Sage Kitchen — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Was visiting Virginia Beach for the first time and checking out the surrounding areas, and decided to come here as it looked like a safe, good place to eat. Traveling with food allergies is difficult, and very rarely do I ever go out to eat as I don't like to be a burden or risk having a reaction. I was attracted to their Paleo options (which unfortunately are not 100% Paleo -- very misleading) and their craft your own salads.

When we arrived there was no one at the front desk at all. We are new so we had accidentally walked by it and went to walk back before a waiter asked us if we were looking for someone. We apologized, told him we were new and we'd like to sit down and eat. He grabs two menus, walks ahead (didn't even say anything - not a "Welcome", "Right this way." or anything), and plops (yes, plops) two menus at a table that was dirty and walks away. He comes back less than 5 mins later and asks (mumbles!) if we're ready to order. We hadn't even looked over the whole menu yet.

Once we were ready, I asked him a couple food questions just to be safe and was pretty blunt in answering them, felt like I was stupid. After he took our order, he asked if we wanted anything else all the while taking our menus. We wanted another beverage other than water but clearly he didn't want to wait on us anymore so we didn't order anything else. (Note it wasn't even a busy afternoon)

It took nearly 20 minutes to get our salads. I thought the salad portion was good for the price, but it was huge! I also liked that I could just have olive oil and red wine vinegar as a dressing option. I was able to eat my salad without getting sick, but unfortunately the smoked organic turkey I ordered I couldn't eat because it was covered in a spicy rub. (I have a nightshade allergy) The menu did not indicate that at all. Smoked organic turkey shouldn't mean rubbed in Cajun spice. My husband shared his plain grilled chicken with me and that was pretty good. Unfortunately my husband and I both found old pieces of salad greens in both of ours. Not exactly appetizing.

I'm normally not one to complain of service, I understand retail and similar jobs. They can be difficult dealing with people constantly and people have bad days. There was no excuse for the service my husband and I received today however. I was really...

The patio was cute, especially if you have children. There was a play area, arcade, and miniature golf. My children enjoyed themselves. We ended up ordering food. I had the Everything Salad, which had more lettuce than "everything" else. I also had the fried pickle spheres that were fried to hell My daughter had a cheese burger that was so hard that she couldn't eat or swallow it. I think the patties may have been prepared before hand and thrown in a microwave before ordering. It was pretty bad. My other two had chicken strips and fries. They liked the chicken strips but said "the fries were not good". My husband had the baja bowl. He didn't finish it. He said it was "just ok". Overall, the food was mediocre and pricey. The arcade was a good time. The games were from $0.50-$1.00. Pretty reasonable. Walked around the nursery to find plants and possibly get some help. No help around. I also was searching for an outdoor rug. There was one I liked but the plastic was not on it. I ended up unrolling it to see how big it was. As I was unrolling it, I noticed some debris came out of it. Looks to have been used. I asked the young lady at the register if we could possibly get a discount. She called over a manager. The manager came over and said she can't give a discount because the rug was unwrapped. Her attitude made me not want any rug from there at all. I'll continue to give Home Depot and Lowes my money. I then went over to the jewelry area where a girl came over acting like she worked there (she stood behind the counter). I asked if their jewelry was on consignment, or if they had a vendor. She said she had no idea. She wasn't helpful at all. I'm a metalsmith and was asking about consignment for myself. Anyway, I won't be back. Weird vibes...

We joined some friends for a birthday dinner at Sage Kitchen. They had been there before, but if they hadn't, I'm not sure we would have found it since it's inside an Anderson's Garden Center store.

The weather was perfect so we chose to sit out on the patio. The space was lovely with lights strung over the dining area and several tables with gas fire pits in the center. Our friends mentioned that they have live music regularly, although we didn't time our visit to be able to enjoy that.

Our waitress Ashley, was friendly and helpful.

The menu has plenty of variety: build your own salads, hunted/gathered bowls, wraps, creative beverages and so much more. Our group ordered starters of FLASH-FRIED BACON BRUSSELS SPROUTS topped with asiago cheese and drizzled with balsamic glaze and LETTUCE WRAPS -bibb lettuce, grilled organic chicken, hoisin aioli, spicy cashews cilantro, black sesame seeds. Both were excellent!

The other couple ordered build-your-own salads, which looked delicious. I enjoyed a tasty TURKEY REUBEN, built with house-roasted turkey, swiss cheese, homemade sour cabbage, and Russian dressing on thick sliced marble rye bread. I chose a garden salad as my side, which was basic spring greens and a few tomato wedges. Mmmm good! My husband's BOAR BURGER was creatively designed with wild boar, smoked gouda, sun-dried tomatoes, onion frazzles, Chipotle mayo on a muffuletta. His side was sweet potato fries, which are...