Park Lane Tavern — Restaurant in Virginia

I'm mainly giving 4/5 stars because at any given time, this place is absolutely mobbed and waiting 45-65 minutes for a table on most days is just a mood killer, especially with how large the space actually is. I have a feeling this is the typical modern restaurant owner conundrum where they don't pay employees enough, so they can only actually serve so many people and servers and cooks are limited, which is why the waiting area is so large - it almost seems as if they hired more people, they could have a ton more people who are seated eating/drinking instead of just waiting. Luckily, this is near a books a million so if you actually were okay waiting an hour to be seated, you can go buy a book while you wait! I think the main reason for this is that because I haven't had a bad thing here and when it's one of the only solid choice restaurants in this area, everyone will flock to it.

When you can actually get in the place, the décor is pretty cool. The bar is set in the middle and is pretty impressive to look at. The wood everywhere is just gorgeous and of course it gives you that real tavern feel I haven't been into the back part of the building, but the seating is nice all around the bar and the outside seating on both ends is nice, with the front having fire pits... However I'm not sure if you can be served food outside since I've never seen anyone do anything besides drink and smoke out there which is another reason I wouldn't give a 5 star, because there's nothing worse than chilling outside with friends or family and having to breathe in a table full of smoke right next to you.

The appetizers are great, but true standout is the goat cheese dip. What an incredible flavor with the marinara sauce and shaved almonds on top. Pitas instead of chips for this really put it over the top in a fantastic way.

Any one of their burgers is a solid choice, but the Park Lane burger is a great default for flavors and the burger is gigantic! The fries leave a bit to be desired, but if you focus on the burger, there isn't much room for fries, anyway.

The fish and chips is also a pretty fantastic choice, but my feedback for the fries rings true as well here. However this is in one of my top fish fries for the fish alone, and once again, it's also massive! I think it's because of the type of fish they use, and it's a banger (not to be confused with bangers and mash!) because of it.

Another good option is the shepherd's pie. it's a really good flavor, but I'm not really sure it has enough breadcrumbs on top to give a complimentary texture there. It is meaty and savory and if you're looking for a bit of a comfort food, this is a great pick.

As for our servers on any given occasion - they've all been fantastic. Attentive, friendly, and willing to give recommendations on both food and drinks.

This will always be a solid choice if you want something savory with a "European Comfort" focus, just be prepared to...

In case you, like me, heard about the bread pudding, yes, it's incredible. Come here and try it. You won't regret it.

Anyway, for the real review, I came here for dinner with my friends. It was an incredible meal. I got the beef wellington and, of course, bread pudding for dessert.

The beef wellington was a perfect medium rare, as it should be, and was the first time I've eaten a filet mignon in my life and didn't hate it. That's a huge plus! The asparagus that came with it was incredible, too. I know this shouldn't have to be a compliment, but you could taste how fresh both the asparagus and time since it touched the pan (or grill? idk) was.

Unfortunately, the mashed potatoes left a lot to be desired. I had my friend taste some, too, just in case, and she confirmed my suspicions: almost tasteless. I had no idea something that interacted with chives could have so little flavor. Thankfully there's table salt available, but I was very disappointed. Mashed potatoes is usually the perfect complement to steak—the Robin to Batman, but in this case I got a filler episode where Robin was on vacation because the actor was busy.

One of my friends got the stuffed gouda burger (or something like that), and he enjoyed it, save for a slight lacking of sauce; he said the burger overall was a bit dry, but he made sure to specify that the burger patty was definitely juicy and delicious. His wife ordered the fish & chips (which was my second choice, as it's listed as their signature dish), and she let me try a piece. The fish was incredible, and the tartar sauce, a sauce I normally do not like at all, was perfect for it.

In case everybody else hasn't gushed enough about the bread pudding, OMG IT WAS SO GOOD. My only complaint would be that I failed to portion the scoop of ice cream correctly and ran out. That's entirely on me.

I gave three stars for atmosphere, and that's mostly preference. I don't like loud areas with a lot of people. Unfortunately, places that serve good food tend to be popular and attract lots of people, especially on a Friday night. This is also entirely on me.

What's not on me, though, was the horrible smell of smoke that came up randomly during our dinner. My friends and I suspect somebody got a drink that's served on fire, but we couldn't tell. I saw a little bit of smoke in the air, and it smelled like a bonfire for ten minutes. I did not enjoy that. I don't know if they can accommodate this, but I'll have to remember to ask if there's seating away from the bar area.

I 100% intend on returning here some time in the future, and I will update this review with my full thoughts on the fish & chips when I try them...

I went on a trip to Washington DC over the summer, and I stopped in Fredericksburg to visit some family. One evening, we went to a local tavern to take in some food and some brews. We got here just in time; they had an exquisite happy hour menu with lots of tasty sounding items at a tasty sounding price.

We got one of the premium, round booths in the corner of the building, and got a great view of the whole place. This is one of those places that has a mug club and displays all their mugs all over the bar. It's a really cool display, actually.

So anyway, we got seated, got our delightful server, and got to ordering some stuff. Let me tell you what we got.

Bang'n Calamari (Hand breaded slices of calamari steak tossed in a kickin' sauce). Mini Tavern Chips (House made potato chips topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, scallions & BBQ sauce). Banger in a Blanket (Beer battered fennel & pork sausage served with sauerkraut & mustard).

Now, I never mention price in my reviews, but each of those items were $6. What a surprising value! And all of the items were very good tavern fare.

In addition to the $6 ones, there was a $10 one that was equally valuable, the Guinness Glazed Ribs (4 Flash fried ribs, tossed in our homemade Guinness glaze sauce atop a bed of french fries). These ribs are giant! As crispy as Asian ribs, and with a dark, umami glaze that will make you regret offering to share them with your tablemates.

We were here for a while, so we eventually needed more food, so, of course I got the Boddingtons Fish & Chips (English ale battered and fried to order whole Atlantic Haddock filet on a bed of fresh tavern fries. Served with house-made tartar sauce). Loved the look of this. Like it came right off the streets of London. So good.

Also got to sample the Tavern Wings (Fresh jumbo chicken wings, fried crispy and tossed in one of our signature sauces). I forgot the sauce we chose, but I remember being very happy with these crispy wings. Top notch.

After all the food and drinks had settled in, we decided that before we leave, we needed dessert. Specifically, the Jameson Irish Whiskey Bread Pudding (Our own house made recipe topped with Irish whiskey sauce and paired with vanilla bean ice cream). High quality. From the whiskey in the sauce to the softness of the bread to the vanilla bean specks in the ice cream. Every bit of this was great.

Wow, seems like I wrote a dissertation. This place won't win any Michelin Stars, but for what we wanted out of it, we got every bit of what we wanted. So fun, so delicious, thanks Park...