Sweetwater Cuisine — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

I’m really struggling with this review. I have to say I have rounded up because our visit today wasn’t three stars. Hats off to Holly because she sure tried, but there was a lot of other things out of her control. Starting with the reservation-I originally tried to get a reservation for 11am because I had plans already for the afternoon. When they texted back they gave me 12:15. I have been wanting to try this place out for a very long time so we were going to make it work. When I received a text to confirm my 12:15 slot I requested an earlier time if there were any cancellations. My friend arrived at 11:55 and checked in. Three different parties of 2 without reservations (we know because she heard the discussion) were seated. I arrived at 12:08. It was around 12:25 when we were encouraged to start at the bar because the couple before us were still at our table and the staff didn’t know why they hadn’t left yet. We went to the bar and ordered mimosa flights. They were half and half which seemed a little less champagne than normal, and still priced at $18. While we were waiting at the bar Holly profusely apologized and kept telling the host to go get our table ready. Then she explained that there were a ton of cancellations and a bunch of walk-ins and they couldn’t just turn people away. During this discussion I had let her know that I had to leave by 1:30 for my next obligation. Our table was finally ready at approximately 12:49. The flow to/from the restroom and Buffett was pretty congested. Our hostess literally showed us the table and walked away-she didn’t say a single word. We flagged down a waitress and she explained she was our waitress and how things work. We made our egg orders and went to the buffet. There were a couple empty pans at the buffet, as well as an empty syrup container. We filled our first plate and returned to the table. The food was good, I don’t have any complaints about the actual food. Subsequent visits to the buffet had more empty pans. Forty minutes after ordering, our eggs arrived to the table, but it was time to request the check and leave because we had 6 minutes to go before I had to be out of there. Gratuity was added to the meal as well as a credit card surcharge. So our 29.99 Buffett meal was 40.01 each with no additional drinks(and our mimosa flights had already been paid at the bar). The waitress took our cards, and ten minutes later we had to go to the cash register to see what was going on. Holly was working out cards and said she discounted our meals for all the trouble we went through, but I was still 13 minutes late leaving from no fault of my own. Our meal was discounted approx $3 each, so I assume about 10% but with the over all vibe of this visit, I would not recommend anyone to go and I do not plan on ever...

My family has enjoyed Sweetwater Cuisine for years. They have been our go to place for brunch, Valentine's dinner, and I have used them to cater a baby shower. Unfortunately, I will no longer give them my business. This Sunday, we had reservations for 3 for Mother's Day. We arrived before our reservation time and watched parties that arrived after us get seated before us. We were told that each reservation is assigned a certain table and must wait until the people at the assigned table are done. It doesn't matter that there were empty tables in the restaurant. Thirty minutes after our reservation time, we were finally seated. Sweetwater used to use lovely, old china dinner plates; we were give plastic, wooden looking plates resembling something for an outdoor picnic. We preceded to the buffet where there were several empty stations and people were standing around waiting for food. People told us that the food had been slow coming out all day. Burnt french toast and greasy bacon were the only breakfast items available at first. We never got to try the Steak Diane - it was empty and finally replaced with Chicken Diane even though the menu promised steak. There was plenty of fruit and salad ; but, I didn't pay $156.00! for strawberries and salad. Throughout the meal, the staff seemed bored and unattentive. One waitress used the front of her shirt to wipe her face in front of us, and I guess she didn't realize everyone could see her bra. The young man in the kitchen (the view from my seat) kept running his hands through his hair and never once washed his hands. Another staff member almost knocked my son over while rushing back to the kitchen without so much as an apology. I assume his earbuds didn't allow him to slow down and apologize. Once we were done, our waitress told us we had to go to the bar to pay our tab because she was unable to take it for us. At the bar, we saw the attached photo of their macadamia nut cookies laying uncovered on top of a pile of supplies. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed in our meal, the service, and the lack of care. There are too many other good neighborhood restaurants in Virginia Beach to settle for Sweetwater Cuisine and we...

The best part of my visit was the server, Keisha. We had an 11AM reservation but the food was not ready yet. I was a guest of the person who made the reservation. If I had known we were only "allowed " an hour for our meal, I would have opted to go elsewhere. I had to see the hostess for silverware and she was sitting with her feet propped on the basket holding the silverware. We both ordered soft scrambled eggs; however, I asked for cheese. We both had a few shreds of cheese and mine were overcooked. The shrimp and grits were delicious. I was anxious to try the salmon but it was gone quickly and replaced with whiting. Not a comparable replacement in my eyes. The only other meat offering for a lunch was a chef's choice spicy chicken. There were chicken tenders with the waffles but they put fresh on top of old and I found it distasteful . The risotto was creamy and full of fresh mushrooms. The Brussel sprouts were seasoned nicely. Jeremy, the manager, did come speak to us. He was very nice and apologized for the wait on food. He informed us our time had been extended by 15 minutes due to the wait, but the next reservation was waiting for us to leave. My question is this, would you rush a 6 top out in an hour if it took them 20 minutes to get through the buffet line? I feel like because we were only a 2 top, we were cut short. Gratuity is automatically added to the bill, no matter the size of the party. I can understand on large parties, but not on a two top. So, brunch for two was $80,with the tip. A bit overpriced for the offerings, and not even time for dessert. We were offered coffee to go. You may do well for catering but you have alot to learn about restaurant service. My friend may return, but, me no thank you. I can go elsewhere for that price, eat and sit, talk, and...