AJ's Sports Grille & Smokehouse — Restaurant in Virginia

Went there with my girlfriend, Tracy, who is 56 years old nurse and has worked as a bartender through throughout her life. I mention this because there was many things that were obvious in regards to being a respectful bartender. We went here two days in a row. The first night we were with some friends and we overlooked the bartender Maddie being extremely rude. She puts on this aggressive, almost figh flight type of attitude. I’m sure that regulars don’t mind because some of them seemed to have the same type of over aggressive behavior. The eggrolls were good. I give the atmosphere a lower rating because of Maddie, the bartender. Because we were planning on meeting friends, we went back to the same bar. Mind you, my girlfriend, Tracy, the 56-year-old nurse who bartended for years in her 20s and 30s (Who by the way treated Maddie with so much kindness and sweetness and respect as she does to everybody!). Looked past all of that and tipped her very, very well to say the least. This next day that we are here at the bar, not only was she even worse with the rudeness , but on our second drink, which turned out to be our last drink, she noticed that Tracy’s drink was gone several times and did not ask her if she needed a refill. Tracy doesn’t care if she just really wants people to be kind to her. She has actually never complained about this with anyone in our lives in the two years I’ve known her. By the way, this is not the first bar we’ve been in. Never mind average every day life. We left after one drink and will not be coming back. Sending you guys a big hug! Ya cheer up! Have a better day and treat your customers better! More of a treat people better concept. Much love,...

Get the brisket. Thank me later. This place is amazing. People are friendly and normally the crowd is mixed. They have karaoke on Tuesday and Thursday and lip sync contest on Monday. The food is the best part. Plus happy hour and those dollar beers!

Update: I have a new rating. It’s 3 stars but I won’t change it because - memorriiiesss

3 years ago I came here and absolutely enjoyed myself; today, not so much. I had my wife order the brisket again because I just knew it would still be the same. Boy was I wrong! Not sure if it’s the pandemic or maybe they got a new cook- but what they served me were the thinnest pieces of meat I have ever received on a dinner plate. I had to stop someone and ask if my meal was right because it looked like bacon slices. It tasted alright but it wasn’t anywhere close to what I had burned into my memory from three years ago. (Thick juicy cuts cooked to perfection) The green beans were sour, the cook was possibly too heavy on the garlic. And the mash potatoes and gravy tasted like they came from a box. I didn’t even finish my meal or get a drink.

The waitress who had been helping my group before I got there apparently disappeared and didn’t say a word and the bartender, while nice, was clearly overwhelmed with the small crowd that...

So my first visit and I asked about their "smoked brisket". The [I am assuming cook] was seated at the bar and confirmed the brisket is smoked "12 hours". That had my attention, because I smoke brisket, tri tip, chicken and pork shoulder back home in Cali. The bartender, very nice gal, pumped me up with how good it was. To my disappointment, the brisket, nor pork shoulder were smoked at all. It is as though they may low oven cook their meats. I am no stranger to smoking meats, but what I was served tonight was no smoked brisket nor smoked shoulder. The appetizers were delicious. We had their cheesy fries and crab cake bites. Very good. I just cannot get beyond the main dish as it was a huge disappointment. I did not have the heart to tell them to their faces that the food was mediocre at best. I'm attaching a picture of THEIR brisket and another of MY brisket and my pulled pork. I'm no professional, but I grill and smoke plenty. Clearly they aren't...