Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

Before reading this, please know that I tried to rectify the situation directly before posting this review. The night of the incident, the hostess offered to bring the manager to our table (which never happened). The next morning, I also reached out to the restaurant through their website. More than a week has passed, and there has been no response from them.

I purchased tickets for a performance at the Sandler Center for my partner as a birthday gift. Since the show was on a weeknight, we knew we’d be going straight from work, so I planned to take him to dinner nearby. Since I’d heard good things about Tupelo Honey, I decided that would be a great choice and made a reservation for 6pm. I thought that would give us time for a quick dinner before our 7:30 show. I was wrong. We arrived and were seated quickly and started looking the menu over before our server Kevin arrived. He took our drink order, and we received those rather quickly. He came back a few minutes later and we ordered an appetizer to share and our entrees. It was roughly 6:15. At around 6:30, he passed the table and asked if we wanted another round, which we did, and we received them rather quickly as well. But still no food. At around 6:50, I went to the hostess, as we had still not received any food, and Kevin seems to be missing in action. I explained the situation, and she said that she would try to find out what was going on with out food, and would have a manager come to the table to discuss. I’m still waiting for the manager as well, since they too seemed to be missing. At 7, Kevin arrived with our entrees, apologized for the delay and asked if we needed anything else. My partner mentioned that we no longer wanted the appetizer that we hadn’t received, and Kevin responded, “Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to put that in. I can take that off the check.” We agreed that would be a good idea, and he also said that he would look into making an additional adjustment to the check to apologize for the delay. My partner had the smothered chicken and a side salad. The salad with brown lettuce in it was set aside immediately. He was also glad that he’d requested the gravy on the side, as it was completely broken and separated from sitting. At least he was able to have part of the chicken. My shrimp po boy and fries were good, but because of the time crunch I only ate half of my meal. The check came and no adjustment had been made, but at this point, I was just too annoyed to even argue the point. I just wanted to leave. We paid the check and left as soon as possible.

It is also worth noting that while we were there, we saw two other tables of people we know that were attending the same show. They both had different servers, and managed to arrive after us, have their meals and leave before we did. Clearly the event at the Sandler is NOT the reason for the issues we encountered. The final touch on the evening was that we left, the hostess was at the desk and did not say a single thing – “Good night” or “Thank you for coming” – to us or any of the several other parties that were leaving at the same time. She just stared at all of us. Needless to say, we’re not in any...

UPDATE: After writing the below review, a manager at Tupelo Honey (Heather) was gracious to reach out to me, apologized for my bad experience, and asked if I would give them another chance. I agreed to give Tupelo Honey a 2nd chance on the condition that no one would know when I was going to dine there. So here is the review for my latest visit:

My wife and I went for lunch on a Monday and Tupelo Honey completely redeemed themselves. Food was delicious, service was expedient, and our server (Nikki) was polite, friendly and prompt. We started off with an appetizer (Chicken Tortilla Soup), which was really, really good (definitely recommend). We then had the Avocado Melt with Pumpkin Bisque Soup as our entree and both were good. Since they didn't have the Pumpkin Bisque Soup on our last visit, we were pleasantly surprised with the flavor of this soup. Lastly, we had dessert. All though we wanted to order the Mississippi Mud Pie, regrettably, they were out of it. Hence, we then got the Banana Cream Pudding, which is always a favorite of ours. After we had our meal, we spoke with the manager on duty (Michelle) to inform ber of our experience and she was very courteous and professional. Hence, we will keep Tupelo Honey on our list of restaurants to visit when we have visitors in town.

Being a previous customer who had positive experiences, I was looking forward to Tupelo Honey after not being there for 2 years. I had out of town friends visiting and they wanted to treat me to dinner for my birthday, so I recommended this restaurant. Upon arrival on Sunday night at 5:30, the restaurant was not busy and we were quickly seated. We were a party of 5 and upon reviewing the menu and ordering, we were hugely disappointed by items that were not available/offered. First, the Bone In Dusted Fried Chicken was not available as they were out of Thighs. Hence, we were offered an extra Leg. Then upon reviewing what our options for the sides were, we were dismayed that Green Beans and Corn are not offered at this restaurant. How does a Southern Cuisine restaurant not have Southern staples like Green Beans and Corn. Nevertheless, one of us ordered Brussel Sprouts instead, but they were out of them also. Since there were no Green Beans or Corn offered, nor brussel sprouts available, I decided to get the Pumpkin Spice Bisque....guess what....no Pumpkin Spice Bisque available. Uugghh! Hence, I then decided to just get a Caesar Salad. Then, although restaurant was maybe only 10% full, it took over 40 minutes to get our food and we were only a party of 5; and did not order any appetizers. Once we finally received our food, the French fries with the hamburger were cold and the dusted chicken was overcooked and dry. Additionally, one of my friends had ordered a refill on their soft drink, but the server forgot and we had to remind her. To say the least, since it was on my recommendation to dine at Tupelo Honey, I/we were highly disappointed. On a good note, the banana pudding that was offered for free for my birthday was very good. I am not sure what has happened between our last visit 2 years ago and this current visit, but not sure I would...

Subject: Thank You for a Wonderful Experience RE: Return visit Dear Austin,

I wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank you for the incredible hospitality we experienced during our return visit to Tupelo Honey. Everyone deserves a second chance, and I’m so glad we gave it another try—because both the food and service were absolutely wonderful this time around!

Your attentiveness and genuine customer care truly stood out, making our visit feel special. It was great getting to chat with you and learn that you’re from Georgia, just like my husband. Hearing about Tupelo Honey’s upcoming expansion there was exciting, and we couldn’t help but think that you’d be a fantastic fit as part of the opening team. Your leadership and dedication to guest satisfaction would undoubtedly make a positive impact.

Thank you again for going above and beyond to ensure we had an amazing experience. We look forward to dining at Tupelo Honey again soon!

Best regards,

Below original visit Dear General Manager,

I am writing to share the truly frustrating experience we had at Tupelo Honey this evening, which completely ruined what should have been an enjoyable dinner. Our party of four arrived and was followed by two other parties of two, but after a long wait at the hostess station, we were still not greeted or seated. After some time, I called the restaurant in hopes of getting assistance, and finally, Hostess Liz appeared. However, it was clear she was bothered by our presence and gave us no sense of welcome.

I spoke to Manager Heather about our unpleasant first impression, expressing that I was so put off that I was considering leaving, but I hesitated because I didn’t want to spoil the evening for my guests. Heather assured me she would speak with the hostess. To attempt to make up for the bad start, Heather offered us drinks and appetizers on the house—but when the bill arrived, only the appetizers were comped, and the drinks were not addressed.

We waited nearly an hour for appetizers to arrive, and even longer for our second round of drinks, which took almost 20 minutes. Once the food arrived, my chicken was so dry it tasted like wood. It was difficult to understand how such poor service could happen, especially considering there were only 7-10 tables in the restaurant—hardly a busy evening.

The lack of urgency and attention was baffling. The delays in drinks and food appeared to be the result of both complacency and a clear lack of care for customer experience. Despite this, we still tipped our server 30%, understanding that most of the issues were beyond her control.

For a total bill of $168, it’s clear that we all lost. Tupelo Honey lost an opportunity for us to spend more on drinks and food, and consequently, our server lost out on a larger tip. We lost time and had to endure an aggravating experience instead of enjoying a lovely evening. To make matters worse, Tupelo Honey did not keep its promise to comp the drinks as initially offered.

Unfortunately, given this disappointing experience, we will not...