Pollock Dining Room at Skyland — Restaurant in Virginia

After sitting on it for a week and letting myself cool down, I still can't believe how I was treated by the manager on duty the night of July 5th.

We were staying on property and got takeout from the bar. After returning to our room, we found that the dressing was missing. I didn’t want to walk all the way back up the hill to get dressing, so I hate half of my wife’s meal instead.

After eating, I went back to the restaurant to get a refund for the salad- at that point, it was useless to me. The bartender couldn’t do it, so they got a manager. The manager started to process the refund and then told me to wait a minute and walked off to deliver a drink. The bartender could have delivered a drink.

It’s important to note that the manager did not apologize for the error in the order. The only words they said to me were asking if I paid with a card or cash and then to tell me to wait a minute while they delivered that drink.

After more than five minutes, I looked up and saw the manager leaning against the doorframe taking to someone. The bartender had to go get them to come back. At that point, I was ready to yell, so I left.

It was disrespectful to walk away while processing my return. You take care of the customer in front of you, always. Especially when it’s a service issue. The customer awaiting their drink in the restaurant has not yet paid for that drink, I was trying to resolve an issue with service and payment. I had returned to the restaurant after receiving my meal due to an issue— that takes priority over someone who wants a whiskey sour.

I went to the hotel front desk and explained the situation. Understandably, they could not help since the point of sale systems are separate. They were, however, the only person to apologize to me throughout the entire ordeal.

I left the lobby and attempted to call the General Manager on my cell phone when I saw the restaurant manager looking for me (they went to the lobby, where I'd told them I was going, then back to the restaurant with a receipt in hand, looking around for someone. It's safe to say they were looking for me. Now, it is highly, HIGHLY, inappropriate to seek out a customer that has left your building, but I assume that if you did, you were coming to confirm the refund was processed.

So I returned to the restaurant and asked if they had processed my return in an admittedly raised voice. Instead of attempting to de-escalate my frustration, they escalated the situation by raising their voice back and sarcastically responding to my frustration. Managers de-escalate, they don’t escalate. They react with understanding and empathy and try to make it right.

I also don't appreciate that the manager tried to exaggerate the limitations of the point of sale system. I'm no stranger to point of sale systems and how they work from more than just a user's perspective. What he told me about the point of sale not being able to adjust the amount is either flat out untrue or you desperately need a new point of sale for your $3.7 billion company. It's absolutely insane that a manager can't adjust the bill or post void a transaction. If it had only been authorized, not charged - adjust what was on the ticket. If it was charged - do a post void. The manager on duty needs to be able to do both.

Point of sale aside, this person shouldn't be a manager. I’m sure they're a great employee, but manager isn't their strong suit. Their face is burned into my brain as someone who tried to intimidate me. And while I'm using they/them pronouns for this person, this was a masculine-presenting person attempting to intimidate a guest, which adds another layer to this whole interaction that I hope I don't need to explain.

My advice to anyone going to this restaurant is to keep driving and head to Big Meadows. They may be run by the same company, but at least you won't get screamed at by a manager.

A note regarding the reply to my review: This issue was reported to the General Manager as well as through the online form on the Delaware North website. There's not much more...

My friends and I stayed a few days in the Skyline Lodge and of course, we needed to eat! We ate here 4 times (twice for dinner and twice for breakfast) and feel like we got a decent enough understanding of the place; we would have hated to leave a bad review if it was an off night. We're the opposite of picky but well, this needs to be said.

TL/DR: GO TO THE BIG MEADOWS LODGE AND EAT THERE. Their food presentation (even in to go orders) is fabulous, the food is hot and good, the portion sizes appropriate for the price, and the staff are consistently knowledgeable and helpful and kind!

The Pros: Breakfast was pretty good! Their omelets are quite tasty. The staff was quite friendly, attentive, and adhered to covid safety protocol. I enjoyed my omelet so much that my friends ordered it as well the next day. Each of us customized it to our liking and when they were served, the staff made sure to mark each so the server knew to whom each plate belonged to. The breakfast potatoes were clearly not homemade but, I enjoyed them nonetheless.

The turkey dinner was decent! I'd order it again.

Brussel sprouts were delicious! And a nice sized portion.

Only complaint about breakfast is that they list chocolate milk as a beverage choice. But, it's just syrup they pour into the milk and half heartedly stir it. If we were kids, this would have been acceptable but as an adult, it just isn't appetizing. I wish the waitress would have mentioned it.

The Cons: 《The first night》 The most glaring thing that needs to be addressed is the Front of House (FOH) staff member. On our first night, we stated we'd like a to go order (there is a specific line for it) because we had a dog with us.

The FOH staff: Is he a service dog? Us: No, no. He's just a regular dog. FOH staff member: Oh, you could just say he was. We wouldn't know any different.

^^^ fairly certain this is illegal and is definitely unethical.

FOH staff member said our wait time would be around 20-25 minutes for our order. It ended up being an hour. Which, I understand happens but then he then said our meal should be comped and didn't do anything about it.

FOH staff member repeatedly wore his mask on his chin.

We were missing a meal, had to ask for it. Then they got it wrong.

《The second night》

Shrimp and grits was actually gross. Again, we're not picky but it was just really not good.

Artichoke dip is supposed to come with pita chips. It came with corn chips. If it were $5-$7, sure. But it was $10. And the small soup bowl it came in was not even half full.

Same FOH member took our order and said they come with sides. We said we were fairly certain they did not. He insisted they do. So we ordered sides. We were then charged extra for the sides. This was particularly hard to notice because we did not receive an itemized bill; we just received the one you sign. We asked for the sides to be taken off as we didn't real want them and we didn't want to pay for them. Manager came out and said our order would have to be remade (don't know why but, sure bro) and that "we're not a fast food restaurant and you'll have to wait. Also, the rainbow trout takes 20 minutes alone to cook." He then went on to complain to us about us ordering the artichoke dip, something about the kitchen staff having to wear gloves? We know it isn't a fast food restaurant. We don't mind waiting. I totally understand the hassle but just make a specific to- go menu if it's going to be a problem.

Overall, we were all very unimpressed. I wish we had just gone to Big Meadows for every dinner as it was lovely there. You live and you...

The poorest service a restaurant has given us ever. They get an extra star because the food tasted ok. Our unfortunate saga with them started with me calling the dining room to reserve a table for a party of 15 two days prior to our dining date. I spoke to someone there who took down all my info and even what dietary restrictions some folks on our group had, spoke to me for a good 7 mins. Them didn’t actually make a reservation in their system. So we show up hungry after a hike with kids and older folks in our group. And they have no idea about the reservation but said someone has noted folks with same dietary restrictions as us coming in so yes I must have talked to someone in their dining room. I stay polite and explain that we had counted on eating at that time and we had young kids and older folks who needed to eat pretty soon. The manager assured me he will try to seat us as soon as possible. I even suggest several times to him to perhaps break us into 2 groups so we can get seated sooner. He then proceeded to seat large number of Med size parties and a party of 13 all together with no apparent “reservations” ahead of us. We wait a full 1.5 hours in their cramped waiting area . That whole time the manager or the staff in no way try to make us feel better at having to wait that long with a large group and little kids despite having done our legwork, and being asked to wait because of the dining room’s fault. They don’t even tell us we can order drinks form the bar while we wait. They don’t tell us they could do take out for us much faster. Basically no follow up after they said they will seat us in 30 mins and then take 3 times that long. When we figured out ordering the drinks part on our own, the bartender was rude and gave me a carafe instead of a wine glass to carry around and sullenly handed me the right size glass (chipped and with scratch marks on it if course!) right behind him after asking twice. Then they finally seat us at 2 separate tables at opposite ends of the restaurant, and the host didn’t even bother pulling as many chairs as people at the table, so I have to ask people at the table next to us for extra chairs they are not using. Besides one of the waitresses at our table, the whole staff was rude and unhelpful. The food choices I was told on the phone we could order apparently was not really true, and couldn’t be ordered after all. We also couldn’t help noticing that we were the only non white dining party in that entire place, and all the white folks seemed to be treated fairly courteously and seated ahead of us. I was wary of coming to this part of Virginia and now I know I realize why. Will never be revisiting this area or...