Pitchers Taphouse — Restaurant in Virginia

I decided to grab dinner here last night since I was staying in the DoubleTree Hotel where this restraunt is located. I also got in pretty late so a lot of the local places were already closed. I sat at the bar and the bartender greeted me promptly. She was very friendly and I was impressed with the local draft selection.

Now for the bad. The bartender recommended the crab cakes so I thought I’d give them a try. They came with a side of sautéed julienned vegetables. The food came out in a reasonable amount of time but I could immediately see the crab cakes were over cooked. The crust was dark brown and oily looking. The remoulade was just ok but it only got worse once I cut into the crab cakes. Inside was filled with grey-ish shredded crab and oily mush, no lump meat to be seen. Maybe it’s just, me but for a crab cake that comes recommended and costs $30 for 2, I expect to see mostly white lump crab meat ( especially this close to the coast). Williamsburg sits on the Chesapeake Bay, which is known for its blue crabs. As for the “sautéed” veggies, they were at least fairly fresh (still had some crunch to them), but they had clearly been cooked in margarine. Neither butter nor oil has that artificial yellow color that was all over the veg and my plate. I don’t know what kind of chef sautées in margarine but that is just nasty.

Do yourself a favor and skip this place, unless you just need a drink before heading up...

The only reason I gave two stars is because the hostess was very friendly. We were told we had a 15 minute wait. We decided to go to the bar and get a drink and wait for our table. No one ever came. We left the bar and stood by a wall near the bar. A server came up to us and asked us what we were doing. We informed him that we were waiting for a table. He said we should go wait outside the restaurant. Rude. We waited outside of the restaurant. We were finally called to our table. We sat and waited and waited. servers repeatedly walked by but no one ever stopped. We left and informed...

I've been here twice to stay at the hotel for conventions. The food has always been the best I've ever had while traveling. Sidewinder fries are 10/10, crabcake sandwich is 10/10, and when I got the fish and chips this past March (which were 10/10) I was surprised by a hot, fresh slice of what I assume was Barmbrack (?!) which was even more delicious than my nan's recipe of old. I will always eat here when I pass through the area, and I may even pass through more often...