Hot Tuna — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

A subpar experience. Around a month ago myself, and two other black women had dinner at this location. This was the first time for all of us at Hot Tuna. I suggested the restaurant after seeing a food blogger from the area (a black woman) recommend the happy hour. Initially it seemed like a very white-centered area but once we entered the restaurant we realized the only other person of color was a server. The restaurant was busy so a wait was to be expected. The hostess told us the wait was 45 minutes, so we gave her our number and decided to wait in the car. About 5 minutes later, 2 of us went back in to use the restroom. While waiting, we heard the hostess tell a family in front of us (who were white) that the wait was 25 minutes. Once we made it to the hostess I asked again what our wait time was and she gave a blank look for a few seconds then looked up our table and told us that we had a 10 minute wait time. We brushed it off as a misunderstanding and were sat. The waiter seemed to be impatient while we decided on our food which I assumed was because they were busy. Once we received our food he began to almost pace (closely) next to our table instead of asking if we needed anything. My table was the only one that I saw him pacing around but not speaking to. After we got our food my friend noticed that a lot of guests were staring at us. As I mentioned before the only other non-white person I saw was a waiter outside, so the stares directed at us made us feel uneasy. Then the guest next to us started to speak loudly about eye lashes and weave and commented "I mean what would you have without all those lashes and fake hair". Typically I ignore the conversations of others, but he was loud and we were only a few feet apart. At this point I noticed that most of the guest were in fact staring at us and concluded that the man next to us was speaking about us (we were the only ones I saw with lashes on and "fake hair"). I had never experienced such a tense, dismissive atmosphere in a restaurant prior to this experience so I was extremely uncomfortable. I wanted to give Hot Tuna a chance but the treatment we received as black women as opposed to the white people was strange. The waiter seemed to try and lighten the mood at the end (he may have heard the comments being made) but at that point we were all ready to leave. I was unsure of if I should leave a review but after reading some of the previous reviews and seeing the way the owner responded I decided it may save others the experience. As a black person in America I have previously experienced racism and prejudice but being as it's 2022 and Va Beach is close to several colleges that are extremely diverse, I did not expect for the experience to be so uncomfortable. My friends and I were quiet and courteous just as most of the other patrons, but seemed to receive lesser service. Black people should be able to enter a restaurant and receive the same service, we have the same money in our pockets as the other person. Hopefully this can change for...

I had high hopes for this restaurant, it has rave reviews. Unfortunately, this was not my personal experience. If you come to this restaurant, my advice is stick with a fish entree as I don’t believe the kitchen staff is as versed in four legged animals.

Now to the meat and potatoes, or rather VA Filet, mushroom risotto and succotash. I ordered the filet medium-rare and what I received was borderline well done. Seriously, the Sizzler would have done better. My steak had no seasoning whatsoever, NADA..there were no juices from the steak, no moisture at all. Very reminiscent of a steak that has been returned an hour ago and then been reheated. The outside crust from the sear was the best thing about the steak. Three bites in I was done with it! The mushroom risotto was decent, my personal preference would have liked for it to have been more al-dente, but still, it was decent with a good creaminess. The succotash was the best part of my plate, it was delightful and great veggies for this time of year.

My wife had the Parmesan Tuna which was really good and the portobello mushrooms were a great addition. Obviously, we shared her entree after mine fell flat.

Our service started out pretty good with the waitress able to laugh off an early mistake of no silverware on the table. Later though during service she seemed to be rushing us as my wife was still eating and she asked if she needed a box; little contact with me as she proceeded to the table beside us. I motioned for her after she was done with the other table and she stopped by and I voiced my concern about the steak. She replied, “Oh, sorry about that”…that was the end of it.

My personal advice is if you want seafood with a lively environment, this is a decent choice. For anything besides fish and a quiet, romantic setting…I would probably go elsewhere. Normally when I have a bad meal, I will go back to see if the food was a one off. However the combination of a complacent waitress and bad food; we almost surely won’t return.

One last note, the live band was...

Beware, I came for restaurant week. I picked this place because one of the desserts on the special menu intrigued my interest. I came the first night of the special, at 8 PM. I ordered what I wanted for all 3 dishes. Shortly after ordering, my waiter informed me that the soup I ordered was sold out, and I had to pick a new app. This was a minor inconvenience. My main dish was a generous serving, I barely made a dent. It tasted okay, would not eat again. Salmon was cooked nicely though. The big disappointment came when my waiter told me they ran out of not only the dessert I ordered, and were out of all the rest of the advertised desserts on special. I was offered 2 choices of cake instead (chocolate tort & pistachio), this was quite upsetting, as I don’t like cake, and I came all this way to try this creme brulee banana cheesecake (the thing I wanted, and sold out). I would have hoped my waiter would have confirmed my dessert was available like he did about the soup at the time I ordered. If I was told both weren’t available immediately after ordering, I would have canceled my order, and left and not gotten anything. If getting my dessert first would have ensured I’d get it, I would have done that. I asked if there was way I could come another day later this week to pick up the dessert I wanted, when available and I was told no, and was told he’d ask the manager, then in front of me did not ask and instead just asked about desserts available which he already said what was left. I got the pistachio cake because i was gonna be forced to pay like I got it anyway, and it was not great. Bland cake. If they are expecting to serve the same special desserts for a week, these desserts should be plentiful in the kitchen, and not sell out, especially on the first day. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. I would not return here based off this...