Pacifica — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Went for Mother’s Day lunch. And despite that it says they don’t take reservations, they actually do for a $25 deposit. So we showed up at exactly 2 o’clock when our reservation was and when they opened. They did not appear to be properly staffed. There was one server and I think one bartender — no host. The server was seating people before us that arrived without a reservation and some with a reservation. It took us a few minutes to get to our table. She sat us down and brought water and then didn’t come back for some time. She was tending to one of the other tables. I finally stood up to get someone’s attention. The bartender acknowledged me, and I said we are still waiting to just even place a drink order. He sort of hoisted up the beers that he had and said “I’m taking these to somebody else. Someone will be over to you.” I thought he was rather abrupt. No one came to take the drink order or food order until 2:20, and as I said, our (paid for) reservation was at 2pm. The server apologized, and she was pleasant, but they were not properly staffed. The food came out rather quickly, which was good, but I wasn’t impressed with any of it, especially for the price… The Wagyu corndog was essentially just a regular oversized hotdog. Pork rinds were basically what you could pour out of a bag from 7-11, the short ribs were good. The charcuterie and cheeseboard was very “pickled“ and so everything tasted the same. My drink was fantastic! That was the highlight for me!. Way overpriced for what we got and I wasn’t pleased with the service. Like I said, our server was pleasant, but she wasn’t very attentive because she was essentially the only server on the floor. The other gentleman tended to people at the bar, and I thought he was rather rude. I...

I went here last night with a friend for some drinks. First time here.

The environment and vibes were great. Clean with nice decor that meshed well with the location and name. They have a flora wall of live plants complete with a light and hydration system. Very cool and unique.

The cocktail menu was really neat. The cocktails were broken down into three groups based on the complexity of the cocktails.

I tried three different cocktails. One from each group:

El Diablo (Hornitas Plata, Black Raspberry, Lime, and Ginger Beer)- I loooove spicy liquor. This drink had a nice spicy bite but did not compromise the other elements making this drink very refreshing.

Mai-TaiRita (Espolon Tequila Blanco, Plantation Old Fashioned Traditional Dark Rum, Peach-Infused Grand Marnier, Lime, Suffolk Peanut Orgeat, and a peach gummy ring garnish)- For me, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to be tasting in this drink. The peach was subtle and the strongest notes were the lime and peanut. I think if the tequila was removed and the peach flavor was more refined it would elevate this drink. The peach gummy ring was a little amateur and didn’t work well with the complexity of this drink.

Coy Koy (Aperol Aperitivo, Nigori Unfiltered Saki, Cointreau, Lemon, Honey, Orange Marmalade, Orange Blossom Flower, and Egg White)- the highlight for sure. Very well done. Light and refreshing. Though it had a lot of ingredients, none of them overpowered the other and worked very well with each other.

Our bartender was amazing. I want to say his name is Matt and I hope I’m correct. Great service and great...

When my date and I arrived we sat down across from the bar and waited about 5 minutes before having to get a menu off the bar myself. We perused the menus for several minutes and after both of us decided on what appetizer and beverage we wanted, no staff had acknowledged our presence. My date asked the host if the tables we were at would receive any attention from a server and he said we would. After another 5 minutes my date advised the host that no one had come to us or acknowledge us, so the host went to get a bartender from behind the bar. The bar tender explained they were busy and apologized, which was not true because at least twice I saw 1 or all three bartenders in their own thoughts and just standing behind the bar waiting for the next person to get their attention at the bar. The drinks and food came out at a reasonable time and were excellent to say the least. After we finished, we sat around for a bit chatting, where my date had noticed our server visit the table behind us several times and not ours, so while he was visiting that table I paid the tab and we left. I'm not sure why, we got a lack of service but from the vibe we got, its exactly why we avoid the oceanfront even though we went to a neighboring establishment and received overwhelmingly great service. The vibe we got is this is a locals bar, with a side of Virginia Beach pretentiousness. The host and the food runner were extremely pleasant and I wish I could say the same for the bartenders/servers that either never looked our way or ignored us since we weren't directly at the bar(the side we were on was...