Matchbox — Restaurant in Virginia

I've lived 2 miles from this location but never went ever since it opened mostly due to the price. I decided to do take out to try this location out and was very disappointed overall.

First of all, the service I received in the short time I was there was not particularly good. This was a take-out order and the service was not particularly good. I parked at RTC and called the number as instructed on the sign/email. It was answered fairly quickly by an employee. I asked them if they could bring the food out, provided them a name/#, but then the person on the other end of the line did not acknowledge any termination of the conversation. They simply said "I will it bring it out you" and then left the phone off the hook and walked away. I was not sure they had walked away and was left in a phone call with no one on the other end. After asking if anyone was still there a few times I hung up the phone. After 5 minutes I was curious if they had in fact understood me simply because no one actually hung up the phone, it sounded like they immediately walked away. I called the number again to receive a "busy" signal on the other end. The person on the line had not hung the phone up and now no one could call into the restaurant. I noticed a car also pull up to the curb-side pick-up next to me. After a few minutes the gentleman walked out the car to (presumably) a restaurant. I wonder if they were trying to call Matchbox to bring their food to the curb and found a busy line too.

After about 10 minutes someone came out to the bring the food to the spot I mentioned. Upon handing me the food they asked me for my name which I thought was weird since I had already informed them of the exact spot. Yes it was meant to confirm my identity but I've done this process a few times with Founding Farmers next door and no one ever asks for a name from there.

Anyways, the food itself was just painfully mediocre. At the very least the ingredients all taste fresh which is about the only positive. Otherwise it was horribly under seasoned, under sauced, lacking in flavor. To try this restaurant out I tried a simple cheese pizza and the chicken sandwich. The cheese pizza was fine in that it was fresh and resembled standard cheese pizza. But it was not memorable at all. The only thing that stood out was the fresh dough. Not enough cheese and sauce on top really. It was almost dry which isn't how a cheese pizza should feel.

The chicken sandwich was a complete letdown. It looked interesting because they put a deviled egg slaw on top. The slaw hardly tasted like anything, let alone deviled eggs. The chicken itself was fine, it's hard to have a bad fried chicken. The issue was since the slaw had no flavor, it was just the fried chicken and grease cutting through. It could've used a bit more spice, a sauce, maybe a chipotle mayo or something. The weird thing about this chicken sandwich was the way the pickles were put on the sandwich. The pickles spread from outside the bun to cover the chicken which stuck out of the bun. This means that if you pick up the sandwich and try and eat it like a normal sandwich the pickles fall off. Sandwiches can be messy, but this was just ridiculous, the sandwich fell apart and probably would be better eaten with a knife and fork. The fries were too greasy for my liking and had almost no salt when eaten plain but were fine with ketchup as any fries go.

For the price you pay I was hoping the food would be really good, it was just mediocre to bad. Much better places for this kind of food in the area. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but the simple stuff was not...

A Perfect Evening of Delightful Dining and Enchanting Salsa Dancing I recently had the pleasure of visiting a restaurant that has quickly become one of my absolute favorites. Nestled in a vibrant Reston Area, this hidden gem offers an extraordinary experience that combines a captivating atmosphere, delectable cuisine, and the joy of salsa dancing on Monday evenings.

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Disastrous Mother’s Day Brunch – Completely Unacceptable

We had an incredibly disappointing experience at Matchbox Reston for Mother’s Day. Our party of 16 had a 2:00 PM reservation but weren’t seated until 3:00 PM due to overbooking. We weren’t able to place our food order until 4:00 PM—after being told we could only order one item at a time, despite the kitchen already being severely backed up. Drinks took 30–45 minutes, and food took over two hours to arrive—if it came at all. Some guests who ordered simple items like wings didn’t get them until 7:00 PM, and several people in our group never received any food.

To make matters worse, food that finally did come out was cold. Some items were completely incorrect—like catfish with fries instead of catfish and grits, or shrimp with cheese fries instead of shrimp and grits. We were told they were out of grits, even though it’s a regular item on their menu. We were also told they didn’t have mini burgers, yet we saw other tables getting burgers minutes after being seated. It was clear the staff was not being honest.

One of our tables was even mistakenly served food meant for a prior party who had given up and left due to the long wait. Despite raising our concerns with multiple managers, nothing changed. Each one claimed they’d prioritize our orders, but three hours later we were still waiting. It truly felt like the staff was stalling us, hoping we’d just leave.

Meanwhile, kitchen staff and servers were standing around waiting, and nothing was moving efficiently. Other tables seated after us were served well before we were, with hot food and accurate orders.

This experience was in stark contrast to the Matchbox Merrifield location, where food comes out in a timely manner and there’s even a taco bar for guests while they wait. Matchbox Reston completely failed at basic hospitality—poor service, cold and missing food, long delays, and no accountability. They didn’t even offer our Mother’s Day party a gift card to come back for a better experience. Manager and servers customer service was absolutely the worst.

We will not return, and I strongly recommend avoiding this location—especially if you’re planning a group gathering or...