Hunter's Head Tavern — Restaurant in Virginia

I would have shared this review in Open Table but the hostess did now acknowledge that I checked in for my reservation so I could not do that. I have never posted a really bad review on Google but this experience was warranted. When we arrived at the restaurant for our reservation it was clear that it was not a great day for them. Perhaps they were overwhelmed by the big event that was happening locally that weekend? We had a 7:30 reservation and arrived on time to a completely overwhelmed hostess. Once seated our terrific waitress Tiffany (the high point of the evening) served us drinks and delicious fresh bread. (We did not have any silverware on our table which we had to ask for. Note #1.) From ordering our drinks and a simple appetizer it took about an hour to get our food - with very few people at the restaurant. While sitting there waiting I overhead the table next to us complain about our experience to the manager. When our food finally arrived, about an hour after we were seated - I can't recall a worse/recent dining experience. One dish was fully cold and had to be sent back to be re-heated. One dish was the worst thing I have ever tasted (not at all what was on the menu) and was sent back. It was taken off the bill as it should have been, but honestly - the worst bite of food I have had in a long while. The manager came over to ask about us sending it back - he was nice enough, but absolutely no explanation for why the evening was such a train wreck. The icing on the cake - as we were walking out, the servers brought to the table next to us a serving of the inedible dish we had returned to the kitchen. Clearly no one tasted it, checked it for quality, cared that it had been returned as terrible. For all this - I would not recommend this restaurant. They may have great days - but our experience on this very bad day...

My husband and I have eaten at Hunter's Head many times through the years and always enjoyed the great historic atmosphere, the humanely raised meat, and the friendly service. So it was to our great disappointment and dissatisfaction that the dinner experience last night, March 11, was so incredibly bad. We were seated in the same room as a quiet group of 5 young adults. Although we sat about 5 minutes ahead of the other table, the waiter virtually ignored us and brought the customary bread to the other table. We did not get a greeting, bread or water. I got up to order and soon thereafter so did the other table. We were brought our salads but nothing else. I had to get up to ask the man who took orders in the bar if we could please have some bread and water. When the waiter brought it later he gave a lame excuse, which was not professional in my opinion. When our dinner was served the waiter neglected to give me a knife to cut meat. I had to get up again and ask the man taking dinner orders for a steak knife. While I was doing this my husband said the waiter was in the corner of the room talking on his cell phone. WHAT? How unprofessional! No wonder the waiter's service was so bad. He should have taken the night off rather than subject anyone like us, who had come for a delightful evening at the quaint tavern and who spent a lot of money that night, to such poor service, therefore ruining the dining experience. The food is pricey, and this is a special place to have dinner, so the management might think of vetting its staff more carefully so that any waiter will know to treat all patrons with dignity so they will never be made to feel comfortable. It was so very odd to feel so uncomfortable during a special dinner. Don't know if we'll ever go back. I gave 2 stars to this review for good historic interiors...

There seems to be an issue with their reservation system on OpenTable, as we put in a reservation to sit inside, yet we’re told we had booked outside.

I would say the atmosphere for outside would make for a better lunch, and not dinner. For dinner, the outside area was unimpressive and ...I like dogs. But a dining guest sitting near us had a pretty barky dog that didn’t have good dog manners.

We had the set dinner menu and I got mine with a wine flight. While it says flight, it’s more of a pairing and a wine is brought out with each course. I thought that was fantastic until I realized that the timing of my wine with my course was not prioritized so I would be halfway through a course and realize I still did not have the complementing wine to go with it. It’s a minor annoyance, but I feel like if they want to serve the flight more as a pairing to the dinner set menu, then it needs to be done correctly. If timing is an issue, then actually serve the wine as a flight.

My salad was delicious, but my pork shoulder was dry. The chocolate torte more than made up for that and I could have easily eaten a second serving of it. My husband ordered the same thing, but his pork shoulder was way more tender and moist than mine and if had realized that sooner, I would have asked him to swap with me.

My husband and I would like to try dining inside in the future, but as it stands, the outdoor dining and food was a solid 3.

The only reason I’m giving this 4 stars is because our waiter was a sweetheart and was very attentive and he deserves a star on his own for his knowledge on the menu...