Quemar — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Updated Review April 2024: I'm updating my previous review bc we have been back several more times and are just not impressed with the service and the overall menu.

Food is decent, I know they make almost everything in-house and pride themselves on that, but the menu is very limited and expensive and I just don't love the flavors and portion sizes for the prices.

We went last week for my husband's birthday dinner and he was very unhappy as our server was somewhat difficult (honestly my mother-in-law is difficult but whatever) and he doesn't want to come back any time soon.

Ambiance is wonderful and their bar area is nice with live music on weekends.

Quemar was a nice surprise! It's pricey - but classy and we loved the ambiance and decor and menu selections inside. My husband absolutely loved the lounge area with live music and wants to come back soon and try sitting there.

We had a Friday night reservation for 7:45 and arrived about 15 minutes early but were seated immediately. Parking is valet only as the lot is small and they get packed when the live music starts on weekends.

Our waitress was prompt and explained that they are a scratch-made kitchen with almost nothing purchased except for sauces from outside and they try to source as much locally as they can. My kind'a place. It's considered elevated latin cuisine.

We tried the fresh guacamole and house-made chips and enjoyed them as well as the house salad which was my fav. It's light and fresh and delicious and was a good enough size to be easy to share or good for one with a smaller bite from the menu to finish off. The salad had apple slices, cucumber, pepitas, cotija cheese, pickled red onions and a light and sweet jalapeño dressing. SO good.

We split the Birria Enchiladas entree which is two decent-sized Birria enchiladas on a bed of black bean puree with some lightly dressed greens. We also had the roasted carrots (which was a bit sweet with raisins and prob won't get again).

For dessert - I tried the Tres Leches cake which is like a spongy cake soaked in tres leches milk sauce with a healthy topping of house-made whipped cream and salted caramel ice cream with lime zest. It was fresh, moist and very good. Easily large enough to share.

They serve Three Ships coffee here - which is a bit too bitter for my taste.

We left at around 8:45 and the live music was starting at 9 in the lounge which had filled up in the hour we dined.

Menu has plenty of options - inside is stunning in decor with a beautiful bar and lovely light fixtures and sconces, they also have a small outside patio area. The bathrooms are even pretty!

It's a little pricey...

I took my girlfriend here for a milestone birthday because both Google and yelp reviews raved about their experience. However, we had the opposite experience. Our service was disappointing for the price point and atmosphere. Food was inspired by Latin America, definitely not at all true Latin American. We started our night saying we wanted bday shots and each ordered a cocktail my girl friends cocktail came to the table a little after the appetizer was delivered. And my cocktail came when we were already done with our dinner. And she literally brought 1 shot. Like she didn’t give us 2???? And then mine got hot (we asked for them to be chilled) while waiting on the other. And then she forgot my drink (it came after our app and entree) and she admitted she forgot. We got ceviche and the queso for our apps. The queso was recommended. The queso was hard when we got it and we broke our chips eating it I tried to get some of the queso out and a half dollar size of queso came flying at me. If you want queso, don’t get it here. The ceviche was good but for the price, I expected more. We asked for small plates for the apps and they never came and again, she admitted she forgot at the end of our meal, but literally offered to bring it to us when we had 1 bite of our entree left. It was a little too late at that point. For dinner, we got a ribeye for our entree and the menu said it’s meant for 2 people…. No it wasn’t. The menu said bone in and it was actually boneless. We ordered it medium rare but it was more on the rare side. Edible, but it was bland. Chimichurri was bland also. Steak needed more salt and trimming the fat would’ve helped as it felt like we wasted a good portion of it. We left still hungry and even if we wanted to order more food our server was MIA and came when the kitchen was almost closed.

Side note: I got up after putting our order in and asked the server to bring us a dessert for my girlfriends bday. And she again forgot. We ended up going to yard house to get more food and dessert. Just disappointing to know i asked for it ahead of time and she forgot. We will not...

Great experience! Fast and good service; extensive menus of authentic and flavorful options. Romantic and classy atmosphere. We're not vegan, but lots of great vegan options. Wife and I were hungry and decided to go full tapas! Queso and guac were both very nice, drinks are well-balanced and well-crafted. Croquetas were fantastic - our favorite, very flavorful, a must-try! Torta ahogada, pork anticuchos, and asparagus were all delicious as well, definitely recommend, lots of tasty and unique sauces. Burger was amazing and yuca fritas are unique and great! Leche cake and chocolate chess cake for dessert were awesome as well. Care clearly put into everything on the menu - nothing disappointed, everything very satisfying!

Update 07/2024 - Almost 2 years was way too long to wait to return! Everything so flavorful and delicious! Carne asada loaded guac absolutely amazing, a must-try! Mixed greens salad is very fresh, love the thin-sliced apple and cucumber, and roasted jalapeño-agave dressing is so unique and refreshing, just a little kick on there, not too spicy. Cocktails (Guava and the Grove and Jamaica margarita) good, certainly plenty strong. Esquites corn dish a wonderful combination of flavors, as is grilled carrots. Pan con Queso another incredible dish, definitely recommend adding chorizo, superbly flavorful and savory, as is, similarly, the short rib burrito, another pair of must-tries! Fantastic churros for dessert, wonderful and outstanding meal overall. Only drawback to this place is mandatory valet parking seems kinda silly, but maybe they have their...