Potomac Taphouse — Restaurant in Virginia

I truly do not know where to begin? I guess I will start with Mychaelah's service and overall skills. Mychaelah was my family's waitress. She was truly GREAT! If this restaurant makes it passed the year mark it will be because of her only. She was very personable and made my family feel special. She was also our bartender. Her drinks were consistent and flavorful. I think there were four drinks in total. Each were as good as the first. Michaelah went out of her way to make sure we were taken care of. And she had a debate with the head cook to make sure we were heard and were able to eat something. Michaelah and her drinks were the only two bright spots. And these are the reasons why I will give this place two stars.

Now, I will address everything else as it occurred. My family and I pulled up around 8pm. Wicket Door Pub was packed inside and out. Fountain Grill had about 20 people inside. Potomac Taphouse had zero customers. My family and I were the only people in the restaurant from 8pm to 10pm.

We were greeted quickly and allowed to sit where we wanted. The menus were on paper and warped from moisture. Not sure from what, but we placed our orders.

We ordered crab cakes, chicken strips & french fries, a tomato mozzarella salad, a beet salad, and the lobster bisque.

The crab cakes were the size of small cookies. They were pink and had the profile of a chocolate chip cookie. Flat on the bottom with a slight bumpy peak in the center. I took a bite of one and it was nothing but filler. It had a soft gritty texture like overcooked grits. They were salty and tasted like it had absorbed the odors of their fridge. It became a game to try and find crab meat. I never did after two more bites. This is where Mychaelah got into it a little with the cook. It looked like he was in denial of his poor food quality. She asked me to please try the crab cake sandwich and she would take care of both for free. When this came to the table it looked promising. The bun was toasted and warm. And it was a good size. But when I cut into it I saw that this was also pink. And it had stringy pieces of crab meat in a sea of fillers. It reminded me of pulling up weeds. The roots were the crab meat and all the filler was soil/ dirt. This was also salty and tasted like the odors in their refrigerator. I spoke to my waitress and the owner. I told both of them that anything with crab needs to be removed from the menu PERIOD. They are not using jumbo lump crab meat at all. Although the owner tried to tell me they do. "We blend the crab meat with the filler."

The chicken strips were the best thing and the only thing I ended ate. The breading was light and crispy. The french fries were frozen and tasted like they were reheated from the prior day.

The tomato and mozzarella salad had way too much garlic on it. It was to the point that it was almost spicy because of the raw garlic. Other than that it was just plain and not worth it. It's another item they should pull off the menu. And just go with a fresh caprese salad with a balsamic reduction. I should not have been charged for this, but I was. I will reach out for a refund.

The beet salad was the second best thing. But it was so much liquid from the beets that it made the salad bland. There was no cohesiveness amongst the different ingredients. The cheesecake factory makes a great beet salad. The beets are patted dry and they have a yogurt dressing. The dressing is fresh, flavorful and thick enough to connect all of the flavors. This salad was just watered down, bland and everything had to stand on it's own.

The lobster bisque was extremely salty. I think it had reduced throughout the day. The cook could have just added some cream. However, having actual lobster meat inside seemed like it was an issue as well.

The staff did not charge us for the crab dishes or the lobster bisque.

We will never return to this place. This restaurant will fail if major changes are not made with the cooking staff and recipes. The food deserves zero stars...

I was STARVING and craving lemon pepper wings. I decided to check this place out today for a quick lunch as the manager told me their wings were out of this world when I previously visited. Let me just say, the wings were absolutely disgusting. It’s REALLY hard to mess up wings but these were extremely difficult to eat. For those that don’t know, they cook their wings 3 different ways for 1 set of wings. The first plate of lemon pepper wings I received was literally black. Black and burnt throughout. I tried getting a bite down and it tasted like straight char. How disgusting? The very nice bartender took the wings to the back to have them redone. New plate comes out: wings were extremely difficult to chew. I’ve never in my life experienced wings that are hard to chew? You could barely taste the lemon pepper as they were still black and charred, but less this time. Their blue cheese dressing tastes like it’s Walmart brand from the bottle. It’s not chunky at all, literally straight liquid, such a weird kind of blue cheese dressing to accompany wings. When I tell you these wings were TOUGH to chew, I mean I was drinking sips of water and used all of my blue cheese to help loosen it up in my mouth. The blue cheese by the way, was halfway filled in the ramekin??? For wings that are SO dry and hard to chew, why only fill the ramekin up half way? I felt too bad sending the food back again, so I did my best to finish all of the wings. I ended up leaving one in my plate because my tastebuds could not stomach another wing. These seriously need to be taken off the menu. I have no idea how anyone would enjoy the wings that were on my plate. My boyfriend and I were hopefully planing a date night here this weekend as we live so close, but I absolutely do NOT trust this place with cooking meat! After those wings, I would be tooo scared to shell out the money for a Prime Rib. To satisfy my hunger, I ended up going to Chick-fil-A and got a salad.

The bartender was enjoyable to talk to and I appreciate her service! The atmosphere is great, but the food I had was horrible. Will most likely not return, unless...

Decided to go to Potomac Taphouse on a whim with some friends and were treated to probably the best hidden gems of Ashburn.

Food: The biggest draw is their beer selection. They serve a large variety of local brewery on tap and in cans as well. Prices are fair and their 10 dollar flights are a great way to experience new beers. The food selection is also great from burgers to entrees. I am not lying when I say their burgers are out of this world. In the three times we have visited since then, each time the burgers have been cooked to perfection.

Service: The staff are welcoming and quick to get you seated. Helpful with explaining anything from menu as well. During our first visit, the owner had come out and asked how we liked the food and explained to us how most everything on the menu is fresh and arrives in the morning. The burger paddies are never frozen. They were very happy to have us in the restaurant.

Atmosphere: The place had opened recently (last 6 months) so the place is very clean. You can see into the kitchen from some angles of the room and it also looks very clean. Plenty of table space, though I did note only 3 tables for 6+ parties (But with the amount of tables on the floor, I doubt there would be any trouble moving tables for larger groups). On the three times I have visited, the restaurant is only serving about 2-3 tables at the time. With that it does give you an empty crowded feeling with how many tables are in the room but on the other hand you do get a more personalized experience. Music plays but not overly loud. Some TVs play sport games and other channels but their audio is turned off. I hope more people can come to experience this place and help this business grow.

If you are one for a relaxing atmosphere for drinks and possibly the best burger you will ever have do give this place a try! Don't...