Alexander's — Restaurant in Roanoke

We came here to celebrate a special occasion. The interior is dimly lit, which adds to the fancy atmosphere. Everything is clean and tidy.

Two people in my party ordered cocktails: the Seelbach and the Side Car. I noticed that the menu only has a small selection which made it hard to choose what I wanted because I felt like there weren't many options that stood out to me, but apparently the menu changes twice weekly, so that's interesting. When we were ready to order, one person in my party was going to order for their parents because their parents did not speak English. Our server said okay, but she would like to start with the ladies' orders first. That was a little off-putting, but still fine. I ordered the scallops with Thai brown butter and then asked me if I wanted any appetizers. That took me by surprise because I'm used to getting appetizers for the table, but it wasn't a big deal.Then the server went to my friend's mother and waited for her to order, despite the fact that he had just said he would order for his parents. He ordered the grilled filet of beef with the butter for both of his parents and then the grilled filet of beef with pesto for himself. My two other friends also ordered the grilled beef with butter and one BBQ shrimp for two (but it's for the table).

We snacked on the bread from the breadbasket, but I was disappointed with the fact that the bread was cold instead of being warm. The salads that came with our entrees arrived. I really liked the vinaigrette and the black-eyed peas in the salad. The small croutons in the salad were cute and I preferred the small size as compared to the larger ones, but I thought they were too buttery. Not long after we finished the salad, our entrees arrived and we were also given a little croissant. However, I had noticed that my friends' cocktails nor the appetizer did not arrive yet. They mentioned it to the server and she apologized. When she read their order back to them, it appears that she had mixed our order up and explained to us that they were manually giving the staff the orders because the machine was down. We felt bad that she was so flustered and apologetic, so we assured her that it was fine and we can wait. My scallops were good, but the Asian influence such as the fried rice noodles and the seaweed pieces didn't really do anything for me and I didn't really taste what made the Thai brown butter either. I did like the small side of mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. Everyone liked their steak except my friend who ordered the steak with pesto. They thought the pesto was too overpowering.

The cocktails came during the meal and the appetizer came towards the end when everyone was finished eating their entrees. My friends like their cocktails. The server asked if we wanted more bread because everyone's favorite part is dipping bread into the BBQ shrimp's sauce, so we agreed to one more basket of bread. The BBQ shrimp was just grilled shrimp with a buttery sauce. I think I was expecting shrimp with some housemade BBQ sauce, but in hindsight, that doesn't seem to make any sense. It's a good dish though, but everyone was too full to enjoy it.

Our server got us our check and told us that she took the cocktails off the receipt because of the delay with the cocktails and the appetizer. It was so nice of her and I felt so bad because she was clearly flustered from the incident. We also got some salted chocolates and almond slices complimentary which were good.

Overall, it was a good experience and I would...

We reserved a table in advance for New Years, expecting a nice dining experience with the sample menu posted on their website. The menu showed items with reasonable prices for a fine dining restaurant. We were seated and given a special New Years Eve menu, then quickly realized it was $125 per person. No other menu was available, but we were not expecting to pay around $300 for two people (after tip). This was not advertised anywhere on their website and I couldn’t find any information on it online. The waitress mentioned that it may have been posted on Facebook, but that was not done either (but also not a reasonable announcement place when the restaurant has a website with an events tab). She also mentioned that they do this every year, but I don’t know how we’re supposed to know that. We respectfully left but then could not find any other place to dine for New Years, which was expected, so our evening was completely cut out. I would say to check beforehand for any special menu events, but I guess you’d have to call considering it’s not publicly announced anywhere. This should be something either posted on the website or told when you reserve a table online.

Reply - The only place on your website that mentions calling is the home page where it says, “Please reserve below or call 540-982-6983 for a reservation.” I cannot find anywhere requesting to call for more information, so either your website is unclear or the information you just told me is incorrect. The waitress was very kind to us and mentioned that there’s someone who runs your website. If you’re too busy and don’t have anyone to actually use your website, simply don’t have one. That would go along with you being “proudly old-school.” Also thank you for assuming that $300 for two people is an affordable and reasonable price that everyone can unexpectedly provide. I’m sure it was an excellent dining experience for the price, but we simply cannot provide that if it is not expected. We went to OTH Chophouse & Oyster Bar the following night and ordered drinks, an appetizer, and premium entrees for less than half of your “very reasonable all inclusive price.” It was a wonderful dining experience with a great view, outstanding customer service, and...

Update after the response from the owner:

If you cared enough to look at my picture, you'd know I'm not a Sir LOL I'm dropping to 3 stars because your customer service isn't as good as I thought. If you're in business this long, you should also know that writing a longer response to a rather short review is a bit ridiculous and makes you look defensive. There's no need to defend yourself; I was just providing some feedback from the customer point of view, and I wasn't even that critical. To be clear: you wouldn't be overseasoning the steak because mine was underseasoned; the coffee you served was watered down and not very good and when you have an espresso machine you can make a cappuccino too ;) It was a bad decision to remove the machine in my opinion. I drink an espresso after each heavy meal, no matter the time of the day, just like most Europeans do. Even if you define yourself as an upscale bistro but you pair your dishes with wine, and your decor and atmosphere smells of "fine dining," that's the impression you give. But you're right; you're definitely not fine dining.

It’s a very cool place with good food. Their waiting staff is very professional and basically invisible. I wish they were a little faster with delivery though. We were there for 3h and it could have been 2h which is my preference. My steak was perfectly executed but the whole dish could use some more flavor (seasoning on the steak was a little light). I like that they pair dishes with wine and my Malbec was their very good choice. Desserts are a bit subpar: chocolate cake was dry and probably wasn’t fresh. Crème brûlée was actually very good but simple on the flavor profile; I’d add a chestnut purée in the bottom or something like that to complicate the flavor a bit. It’s an exciting place and with very little effort they could make it a truly fine dining restaurant. Finally, my biggest criticism is that they don’t have espresso. That’s just unacceptable in a place like that ;) I’d come back again though, to try...