Idylwood Grill & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Virginia

WORST VALENTINE'S DAY DINNER

I have never felt the need to write a thorough review of a restaurant until now. Our experience at Idylwood Grill & Wine Bar on a Valentine's Day was nothing short of a disaster. A complete failure in service, management, and basic hospitality.

We arrived at 2120H for our 2130H reservation, expecting a nice dinner. Upon arrival, there was no one to receive us immediately, despite a number of waitstaff at the bar/counter. When a staff member finally acknowledged us, he did not seem accommodating at all. Still, we proceeded with our reservation, knowing ahead of time that Idylwood was only offering their $79 three-course meal for the evening.

We placed our orders promptly, around 2130H. At 2205H, we overheard the waiter asking the table beside us if they had ordered and received their appetizers which they hadn't. They arrived before us. At this point, we noticed other tables looking around, exchanging frustrated glances because, just like us, they had been waiting for too long.

By 2220H, we had been sitting for nearly an hour with nothing-no appetizers, no questions, no explanation, nothing. I was hungry, exhausted, and sleepy, but we still gave them a chance, thinking surely our food must be coming soon.

2230H, still no food. That was it. We got up and told the manager or head waiter that we had no idea what was happening, but we are leaving. An entire hour had passed, and we hadn't even received our first course.

Now, let me be clear: I'm not writing this to compare this "chef-owned, family-run restaurant" to a Korean BBQ restaurant, because that would be unfair to both, it's like comparing apples to oranges. But service also matters. We ended up at a Korean BBQ place around 2300H, ordered immediately, had our food cooked and served in a few minutes and were out the door by 2330H. That's efficiency and basic hospitality.

Idylwood may pride itself on its "contemporary American dishes infused with Italian, French, and Mediterranean flavors," but what does that matter when they can't even serve an appetizer within 10 minutes? What's the point of a special Valentine's Day menu if they clearly weren't prepared to handle the evening?

This was, without a doubt, the worst dining experience I've had in years. Valentine's Day or not, this level of service is...

We decided to try out Idylwood Grill for the first time, this despite living no more than 25 minutes away (at most) in a few Fairfax City locations for over 20 years. I just didn't know about what turns out to be a local stalwart neighborhood restaurant the past 20+ years.

We were not super hungry, so we went right to ordering entrees. We ordered the deboned branzino filet with smoked salmon and vegetables, and the rack of lamb, medium rare, with sauteed vegetables.

The branzino had a nicely crisped skin with good flavor (I'd request a touch less of salt the next time we order it since we go light on salt at home), and the smoked salmon consisted of some moist plump pieces. One thing I'd note is that too many restaurants (in general) in the past decade have gone away from serving vegetables along with a main entree, or the vegetables "fly over" the plate as my family would sarcastically state. However, the sauteed vegetables in both dishes (we shared our entrees to try both) were ample and cooked just right. The lamb was medium rare, with two of the three chops being a double bone cut. Nice and thick.

After thoroughly enjoying our entrees, we decided to try the tiramisu as the desserts are made in house by Aida. Our server Kimmy and her assistant both smiled at our choice as they know the desserts are very good. The tiramisu was freshly made, with the mascarpone balanced just right with the lady fingers. It was a great way to finish off our meal.

From the pleasantness and efficiency of the staff, to the quality of our meal, and a touch of live (Saturday night) music, we had a great time and meal. We definitely will be going back to try more of what is a wide assortment of dishes.

Well done,...

We had high hopes for Idylwood Grill, but unfortunately, it fell short. Despite seeing that most recent reviews about their Valentine’s Day dinner offering were a bust, we decided to give it a try.

While the food was good—we had the Caesar salad, mussels, steak, and duck—because of the other issues we encountered, we felt it was overpriced, and what should have been a nice Friday date night turned into a bunch of follow-up. The ambiance didn’t help either—plastic tablecloths and an older clientele gave it a dated feel.

Service was the biggest issue. We were still eating our appetizers when the server came by to tell us our mains were ready, basically rushing us through the meal. Later, when we ordered another round of cocktails instead of dessert, the server seemed annoyed. The whole experience felt like they wanted us out the door as quickly as possible, which was uncomfortable.

On the positive side, we had a bottle of wine and four cocktails—the martinis and Manhattans were excellent, so kudos to the bartender.

To top it off, we used InKind to pay (a dining app), and since they’re new to the system, there were issues. We provided our phone number in case there were problems, but a week later, they reached out asking us to resolve it. We directed them to InKind since we had no way to contact InKind directly. They eventually sorted it out but then came back asking about the tip. We had initially left a healthy tip despite our issues, as we didn’t want to be overly harsh on a small independent restaurant. However, we felt they should have handled the tip portion internally and taken all of this as a learning experience.

Not a place...