with the amount of patrons. 20 minutes after the time of our reservation the host came over and said our table was almost ready. We cashed out at the bar. 5 minutes later we were seated. Again, we were given water and menus immediately. The restaurant was super busy but they had adequate staff and two bars running. Our waiter came to our table for drink orders after about 5 minutes. He returned after about 5 minutes, neither of us had difficult drinks, a beer and a vodka tonic. We ordered oyster and caviar appetizers, items the restaurant is known for. I finished my drink in the time it took our waiter to return. He explained the specials knowledgeably and asked if we would like any thing from the raw bar. I reminded him we had already ordered from the raw bar. He then took our entree orders. The six tiny, caviar covered, 16 dollar, oysters arrived in about ten minutes. They were ok. We waited quite a while for our entrees, I had the scallops and my friend ordered the pork chop. When the entrees arrived, they were plated and presented beautifully. I was quite disappointed with the portion of the scallops. 4 scallops with veggie slaw for 30$? The scallops were ok, nothing special. My friend's pork chop was tasty. The final bill was 147$. I don't mind dropping money on a good meal, but in no way was the experience, food, or drinks worth that much money. If you are looking for a fun lunch, or happy hour, this place may suit you. For a seafood dinner, I don't recommend it, and will not be back. I rarely write bad reviews, but I feel like this place is overrated, as well...